Minium: Cutouts of Sonny Allen, Kenny Gattison, Petey Sessoms and Frank Hassell Will be at the Final Four

By Harry Minium
 
When you sit down to watch the NCAA men's basketball Final Four in Indianapolis this weekend, pay attention when the CBS cameras pan the crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium. Look closely and you might see four smiling and very famous faces from Old Dominion University's storied past looking back at you.
 
Because of the pandemic, the NCAA is limiting attendance to all NCAA tournament games, something I'm sure you've noticed while watching March Madness. And like so many other sports leagues, teams and schools, the NCAA will fill thousands of seats with "cutouts," enlarged photos of a fan or mascot or famous player or coach, for its grand finale. 
 
The NCAA sought four cutouts from all 351 Division I colleges and universities. We only had a few days to respond and while the vote was close, it was decided that the following four people best represented the University for this event.
 
Coach Sonny Allen, who took ODU to its first Final Four – the 1970 Division II Final Four in Evansville, Indiana, where the Monarchs lost in the championship game to the homestanding Purple Aces, was our first choice. He took the Monarchs back to Evansville in 1975, where ODU won its first national title in any sport, beating the University of New Orleans, 76-74.
 
We picked Kenny Gattison to represent coach Paul Webb's teams from his very successful run in the 1980s. Gattison scored 27 points in ODU's 72-64 victory over West Virginia in 1986, the University's first in the NCAA Division I tournament.
 
Petey Sessoms helped ODU claim its second NCAA tournament victory, one of the most dramatic in Monarch basketball history. Sessoms scored 35 points in ODU's 89-81, triple overtime victory over No. 3 seed and Big East champion Villanova in 1995.
 
Fifteen years later, ODU was again a Cinderella when the Monarchs upset sixth-seeded Notre Dame, 51-50, behind 15 points and nine rebounds from Frank Hassell, and a stout defensive effort typical of a Blaine Taylor-coached team.
 
We don't claim that Sonny was the best coach in ODU history nor that Kenny, Petey and Frank were the best players. They were just the most significant people involved with the four most important NCAA tournament victories in our 91 years of playing basketball.
 
A summary of their NCAA Tournament contributions:
 
Sonny Allen came to ODU in 1965, and instantly shook things up, recruiting the first two African American players to a predominantly white Virginia college. ODU had experienced moderate success but that quickly changed under Allen, who recruited and scheduled aggressively, and installed a fast-break offense that left opponents exhausted.
 
In his 10 years at ODU, the Monarchs averaged 85 or more points nine times, including 98.2 points in 1967-68.
 
The 1970 ODU team was led by All-American guard Dave Twardzik. The Monarchs beat Stetson, Norfolk State, both in Norfolk, and then Puget Sound and Kentucky Wesleyan in Evansville to get to the final.
 
Bob Jones was an assistant at Kentucky Wesleyan and had a young son by the name of Jeff Jones, who would grow up to coach at Virginia, American University and now ODU. "I can't remember whether I was there," Jeff Jones said of ODU's victory in the Final Four semifinals.
 
"But it's certainly possible, even likely."
 
Wilson Washington, Joey Caruthers, Oliver Purnell and Jeff Fuhrmann led the 1975 team, which won its last 15 games but had some narrow escapes. ODU trailed Randolph-Macon by 20 points in the regional final at the ODU Fieldhouse before Caruthers and Purnell, a future head coach, got the fast break fired up. ODU won, 83-76.
 
An aside here: Paul Webb coached that Randolph-Macon team and only months later would be named ODU's head coach.
 
The Monarchs steamrolled North Dakota and Tennessee State before beating New Orleans in the final, again in Evansville. I was there that night and a thousand or so ODU fans turned to the place into a Monarch pep rally.
 
Washington had 20 rebounds and 12 blocked shots in the victory over UNO and was named tournament MVP. He and Twardzik were among the finalists we considered for the four cutouts – we wish we could have them as well.
 
Allen later coached SMU and Nevada into the NCAA tournament. Twardzik went on to a pro career with the Virginia Squires and Portland Trail Blazers and has been working with NBA teams ever since. He is color commentator for the ODU sports radio network.
 
Washington went on to a brief pro career before returning to Norfolk, his hometown, where he worked for several automobile dealerships. He recently retired.
 
The 1986 ODU team that defeated West Virginia was talented and deep, but Gattison was the star. The powerful forward from Wilmington, N.C., had nine rebounds and a blocked shot to go with his 27 points and finished the game with four fouls.
 
There wasn't a lot of drama involved in this game. The No. 8 seeded Monarchs led most of the way against the No. 9 seed Mountaineers.
 
Frank Smith, who racked up 883 assists in his career, then the third most in NCAA history, had 11 points and seven assists. Two players from Richmond, Keith Thomas (19 points) and Ronnie Wade (12 points) also played well. Ronnie is the father of current ODU star Jason Wade.
 
ODU got crushed by Duke, 89-61, in the second round, but so did nearly everyone else who played the Blue Devils. Duke beat David Robinson and Navy, 81-60, in the East Regional championship game before losing to Louisville in the national championship game.
 
Gattison was named Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year as a senior and went on to a distinguished NBA career. He played in 494 games and scored 3,923 NBA points.
 
Gattison coached for five NBA teams and two seasons with ODU before being named Vice President of Membership and Player Programming for the National Basketball Retired Players Association (NBRPA), the official alumni organization for former players from the NBA, ABA, WNBA and Harlem Globetrotters.
 
He lives in Charlotte, where, when there's not a pandemic, he's always there when the Monarchs take on the Charlotte 49ers.
 
ODU's 1995 victory over Villanova was the most memorable in ODU history, with the possible exception of ODU's upset of No. 1 DePaul in 1981. It's difficult to pick between Billy Mann scoring two baskets in the final 20 seconds at DePaul or Sessoms scoring 35 points in an incredible 53 minutes of playing time.
 
So, don't. They were both delicious. 
 
My friend Steve Carlson covered ODU for The Virginian-Pilot in 1995 and the lead to his game story was a classic.
 
"In real time, the game lasted almost three hours.
 
"In Old Dominion basketball lore, it will last forever," he wrote.
 
It's been 26 years, but many of us remember that game almost as if it was yesterday. 
 
Sessoms had just seven points at halftime but scored 15 in the second half and 13 in the three overtimes. He sent the game into overtime with three clutch foul shots.
 
There was so much drama, so many big shots, that I can't mention them all, so here is a summary of the nail-biting final seconds. 
 
E.J. Sherod made one of two free throws with 35.3 seconds left to give the Monarchs an 84-81 lead. Sessoms then soared to block a Zeffy Penn shot and scored on a fast-break layup and was fouled.
 
One of the most famous ODU celebration clips then occurred when Sessoms began throwing punches in the air, as if to say, that was the knockout blow.
 
The ODU bench exploded into celebration, as did all of Monarch Nation and millions of fans around the nation who love the underdog. 
 
Mike Jones (19 points in 51 minutes) and Mario Mullen (12 points in 50 minutes) were also ironmen for the Monarchs. 
 
It was the 100th career victory for coach Jeff Capel Jr., who won two CAA titles and 122 games while at ODU. Capel passed away in 2017 after fighting a heroic battle against Lou Gehrig's Disease.
 
Playing with weak legs after three overtimes, ODU lost to Tulsa in the second round, which did nothing to dim the terrific memories of the afternoon in Albany when the eyes of the nation focused on the Monarchs.
 
The CAA Player of the Year as a senior, Sessoms went on to a decade-long pro career in Europe that took him to Portugal, Belgium, Israel, Iceland, France and Poland. A Portsmouth native who went to Cradock High School, Sessoms lives in Los Angeles, where he settled to raise a family.
 
In 2010, ODU was a powerhouse team that won 22 of its last 25 games heading into the NCAA tournament. The Monarchs upset nationally ranked Georgetown earlier that season in Washington D.C. and defeated William and Mary in the CAA championship game.
 
ODU won six games in a row headed into the NCAA tournament, including two victories over VCU in Richmond. 
 
The game with Notre Dame was a bruising defensive contest, with ODU rallying to take the lead late in the second half.
 
Again, the final seconds were frenetic. 
 
Keyon Carter made two free throws with 9.6 seconds left that gave ODU a 51-48 lead.
 
Carleton Scott's 3-pointer rattled around the rim as the clock was winding down, but thankfully rimmed out. Luke Harangody then made the put-back shot as the buzzer sounded. 
 
The Monarchs seemed surprised at game's end when the media described the victory as an "upset."
 
"No surprise at all," guard Darius James told The Virginian-Pilot's Ed Miller. James is now a fundraiser for the Old Dominion Athletic Foundation.
 
"We didn't look at ourselves as an underdog. We know we can play with anybody in the country."
 
And they did so with suffocating defense.
 
Harangody, a Notre Dame star, was shut down by Hassell, Gerald Lee and the Monarchs. He had just two field goals, both in the final minutes.
 
A former Indian River High School star, Hassell has played for a decade in Europe and the Middle East, with stops in Israel, Turkey, Poland and France. He's now back in Israel, 11 years after leading the Monarchs past the Fighting Irish.
 
As for the last Harangody basket, it didn't bother him a bit.
 
"His tip went in, but then I heard the buzzer," Hassell told The Virginian-Pilot's Ed Miller in 2010. "He can have those two points. I'll take the game."

Any day of the week.
 
Sonny Allen died in September and because of the pandemic, the family was unable to hold a planned celebration of his life. The family plans to do so next basketball season at ODU's Chartway Arena but for now, there's been no formal family gathering to share memories of a life well lived.
 
Family members are still in mourning and were touched by the gesture from ODU. I called his son Billy, who choked up a little when I broke the news. The other Allen family members celebrated when I shared the news with them via text message.
 
"That's just awesome," Billy Allen said. "It's just a blessing to know he will be there as much as the tournament meant to Dad.
 
"My Dad always looked forward to tournament time. He loved this time of year and he had such a great history with the tournament.
 
"We're very grateful to Old Dominion."
 
As we are to Sonny, Kenny, Petey and Frank. From California to Israel to Charlotte and a special place in Heaven, we appreciate the great times and fond memories.  
 
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu