Known as the "Pied Piper" of Neptune Basketball in the early 80's. Pete was recruited by Neptune after playing at DeMatha High School in Washington ( one of the top basketball schools in the U.S) and the University of Pittsburgh. At DeMatha Pete was coached by the legendary Morgan Wootten and was a teammate of future NBA stars such as Sidney Lowe. Kenny Carr and six-time All Star and NBA Hall of Famer Adrian Dantley. That was followed by his four years as point guard for the University of Pittsburgh a highly ranked Division 1 NCAA school where he set the schools all-time assist record.Strickland played a number of prominent roles for Neptune over a few years as a star point guard, player coach, recruiter and basketball ambassador. Decades later, after coaching at various levels back in the U.S., he was appointed the Head Coach of the Irish National Team in 2016.
But the real reason for Pete's rise to legendary status in Neptune and Cork's basketball history was his role in organizing the Neptune International Tournament in 1981 and the mystical Maryland All Stars starting with their appearance in Cork's Saint Patrick's Day Parade ☘☘☘.
The following links help draw the picture of Pete's historic adventure with Neptune and the Maryland All Stars.
The Pied Piper of Neptune and the Fake All Stars
Pete Strickland and the Maryland All Stars
The Misadventure of the Maryland All Stars
Pete Strickland's Return and Remembering his Adventure in Cork
John Cooney Drinks for FREE
For more details of this story see Chapter 7 of Kieran Shannon's book "Hanging from the Rafters"
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ReplyDeleteRoyal Basketball School began with a vision: to create a year-round basketball for kids encino program, that allows kids of all skill levels to reach their full potential.