Storm Lake’s dream team

Jaidyn Coon’s coronation last week as Iowa’s Mr. Basketball elevates him in the pantheon of the greatest Storm Lake prep basketball players.

It was the capstone of a remarkable career, where he set the career scoring record at Storm Lake High School, dating back to 1970, while leading the Tornadoes to the state tournament for the second time in 32 years and named to the first-team All-State.

Jaidyn’s accomplishments have earned him attention from Division I coaches across the nation. He was committed to Creighton University until this week, when Bluejays coach Greg McDermott announced his retirement. The 6-7 forward then announced he was open to other offers, including the University of Iowa Hawkeyes where Storm Laker Ben McCollum is the coach.

How does Jaidyn rank among Storm Lake basketball players throughout history?

There have been some dandies over the years. Is Coon the best or, if not, who is?

These are hard questions. It’s hard to compare athletes from different eras because the game and the players have changed so much. Today’s high school players can compete all four years, while 30 years ago freshmen weren’t allowed to play varsity. Also, dunk shots were illegal in high school until 1977, and 3-point baskets weren’t a thing in Iowa high schools until the 1982-83 season. When the high school shot clock was instituted in Iowa in the 2022-23 season, scoring increased as players were required to shoot within 35 seconds, eliminating four-corner offenses that had slowed the games and kept scores low.

Athletes are physically better today, too. In my era in the 1960s, basketball players were discouraged from lifting weights; it was thought this would throw off their touch. Players got their conditioning from baling hay or doing chores on the farm before and after school. Now, strength and conditioning coaches supervise their training on sophisticated weight equipment, and diets are often tuned to their needs.

Officiating has changed too. Defense is much more aggressive today with constant contact in what would have been whistled as fouls three decades ago. Three-second violations and traveling are rarely called now. And the gyms themselves are much different. Floors are 20 feet longer today than the crackerboxes of the past when baskets hung on the walls with no room for out-of-bounds.

So athletes today enjoy some advantages over their predecessors.

Taking all that into consideration, we asked several long-time followers of local athletics who they consider the five players who have had the greatest basketball impact in Storm Lake history.

Here is their consensus of the “Starting 5.”

JIM MECH, St. Mary’s High School. In the early 1950s it was seldom you’d see shots beyond 10 feet. The emphasis was on sure shots like layups. Up until the 1950s teams often scored less than 30 points in a game. Mech, a 6-4 pivot, was the first big man to shoot from the perimeter at a time when taking a shot beyond 10 feet might get you benched as reckless. “He could shoot from the outside before anyone else did,” said teammate Dan Connell, the Storm Lake attorney who played guard for the Panthers. “My job was to feed the ball to Mech,” Connell said. Mech scored 1,983 career points, including an incredible 971 points in the 1955-56 season — fourth highest in state history — as the Panthers went 26-6, losing a 50-46 heartbreaker to Emmetsburg Catholic in the substate finals at Spencer. It was the closest St. Mary’s made it to state until the Panthers finally won the Class A title in 2011. Mech’s talent earned him a scholarship to Creighton University. (Personal note: The 1955-56 Panthers were coached by my uncle and godfather, John Murray.)

BERNIE ROBINSON, Storm Lake High School. This 6-4 center played for the Tornadoes across Cayuga Street from St. Mary’s at what is now South School apartments. Robinson was a left-hander “who controlled the paint and could really move around” and dominate with his big size, recalls Connell. The Tornadoes went to the state tournament in 1956, a great year for local basketball. Bernie is the fourth leading scorer in Tornado history with 1,183 points in three years and received a scholarship at Iowa State University.

“If Jim Mech and Bernie Robinson had played on the same team, they would have been unstoppable,” says Connell. “There’s no team in the state that could have come close to them.”

RON KENNEDY, Storm Lake High School. The legendary 7-foot sophomore helped the Tornadoes to their first state championship in 1968, rallying from 13 behind in the third quarter to beat Des Moines Roosevelt by 10 in the title game. Ron and his 6-9 brother Randy, with a stellar group of teammates, had a spotless 25-0 record. Ron holds the Storm Lake career rebounding record of 981, 348 more than second place Brad Iehl in 1999. Ron was a two-time All-Stater, in 1969 and 1970. He went on to a star career at Arizona State University, where he faced the likes of UCLA greats Bill Walton and Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul Jabbar), whom Kennedy held to eight points in one game. Kennedy was drafted by the NBA’s Kansas City-Omaha Kings, the only Storm Laker to make it to the pros.

DEAN PORTER, Storm Lake High School. Porter’s many admirers think he may have been the best Storm Lake player ever. This 6-6 forward is 10th in the SLHS scoring records with 822 points. He was a junior on the 1969-70 team that finished second in the state championship to Davenport Central. “He was unbelievably good, smooth and a great outside shooter,” recalls Doug Laird, a senior guard on that team that finished 25-1. After Ron Kennedy graduated, Porter took over leadership of the Tornadoes the following year, finishing first team All-State, and generally recognized as Iowa’s Mr. Basketball in 1971. He went on to play at the University of Utah. He became an ER doctor in Chicago.

And, of course, JAIDYN COON.

OTHER GREAT Tornadoes included playmakers Dewey Christensen and Virg Robinson (Bernie’s younger brother) from the 1968 team. “Robinson made that team go,” said Laird, while Dewey was first team All-State, the only member of that championship team so honored. The 1980 state champion Tornadoes also had a great cast of players. And this year there’s senior Cam Boyd, Coon’s teammate, in the SLHS record books finishing first in assists (363) and steals (156), third in scoring (1,422) and seventh in rebounds (434).

Panthers who merit consideration include the Johnston brothers, Dan and John, from the late 1960s and early 1970s. They were prolific scorers and playmakers. John, described by his coach Mike Stence as “the best guard I’ve ever seen,” set the city single-game scoring record of 59 points in 1974 against Newell-Providence, eclipsing Ron Kennedy’s record of 55 in 1970 against Sibley. That feat also ranks Johnston 30th among all single game scorers in Iowa history. Rebounder Kennedy Drey and shooter Luke Lenhart led the Panthers to their state championship and a 27-1 record in 2011.

Many more great basketball players who have thrilled the fans of Storm Lake Tornadoes and St. Mary’s Panthers over the decades merit consideration for this list. Any “Best Of…” compilation is bound to trigger discussions about who is deserving. Let us know some of the players you would include on your list of Storm Lake’s Dream Team. Anyone who nominates me gets a special prize. Send your suggestions to news@stormlake.com.