For the latest news, visit our news site, LAist.com. Documentary 25 years in the lives of the 1992 Morningside High School (Los Angeles) basketball team. And it wasnt just about taking home the title. "We got invited to the Sundance film festival with Hardwood Dreams -- the same festival that Hoop Dreams was premiering at, which of course we knew nothing about," Tollin says. Ive compiled a playlist of all the listed documentaries that can be found on YouTube at the time of creating this post. Can't wait to see the Morningside 5. She was an Olympic silver medalist and played professional volleyball in Japan. Inside 30 for 30: Breakaway. By the following year, the state title had transformed them into folk heroes and garnered the attention of recruiters from Division 1 schools. He ties in the conference's rise with that of ESPN and shows how the two forces combined to change college basketball into the form we know today. Interestingly, few basketball scenes are shown; the films focus is on the lives of the players away from the gym. At the time Bias was considered one of the best athletes in college basketball with some scouts believing he was prospect than Michael Jordan at the time. Now I live closer to Morningside High than I did to Palo Alto High back in 1993. "Baltimore Boys," co-directed by Marquis Daisy and Sheldon Candis, will air at 8 p.m. Flora Jean "Flo" Hyman (July 31, 1954 - January 24, 1986) was an American athlete who played volleyball. Hoop Dreams was happening at the exact same time (unbeknown to us) and this behemoth was about to change the sports media landscape as we knew it, but we went merrily along our way and started digging around the Los Angeles inner city schools and found this school in Inglewood that had an esteemed reputation for basketball excellence and had just won the state basketball title, plus their five pre-eminent players were all returning for their senior years It was kind of set up perfectly. But life and sports often dont turn out the way we plan . The 1993 Palo Alto Vikings won the California state basketball championship. Like Up (and Richard Linklaters Boyhood), one of its more striking cinematic features is watching the subjects physical transformations on film. Also Read: Stephanie McMahon, Mark Giordano Among Winners at ESPN Sports Humanitarian Awards. I wanted to be in an everyday type of situation. I called Tom Brady to ask if it was true that Michigan was interested him and vice versa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-V_2dvL-nk. But for Stais Boseman and Donminic Ellison, who both played in various European basketball leagues, it was something else entirely. "The Price of Gold" The Tonya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan scandal was one of the most disgraceful in women's sports. Simpson drove that white Bronco, but do you remember what else happened that day? 29. Teachers, administrators and coaches are interviewed about the five players. I just wanted something a lot more stable. Particularly the 18-year-old star of the team with off-court issues, Ed Booger Smith. In the meantime, what is next forMandalay Sports Media? What I love about this film is it isnt really a story of triumph or tragedy in any great measure it is a film about real lives.. 30. He was a part of the original 30 for 30 series in 2009 with his production of Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?, a film that has taken on additional relevance because of what it reveals about a certain former New Jersey Generals owner named Trump. "So we got a bit overshadowed by that juggernaut, but it was so personal, such a seminal film for us, that I never really let it go.". ESPN '30 for 30': 'Morningside 5' Revisits LA High School Basketball Stars 25 Years Later. Also Read: Spike Lee Honors Prince With Purple People Party in Brooklyn. Needing at least a 700 score on the Scholastic Aptitude Test to play college basketball as a freshman, he has failed the exam twice. ET on ABC. But the kicker, is the players are accompanied by donkeys on the court! Easy enough. But since this is no cautionary tale, the consensus among Boseman, Ellison, and Gordon is emphatically not that never achieving their NBA ambitions constitutes a personal failure. Will there be another Morningside installment in the future? Everybody wants the same thing. What unfolded that year en route to LeMond becoming the first American to win the Tour showed how cycling is a constant struggle between rivalry and friendship; individual and team. On the surface, the film is about sports, but it is much deeper and really about other things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGv5D-ZW4p0. They really capitalized on some of the negativism, Daniels said. Co-directors Bobbito Garcia and Kevin Couliau visit over 180 outdoor courts in New York City. He followed up in 2004 with Hardwood Dreams: Ten Years Later, which premiered on Spike TV, but struggled for distribution afterwards. 25. Their unlikely success came through a series of nine overtime and one point games. People dont know the energy generated by the positive things that go on.. It will give them a new perspective on the journey it takes to realize their dream. 22. I had an idea to try and find an inner city high school in which the profile was largely related to athletic achievement in the face of academic underachievement. 13. It is the second largest high school after Inglewood High School in the city. But its a challenge to make sure you dont say the wrong thing.. Unfortunately, Hank Gathers died on the court in 1990 and this documentary shares what happened. Also Read: ESPN's Latest '30 for 30' Film Spotlights Brilliant But Troubled Soccer Star George Best. 15. The story of Kevin Laue and his dream to be the first one-armed basketball player ever to receive a scholarship and play on an elite NCAA Division 1 basketball team. With the help of some creative animated pieces, Michael Bonfiglio delves through fact and fiction to explore the incredible legend Bo built around himself -- and what he left behind. Each player is separately shown in situations: during classes; games; motivational speeches by NFL Hall of Famer Jim Brown, former Notre Dame basketball coach Digger Phelps and then-Laker guard Byron Scott; private interviews, and just walking around campus. I gotvery close with [30 for 30 co-creator] Connor Schell, and he was always encouraging me to bring something that was really my film, that I was personally attached to and would direct. Andres Escobar was a hero to the people of Colombia, yet the national team he played for was bankrolled with by the infamous drug kingpin Pablo Escobar. Documents the arrival and adaption that Yao Ming had to go through in coming to America from China, including his first season in the NBA. The film then follows each player as they transition to college and semi-pro basketball along with all of the personal and political travails that accompanied it and the heartbreaking realization that an NBA career just wasnt in the cards. I think its time for me to kind of pursue a regular lifestyle, Ellison said. The film, which won a Peabody Award in 2009, about the history of basketball played at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. "Didn't even make the cut. Unfortunately, he found himself in prison after a few questionable life choices (He was arrested and imprisoned for holding up a Blockbuster Video with a water gun). The Morningside players believe they would have won if Harris, their point guard, had been able to play. Mike Tollin:I was always a documentary guy at heart, and when I moved to L.A. A 2009 documentary exposing the truth behind the Seattle SuperSonics tragic exodus after 41 years in the Emerald City. With the likes of Zion Williamson and LaMelo Ball taking the Internet by storm with flashy dunks and long range three-pointers, high school basketball is seemingly having an awakening of sorts. Amid their title defense in 1993, Dwight Curry gave voice to the lofty collective dream of promising young athletes everywhere: I feel like weve all got the talent to do it. From The U to The Two Escobars, we count down the 30 greatest documentaries that ESPNs critically-acclaimed series has gifted us. Member-supported news for Southern California. All but one of them has moved away from basketball and theyre alljust finding their way in the world, Tollin told TheWrap. Set to be shown on ESPN on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m., the 90-minute presentation from the ESPN Films group is narrated and directed by Mike Tollin, who put together the original documentary in 1993. All eight players went on to play in the NBA. Also Read: Veteran Kirstie Ennis Makes Historic Summit Climb for Heroes Project. "Pony Excess" is Matula's retelling of that scandal, digging into the football team's dealings with oil tycoons and corrupt politicians in a city and decade that was consumed by greed. 17. The film then picks up ten years after the men graduated high school and finds them in the real world. During this time, many of the guys find themselves still chasing basketball dreams overseas while others are trying to fit into society. And how he put a country of 1.2 billion people on his back as they watched him compete with the best players in the world. Hooked is the story of one of the greatest players to never make the NBA, Demetrius Hook Mitchell. Stais Boseman, Dwight Curry, Dominic Ellison, Sean Harris and Corey Saffold were the stars of the 1992 state high school championship basketballteam from Morningside High School in Inglewood, California. The story of one of the countries best high school coaches, Bob Hurley Sr, and his commitment to improving the lives of the players at St Anthonys and giving them hope for the future. "Fernando Nation" In 1959, the Latino residents of L.A.'s Chavez Ravine were forcibly evicted so their homes could make way for the construction of Dodger Stadium. Harris was disqualified as valedictorian, suspended from the team and forced to miss the final game. Life happens. I agree with TheWrap's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and provide my consent to receive marketing communications from them. Age: Dec. at 31 (1954-1986) Birthplace: Los Angeles, USA, California, Inglewood. Dwight Curry: Didnt play last season at El Camino College. But instead of just lamenting their defeats, "Four Falls of Buffalo" becomes a love letter to the city the Bills call home, as well as a call to really consider just what the Bills managed to achieve. It details the court trial he was involved him and how it became a night that would define Iversons young life. In popular culture In 1993, Wesley Snipes narrated the documentary, Hardwood Dreams, following five MHS seniors during their last high school basketball season as they dreamt of the National Basketball Association. It's as much about the players as it is about how they are shaped by their hopes and dreams, even if they don't always pan out. It updates the original documentary on the Morningside HS basketball team of '92 to 25 years later. By far the best basketball documentary ever made is Hoop Dreams. We would just pick up the five guys based on certain events, like Stais was about to have a baby, so we went to Minnesota, Corey decided he wanted to try out to make a comeback in Toronto, so we went to Toronto. People have to ask themselves questions if you are not Zion [Williamson] or LaMelo [Ball], Producer Mason Gordon tells SLAM. Ratings and box office records come and go, but being able to make a change is what makes it worth while. But the best team I covered didn't produce any household names. Click the article below to see a CBS piece on the construction progress of the the NFL stadium being built in Inglewood. Copyright 2023 SLAM Media Inc. SLAM, SLAMTV, SLAM MEDIA and the SLAM logo are registered Featuring many highlights of the young crew, we are privileged to see the beginnings of someone soon to become the greatest basketball player in the world. Carl Franklin, who coached NBA players Byron Scott and Elden Campbell at Inglewood Morningside High and spent more than 40 years as an educator, administrator and coach, died Tuesday morning at. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1hRTlHmxums. 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As in the Chicago of Hoop Dreams, chapter one of the film is set against the backdrop of poverty, gang violence, and social unrest in Los Angeles circa 1992. Morningside 5 premieres Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. "Four Falls of Buffalo"It hurts to watch your team lose a title. Explore what really motivated Michael to move to baseball. Now after watching the documentary, I'll be name-dropping the Morningside 5 to say that I covered the last game of that team featured on 30 for 30. "Slaying the Badger" The 1986 Tour de France is widely considered to be the greatest story in cycling history. Before the aforementioned two became household names in this digital eraand even before LeBron James did for that matterhigh school hoops were an integral part of any local community. After chronicling their senior year in 1993sHardwood Dreams,Tollin whos also the co-founder of Mandalay Sports Media went on to direct and produce feature films such as Varsity Blues and Radio, plus TV hits including Smallville,One Tree HillandArli$$, but fate would always draw him back to Morningside. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNz4_cxyvBw. In 1992, the Morningside Monarchs became Inglewood's first and only state champs. Inside 30 for 30: Al Davis vs. "Bull Durham" director Ron Shelton, himself a former minor league player, goes inside the motives that led one sport's greatest ever to enter a sport where he was outmatched by so many. At the premiere in Los Angeles last year, the film raised $28,246 for the Inglewood School District, most of which went to the Morningside athletic department. I believe were all gonna make it., It is at this point in the film that legendary Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps meets with the team and does his best to strip them of this illusion. It was a gamble, Daniels said. Created in 1997, Soul in the Hole is a lesser-known film that documents a team from Brooklyn called Kennys Kings as they prepare for the Soul in the Hole championship tournament. Michael Beasley2. In Morengo, Illinois, Moregno High School hosts basketball games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilJQsBLAIE0. Those five starters were Jalen Rose, Ray Jackson, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, and Jimmy King. Jordan Rides the Bus A look into Jordan's life when he decided to give up the game of basketball and pursue a career in baseball. (Full Explanation of the Rules), Are Double Rims Harder to Shoot On? It wasnt as annoying as people might think, he said. ESPN+ Inside 30 for 30. What kind of impact did Hardwood Dreams have when it was released in 1993? Let us know in the comments below which one is your all-time favorite! "I would crawl out there every night, and [] Cinema Specialist . The only disappointing thing about this documentary is Chris Webber deciding not to participate in it. Theres so much to learn and players always enjoy watching them. Morningside High School 2022 Rankings Morningside High School is ranked # 12,670 in the National Rankings . Its like they all have such distinctive character profiles. "Hillsborough""Hillsborough" covers the human crush at an FA Cup match between Liverpool andNottingham Forestin 1989 that killed 96 people. A documentary directed by Spike Lee that follows Kobe Bryant during one of the most important games of the season against the San Antonio Spurs. It's pretty amazing when you see this arc of 25 years of these lives. [3] ET on ESPN. "But with this, it's neither. Experiencing different values, different cultures, and learning a whole lot about myself, and the world, learning all these interpersonal skills.. Sean Harris: San Diego State, not playing basketball. "We promised to treat the kids fairly and with respect, and off we went, and we had full access," Tollin says. The 1994-95 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team represented the University of California, Los Angeles in the 1994-95 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. August 8, 2017, 3:39 PM. Weve had a couple of screenings people really dug in and got on for the ride. Thats why we presented it as we did, where you see an abridged version of the first two films to really set up where they are today. Morningside 5 airs Tuesday, August 8 at 9:30 EST on ESPN. Sentinel) The College Football Playoff (CFP). 25 years in the lives of the 1992 Morningside High School (Los Angeles) basketball team. Directed by Steve James watch on HBO Max [Released in 1994 and directed by Steve James, Hoop Dreams follows the journey of two high-school students in Chicago Williams Gates and Arthur Agee .