by Brad Daugherty, who was born in 1965, in Black Mountain, North Carolina grew into a seven foot frame that was destined for the hardwood. Daugherty excelled at basketball while playing at Charles D Owen High School. With his leadership on the court, his team reached the 1982 State Finals before losing in the championship game.
Brad was a top recruit later that year for Dean Smith and the North Carolina Tar Heels. He would be remembered as one of the few players to play for a Hall of Fame coach in both college then the pro’s. Many considered him one of the best centers to ever play for North Carolina University. He was a two time All ACC first team selection and a first team All American in his senior season where he averaged more than 20 points a game. Based on his impressive college basketball career, Daugherty was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame.
Joining Daugherty on the Cavaliers that year was fellow first round draft pick, Ron Harper, from Miami of Ohio University. Harper had been a collegiate All Star, drawing many comparisons to Dr. J, Julius Erving, for his high flying style. Harper was a two time MAC player of the year and made the NCAA All American Second team in his senior season. He immediately showed that Embry’s faith in him was warranted when he had a great rookie season averaging over 22 points a game. He finished second in the rookie of the year voting to Indiana Pacer, Chuck Person.
Mark Price was the player in charge of keeping everything running smoothly. A fellow first-round pick of the Dallas Mavericks, he was the perfect man to lead the charge. Price had grown up in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, where he attended Enid High School. He graduated high school and went to play college basketball at Georgia Tech University. With hard work and court savvy, he managed to establish himself as the leader of the team. He was a two time All American along with receiving All ACC honors for all four years of his college career. In the 1984 -1985 ACC championship game he led his team to a win over North Carolina University and his future teammate, Brad Daugherty. He was also named ACC player of the year. Price’s jersey number at Georgia Tech University was retired in acknowledgement of his great college career.
Joining forces with the top 3 draft picks was the Cav’s 1985 draft pick, John “Hot Rod” Williams. Legal problems forced him to sit out his rookie season after being selected by Cleveland in the draft. He had a solid career at Tulane University and Embry and the Cavs were willing to look past his somewhat checkered past and put him full into the fold. Larry Nance discloses how it was to play with “Hot Rod” Williams, “He was very under rated as one of the best low post defensive players that have ever been around. He was a great defensive guy and also a great friend. Once you’re his friend, he will do anything in the world for you. We became great friends and we still talk today.”
Midway through the 1986 -1987 season, Embry decided to sign free agent guard, Craig Ehlo. Ehlo reflects on growing up learning the game, “There was only one game a week on television when I was growing up so I didn’t really have any one athlete I molded myself after. The most influential person in my life who helped me with basketball was my high school coach, Joe Mahaga, at Monterrey. He was influential in teaching me the fundamentals of the game. He taught us a continuity type offense, where we would pass the ball about six times before we got anything to look at shot wise. I was blessed in that area because he was determined to teach us the strict fundamentals and the teamwork part of the game which helped me develop as a player.
I wasn’t a very big kid in high school at 6’4 tall, so I had to find ways to perform well with using my size against larger opponents. My junior college coach, Ron Mayberry, was also very influential in helping me develop every aspect of my game. I was built to be a swing type player because I could handle the ball and shoot the ball well at my size.” Ehlo went to college at Odessa Junior College and then Washington State after that. He reflects on that time in his life and his basketball career, “My high school team made it to the regional championships in Texas and I was lucky enough to lead my team in scoring. However, I think my size may have deterred any school from recruiting me. I didn’t have a lot of offers out of high school even though my team was successful. I did have a few accolades such as being All State and things like that. I just chose junior college because it was a better avenue for me and close to my home in Lubbock, Texas. I went down there for two years and that was a big part of my life, because I was able to put on some more weight.
It allowed me to play more and get better as I played 36 games my freshman year and 31 my sophomore year. I was able to average about 24 points a game my sophomore year with 6 rebounds a game and 7 assists. I think that is what caught the attention of several schools. I received letters from the University of Texas, University of Houston, Oklahoma, Iowa, and some other smaller schools such as Baylor and SMU. It was Washington State that caught my attention the most because at the time the PAC 10 was a dominant conference. I felt that it was a chance to play in one of the nation’s premiere conferences.
I had a great coach in George Raveling. He taught me a tremendous amount of respect for the game. He taught me how to use my skills and we were able to finish my senior season in second place in the PAC 10. We only lost by one game to UCLA and were ranked fourth in the country at that time. We made it to the NCAA tournament and beat Weber State in the first round before losing to the University of Virginia in the second round.”
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