50 After 50: No. 21 Mustangs use their ‘Towers of Power’ to make everyone say ’30 and Oh, Baby’

The Illinois High School Association created a second class for boys basketball for the 1971-72 school year. The 2020-21 season would have been the 50th year of the boys basketball small-school tournament. Muddy River Sports is celebrating 50 years of small-school boys basketball by ranking the 50 best teams in Adams, Brown, Pike and Hancock counties since 1972.

No. 21 — 1989-90 Unity

MENDON, Ill. — They sang their way to 30 consecutive victories, belting out a Righteous Brothers tune in the locker room or on the bus. 

They were given the nickname “Towers of Power,” which was apropos with such a dominant frontcourt. 

They even received a letter from a Hall of Fame college basketball analyst with a catchphrase that to this day makes people think of the 1989-90 Unity boys basketball team.

“30 and Oh, Baby.”

Dick Vitale said it best.

While the Mustangs were in the midst of their school-record winning streak — they won 30 straight games to reach the Class A super-sectional and started using “Oh, baby” as their slogan during the undefeated regular season — Sue Kerker, who was the secretary to the Unit 4 superintendent, contacted Vitale, an ESPN analyst, and he responded.

“He wrote a letter and sent us an autographed basketball,” said Van Wilson, who coached the 1989-90 team. “He was really hot at that time. He was full of enthusiasm and excitement. He wrote a little something to us that we read at a pep assembly, so that kind of got everybody fired up. So he put the “Oh, Baby” in the letter, as well as some of his other sayings like “primetime player” and “PTPers” … a little bit of the Vitale schtick.”

The letter and the basketball remain in the Unity trophy case, serving as reminders of one of the greatest seasons in school history.

“It’s something we will always remember,” said Ross Schulte, a starting forward. “It’s something you never forget.”

Nor do any of the Mustangs forget the subtle things that made their run to the sweet 16 so special.

It started before basketball season. Unity made the state football playoffs in the fall of 1989 for the first time in school history, and many of the basketball players played significant roles on the football team.

“We had an extra 10 days or whatever it was of football conditioning,” said Schulte, a wide receiver and kicker for the Unity football team who became an All-American punter at Western Illinois University and spent time in training camps with three NFL franchises. “We didn’t have that layoff before basketball season.

“We got done with football and four days later we were tipping off in the Southeastern Suns Classic. It meant we were in shape from the start.”

They never lost their mojo along the way.

It was a one-point victory at Liberty during the regular season that convinced the Mustangs they were good enough to make a serious run at the state tournament.

Unity led by three with less than 30 seconds remaining when Liberty scored to make it a one-point game. With just four seconds remaining, Schulte took the ball out of bounds and didn’t bother to inbound, letting the clock run out on their victory.

“The ref handed me the ball and I turned to him and said, ‘With only four seconds left, I can’t get a five-second call, right?’” Schulte said. “He stood there and looked at me and said, ‘No, sir, you can’t.’ So I stood there and held the ball. I didn’t even try to throw it in.”

The rematch came in the regional finals with Unity and its sizable frontcourt — Don Robbins, Frank Mayfield and Schulte all were 6-foot-6 or taller which led to the “Towers of Power” moniker — winning 59-54 in the Payson Regional. It was Unity’s first regional title since 1973.

“Everyone kept telling us we should lose a game before we get to regionals so we know what it’s like,” Schulte said. “I was like, ‘No, we don’t.’ And we didn’t need to.”

The Mustangs didn’t experience losing until a 62-53 loss to Pittsfield in the super-sectional.

“They were quick,” Schulte said. “They were faster than we were.”

It put a strain on Unity’s defense.

“It was the only game in my high school career that I fouled out,” Schulte said.

Coming that close to an elite eight berth without grabbing it hurt. It still does.

“It still stings a little,” Schulte said.

There is some regret, too.

“Well, I think as a coach you do (regret not getting there), because you want that for them,” Wilson said. “They were capable of it. That Pittsfield team really, really played well. We thought we were prepared for their pressure, and they had such good guards. They ran this run and jump trap all the time, and we knew it was coming. We just didn’t respond to it as well as I’d hoped. But we never gave up, and we made a second half run. 

“Our kids never quit, and that’s why they won 30 in a row. They played hard all the way to the end. I never thought we were out of anything. So I think it took away a little of the sting. When you have a year like that, you have to have such good kids to work with. It was a great group of kids, and we had good balance on the team.”

And tremendous camaraderie.

“We were close,” Schulte said. “During basketball season, we would go to somebody’s house, whether it was one of the girls on the cheerleading squad or one of the guys on the basketball squad, and we’d watch movies. There were 14 or 15 of us. We did everything as a group.

“We’d go to Pizza Hut. We’d go roller skating. It was as a group. We did things together. We were close. We were good friends.”

In 2010, they celebrated the 20-year anniversary of the “30 and Oh, Baby” season with a reunion, and the legacy of that group can still be felt in basketball circles today. Will Klusmeyer, the son of Richard Klusmeyer, who was a senior shooting guard on the 1990 team, played on Unity’s 2014 team that finished third in the Class 1A state tournament.

Schulte’s daughter, Delanee, comes off the bench for the state-ranked Unity girls basketball that is playing for a regional title this weekend. And Robbins’ son, Logan, is a starter on the Liberty boys basketball team that is 24-5, ranked fourth in the state and the top-seeded team in its Class 1A regional.