As a young man growing up in segregated Thomaston, Georgia, Monroe Banks knew well his community’s “feeding frenzy for basketball.”
He and his friends would gather odd scraps and remnants from discarded materials to create basketball courts on cement, dirt and mud and makeshift heaters for cooler months. Their goal was to play basketball under the most adverse weather conditions.
It paid off. He earned a cherished spot on the George W. Drake High School basketball team. He was among the young men who won state basketball championships thanks to the skills they developed under coaching of the legendary Dr. Eugene P. Walker.
“I still call him Coach Walker,” said Banks, of the man who was the greatest “influencer” in his youth and adult life.
It was a harsh environment for Blacks in Thomaston, Ga, a small, rural hamlet located about an hour’s drive south of Atlanta. Banks, now retired, was born into segregation, yet the societal unfair treatment did not deter him from achieving in his academic, sports and career endeavors in metro Atlanta.
The game of life tips as instilled in him by Walker is how Banks describes success. Below are a few of the lifelong strategies, techniques and advice from Walker to Banks:
- “He taught us to be proud … to do anything you thought you couldn’t do.”
- Put your mind to anything worthwhile.
- Be in great physical shape to “run” athletic opponents “in the ground.”
- “We had fun.”
- Study your competition and design strategies to beat them.
- Don’t be a ball hog. Be a team player to win games.
- Taking a page from the 1962 Georgia Interscholastic Association high school basketball championship game, “pass the ball. The best man in the best position got the shot. We didn’t care who got the points as long as we played the game right … decent.”