In high school sports, St. Augustine High School, a Black, all-male private high school, led the Louisiana Interscholastic Athletic Literary (LIALO). The champions of the white league, Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) was Jesuit High, another all-male institution. At the end of the 1965 regular season, the teams had 30-0 and 29-1 records, respectively, and Hap Glaudi, a WWL-TV sports commentator during the 60’s, reportedly asked, "Why shouldn’t these two outstanding teams play against each other?" Glaudi was of the impression that there was nothing wrong with two local Catholic schools playing each other in a game of basketball, no matter the races of those players. The schools did indeed play each other, and years later the historic basketball game between Jesuit and St. Augustine interested Hollywood enough to create a fantasy, made-for-television movie, "Passing Glory." This movie left reality to the past and its significance to obscurity.

In defense of the movie's inaccuracies, Harold Sylvester, the athlete turned actor who wrote it said, "Passing Glory is a story, but not history." For a movie based on such an historical event, however loosely the basis, it unfortunately possessed little accuracy as to what actually happened before, during and after the game. As a staff sportswriter of the city’s afternoon newspaper, The States-Item, and the first Black sportswriter of a daily paper in the south, I was present at the game, and feel it's time to set the record straight!

I covered the city’s Black high school sports beginning in 1960 because white reporters wouldn’t. As a reporter, I viewed the white games as well. I always felt, secretly, that the best teams of the LIALO (Black basketball league) were superior to those of the LHSAA (white basketball league).

I was aware of the social implications of a game between the two high school champions. Many knew it would have been a match made in heaven, but legally and racially, it was unthinkable at the time. The Jesuit Blue Jays would have been suspended from the tightly structured and segregated LHSAA if they had played St. Augustine in a regularly scheduled basketball game.

The instigating Hap Glaudi and his on-air references, piqued the interest of all who listened. Many of us who were familiar with Hap’s stance on race, could not believe he was sincere.

St. Augustine principal, Father Grant, called me and asked what I thought about the "reality of the two teams playing."

"If Hap Glaudi is interested in such a game, there must be many more people thinking the same way," I answered.

A day later, I was asked by an administrator at Jesuit, if I thought a game between the two schools would result in racial discord.

"Heck no! Not a chance," was my resounding reply.

The following day, a Jesuit administrator established the conditions to be agreed upon by St. Augustine in order for the game to take place. These conditions stated that the game must be held in the Jesuit gym, the game's officials would be chosen by Jesuit, and the only spectators would be a few school administrators.

Father Grant and St. Augustine Coach, Nick Conner, readily agreed to their terms, believing that this contest would help integrate the Archdiocese of New Orleans. Coach Conner felt that this game, or scrimmage, whether help in public or private would be an easy contest to coach.

The Jesuits, on the other hand, had conflicting emotions about the match. The Jesuit players’ boastful youth and longstanding beliefs of racial superiority made them confident that they could win. Initially, Jesuit’s head coach and principal did not want the match, perhaps because they felt their team was not as talented as their cross-town counterparts.

The St. Augustine squad of Isiah King, Harold Sylvester, Noel Foucher, Charles Manego, Lawrence Girard, Bobbie Sardie, Frank Adams, Albert White, Terrance Saulny and Ernest Johnson were athletically superior to Jesuit’s Billy Fitzgerald, Chris Jennings, Faban Mang, Ronnie Britsch and Joe Williamson.

A comparison of the once-defeated Blue Jays and undefeated Purple Knights was easy because the teams typified the difference(s) of how basketball was played by teams in the old LHSAA and teams in the all-Black LIALO. For the most part, LHSAA basketball teams in the 60’s were similar to the 1965 Jesuit Blue Jays, while the LIALO teams were a carbon copy of St. Augustine (or attempted to be).

Historical inaccuracies:

The movie "Passing Glory" contained several historical inaccuracies. First of all, the personality of the 1965 St. Augustine team was never revealed in the movie. Also, Coach Nick Connor’s all important role in the event was never exhibited. The movie depicted the coach of St. Augustine as a young priest having neither coaching experience nor, for that matter, any knowledge of the game of basketball. In truth, by 1965, Coach Connor had been the head basketball coach at St. Augustine for 14 years, and had served as head football coach for 12 years.

The movie also inaccurately portrayed the game as an extension of an earlier confrontation between players on the two teams, while in reality, the players only knew of each other, but had never met before the game, socially or athletically.

Additionally, the high-drama of the movie was a calculated misrepresentation of how close the contest was. In reality, St. Augustine's victory was never in doubt, having established a 14-point lead with 2:10 remaining in the first quarter. This lead was never threatened as the contest progressed. In the second half , Coach Connor played his entire squad as The Purple Knights continued to embarrass the Blue Jays. The final score of 81-59 was a true indication of the difference in the talents exhibited in this game.

Creative license aside, the movie engages in a cinematic injustice in its attempt to interfuse the personalities of Isaiah King and Harold Sylvester. Realistically, it would be impossible to develop a single personality-image of King and Sylvester. This would be unrealistic because they were so different in appearance, as players and as students.

Both measured in the basketball-neighborhood of 6-feet and 6 inches, King’s longer arms giving one the impression that he was taller. These long arms enabled him to "play" taller. As basketball authorities acknowledge, the arms of a basketball player provide a significant advantage in rebounding and shooting over the outstretched arms of an opponent. Additionally, King was never serious about basketball, his classes or his books. But man, could he jump and score!

Sylvester, on the other hand, was a more methodical and heady player. As the best rebounder on the ’65 team, he knew how to get into the proper position for rebounds. He certainly would have scored more if King had not been on the team. Sylvester was quiet, bookish and a very good student. And he proved it by obtaining a four-year undergraduate degree from Tulane University while a varsity athlete.

Importantly, the movie neglected to properly portray the serious demeanor of a vast majority of the St. Augustine High School students, and chose instead to portray the students as undisciplined and playful. However, Father Grant and Joseph Verrett, as the school’s principal and assistant principal, ran a very tight ship, with zero tolerance for foolishness and frivolity. Having viewed St. Augustine’s athletes during the 50’s and 60’s during Father Grant’s regime, I never saw one athlete on the field, court or track behave in a manner that was in contrast to the ideals promoted by the school’s administrators.

Jesuit's players were truly a team. The Jesuit coach, Dick Frances, obviously had drilled the team concept into each member of his squad. This concept has its advantages when there is a shortage of outstanding athletic talent. The Purple Knights were not as conscious of executing precise plays as Jesuit was. Coach Frances’ team depended upon "picks and rolls" because they played within the team concept. St. Augustine's play was highlighted by the individual skills of King, Sylvester, Foucher and Manago.

St. Augustine's team possessed outstanding athletic abilities. Guards Noel Foucher and Charles Manego were all-city honorees in four and three sports respectively. King and Sylvester were great offensive and defensive players. Jesuit did not have a single player of the overall talents of Foucher, Manego, King and Sylvester.

I am not saying that the Jesuit starters of Mang, Jennings, Fitzgerald, Ronnie Britoch and Joe Williamson were not very good players (their record would undermine any such suggestion). Jesuit was a good team, but St. Augustine had so much talent that the team concept wasn’t as necessary as when talent is limited.

Those who watched and remembered the 1965 St. Augustine basketball team, will have to agree with Coach Connor when he stated…"It was the easiest team to coach that I experienced in all of my years at St. Augustine. King, Sylvester, Manago, and Foucher all were ideal players to coach. Fouls didn’t bother us because we had so much talent on the bench," laughed Coach Connor.

What the contest did achieve was quite obvious at that time: it allowed two Catholic schools in the same Archdiocese to trust each other. That there needed to be a semi-private basketball game between two Catholic high schools within the same city was in my estimation, a sad commentary upon the state of the Archdiocese of New Orleans in 1965.

As proof of how this game engendered trust within the Archdiocese, St. Augustine was invited to participate in the annual Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) basketball tournament for the first time several months later. Xavier Prep, another historically Black Catholic high school in New Orleans, also participated for the first time in 1965.

St. Augustine went to the finals that first year. However, a year later they won the CYO tournament and Harold Sylvester was named the Most Valuable Player.

Those of us who can vividly recall the social and legal conditions which existed in 1965, can appreciate the candid approach taken by the two schools (especially Jesuit), in acknowledging this event. It would have been easier (as the racial rationale existed in ‘60’s) not to acknowledge this event. Time, apparently, contributes to candidness, as well as other positive attributes!

Ironically, this game had repercussions for the two teams in a different manner, as each went on to play in their respective prep association state tournaments.

Jesuit had more to "prove" after losing the scrimmage/game to the Purple Knights. They "reestablished" their cage credibility by winning the 1965 LHSAA championship.

Coach Connor’s squad was unable to duplicate its outstanding performance against Jesuit. Thus, they lost an LIALO first round game to a team (Scotlandville) they had defeated during the regular season.

Years later Coach Connor gave an unemotional belated resolve to the ’65 game against Jesuit: "I would have preferred losing that scrimmage to Jesuit and winning the 1965 LIALO state championship," stated the affable Coach Connor who is now retired. Coach Connor’s desire to win an LIALO championship rather than the scrimmage against Jesuit is a part and parcel of every coach’s psyche: championships outline everything else.

For Jesuit that game/scrimmage probably produced a greater desire to win the LHSAA championship. For the Purple Knights their season became a success with the Jesuit game/scrimmage victory.

As Coach Connor expressed years later: " I knew our season was over the moment we departed from the Jesuit gym."