Before his championship seasons at UCLA, before being named the NBA’s most valuable player and before capturing national titles on two teams, Bill Walton was just another kid at Helix High School in La Mesa.
Until he stepped on the court.
“When we were in school, we knew that he was pretty special,” said Pat Albanese, Helix High class of 1971 and a teammate with Walton on the school’s 1970 championship season.
Albanese has organized a tribute to Walton, who died May 27, to be held during halftime at Friday’s varsity basketball game at Helix High, when the school faces University City at 6 p.m.
Helix High graduate and local entertainer Gary Seiler will read narratives written by Walton’s high school teammates Mike Dupree and Randy Madsen.
Former players and staff members, including coach Gordon Nash, are scheduled to appear and be recognized during the ceremony, reuniting in the gym for the first time in more than 50 years.
“There won’t be anything said about UCLA or the NBA,” Albanese emphasized about the Helix High tribute.
The school won the California Interscholastic Federation championship in 1969 with a record 29 wins and two loses and won the CIF championship again in 1970, finishing 33-0 in Walton’s senior year.
The 1970 team was ranked #1 in California and #3 in the nation, and Walton’s 50 points in the championship game stands as a record single-game high for the school.
In a San Diego Union-Tribune article in May, former UT sports reporter Bill Center wrote about covering Walton as he became the best high school player in the nation.
“We had no historical yardstick to put into perspective what we were seeing,” he wrote. Center also recalled that Walton would seldom talk about himself, but shifted conversations to his teammates and his love of Helix High.
“The personal stats he most loved were his assists and blocked shots,” he wrote.
Albanese also remembers Walton for his humility who didn’t like the focus to be on himself.
“He would always tell everybody, ‘We’re a good team, there’s other guys on the team,’” he said. “When we weren’t in the gym, he was just one of the guys. Just a good kid. Very humble. He had fun with everything. That’s how we really saw him.”
Albanese said they knew they were a good team, but they also knew what made them great.
During one game, the team noticed a familiar face sitting in the top row of the bleachers. It was famed UCLA basketball coach John Wooden, making a rare appearance at a high school basketball game to see for himself the young player he had heard rumors about.
“I looked at my teammates on the beach and said, ‘What do you think? Do you think he’s here for us?’” Albanese said, recalling a joke from 53 years ago.
The teammates had not been together since their last time on the court, but news of Walton’s death brought them together again.
