Pasadena Independent School District

Members of Sam Rayburn High's 1968-69 basketball team, with two players slated to participate in the Alumni Challenge: Don Fogo (back row, No. 21) and Russell Schroeder (front row, No. 25).

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Forty-four former heroes of the Ship Channel hardwoods will take to the court again on Nov. 23 in the first Deer Park ISD-Pasadena ISD Alumni Challenge, a feature of this year’s McDonald’s Texas Invitational Basketball Tournament.

Organized as a warm-up contest for the Boys Division 1 Championship Game, the Alumni Challenge is sure to warm the hearts of those who followed basketball in the two school districts during the past 50 years.

Participants range in age from Deer Park’s Jimmy Burke, who played in the late 1950s, to Jacob Munoz, who graduated from Deer Park just three years ago.

The Pasadena ISD’s oldest players -- Billy Standley and Danny Steffenauer -- graduated from Pasadena High in 1965. The youngest Pasadena ISD player, Scott Talton, graduated from Dobie High School in 2008.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Phillips Field House. The Boys D1 Championship Game is set for 8 p.m.

Proceeds from the 80-team, three-day tournament benefit the education foundations of both school districts.  

“The addition of the Alumni Challenge game gives the fans an opportunity to relive these players’ legendary achievements of yesteryear and to recognize them for their outstanding contributions,” said Ben Meador, chairman of the McDonald’s Texas Invitational organizing committee.

“Many of these athletes had great college careers too. We expect the stands to be filled that evening.”

The Alumni Challenge is sponsored by Loomis International. Larry C. Johnson, president of Loomis, played forward for Deer Park in the 1970s and will be participating in the game.

Alumni coaches are two icons of the area’s basketball past. Directing the Deer will be Ray Landers, who earned four district coach of the year honors during a 12-year varsity coaching career at Deer Park that began in 1971.

Phil Eaton, who played at Pasadena High in the early 1970s and enjoyed a highly successful stint at the Eagles’ head coach in the 1980s, will coach the Pasadena ISD squad.

Landers coached five players on the Deer Park alumni team, including Dan Van Rheen, a high-school All-American in 1973 who played on three Big Eight championship teams at Missouri. Van Rheen played a key role on NCAA tournament teams that advanced deep into regional play.

The Deer Park squad also includes Jason Skaer, a high-school All-American in 1994 who played on Oklahoma State’s Final Four team in 1995.

Several members of the Pasadena ISD alumni team applied their athletics skills to other sports after high school. Don Fogo, a standout center for Sam Rayburn High in the late 1960s, earned a track scholarship to the University of Texas. Russell Schroeder, a 1970 Sam Rayburn grad, landed a baseball scholarship to the University of Houston.

Jeff Wylie, a standout power forward for Pasadena High in the mid-1980s, reigned four years as Southwest Conference high jump champion at Baylor, two earning All-America honors. Wylie played for district championship basketball teams coached by Eaton in 1985 and 1986.

The Pasadena ISD team includes Tim Tingle and Jim Perritt, both record-setting guards at South Houston more than four decades ago. Tingle tied the school records with 33 points in one game in 1967. Perritt broke it three years later with a 42-point performance that included a 20-for-20 show from the free-throw line.

The alumni squads were assembled with balanced consideration for players from each of the past five decades. Players for the Pasadena ISD team were chosen with balanced representation for the district’s high schools in mind, based upon the age of each school.

The Pasadena ISD team includes seven players from Pasadena High, four from South Houston, six from Sam Rayburn and four from Dobie. Kevin Richard, a guard for Memorial in 2005 and 2006, will present the Mavericks.

A ticket to the Alumni Challenge will be good for admission to the Boys D1 Championship Game to follow.

Participants will have their own Alumni Challenge uniforms and will wear special warm-up tops with their old high-school numbers.

The format will pit same-era players playing against other for short periods. An open play period will be held at the end of each half.

Dozens of former cheerleaders and drill team members from Deer Park and the five Pasadena ISD schools have been enlisted to perform at halftime.

See rosters at bottom of page.

  Head Coach: Ray Landers

PASADENA ISD ALUMNI ROSTER