08/02/2022
Believe it or not St. Petersburg Florida has a bountiful athletic history when it comes athletes putting the city on the map.
Benny Clyde will probably go down as most dexterous basketball player to ever hail from St. Petersburg Florida.
Clyde was the cornerstone of St. Pete High School basketball program as a junior. Nevertheless he never got a chance to play his senior year of high school basketball. Clyde was expelled by the Principal of SPHS Fred Geneva for allegedly extorting money from a student with force. He always maintained his innocence about the incident.
Clyde said, "I did not do it. I don't ever talk about it, but this is what really happened. I bumped into this boy in the hall, he was senior and I was a junior. I said I was sorry, but he never accepted my apology. I said alright what are you going to do about it? We fought and I broke his nose. He went in to see the Principal and told him I was trying to get money from him. Four or five of his friends told the same identical story that Clyde coerced money from his accuser. But it never happened Clyde said." I made a mistake by fighting, I know that, but I didn't do what they say I did."
Clyde had an abundance of help getting through a rough period of his life. His mother worked diligently to support her eight kids. Jamie King the basketball coach at SPHS was very instrumental in Clyde's life at the time and so was Joe Eldson an assistant on the PCSB, who help guide Clyde through a tumultuous time.
He was eventually reassigned to Gibbs High School with the stipulation that he would not be allowed to resume his high school basketball career. He made a declaration to himself, "I got to change."
There was a teacher by the name of Ruby Wysinger who took a vested interest in Clyde. She encouraged him to go to college and she eventually became his personal guidance counselor. Clyde had over 100 colleges vying for his services. Out of all the schools he settled on Ellsworth Junior College in Iowa. He filled out his application and Mrs. Wysinger express mailed it and within weeks he was accepted.
He chose Ellsworth because it was small and he felt he could build a solid foundation there and he did.
Suddenly Clyde become the best player in the schools history, winning a JUCO National Championship, All American honors two consecutive years. The University of Arizona was his next stop until his mother's health started to decline, so he picked Florida State to be closer to her.
FSU then Coach Hugh Durham knew he was "rolling the dice" with Clyde.
In a Sports Illustrated article in 1973 titled Clyde the Glide and the Slide mentioned that "Clyde has a superior basketball skillset, but he trusted no one." Some people grew disenchanted with his detached demeanor."
The adjustment at FSU did not go over well with Clyde, he was suspended on multiple occasions for not attending and fighting with an opponent. He admitted that he was not ready for school and that he was often misunderstood.
He would later drop out of FSU. He tried out for the ABA's Kentuckey Colonels but he was cut two guys that he was better than had no cut clauses in their contracts, so guess who had to move on, Clyde.
The Celtics would select Clyde in the 5th round of the 1974 NBA Draft. They did their investigative homework on Clyde and they discovered he left FSU on "good terms" Celtics head coach Tommy Heinsohn raved about Clyde's athletic ability.
The 74-75 season he earned a spot on the roster and was getting about ten minutes per game on the court, but he was not satisfied with that. When Don Nelson came back off of an injury Clyde's minutes diminished and that did not go over well with him. He bumped heads with Heinsohn and even refused to go in a game. After 23 games he was waived. The next summer they asked him to come back and they even offered him more money and he turned them down. From all accounts it was said that Clyde had the tools to become a bonifide star in the NBA, he could score, rebound and defend with the the best. They were grooming him to step in for John Havlichek upon retirement.
The moral of the story here is that to succeed on any level athletically you must meet academic requirements and keep a positive attitude. Benny Clyde had a profusion of talent but he often got in the way of his own success.
Tommy Heinsohn said it best, "Talent wasn't Clyde's problem, committment was."
All future athletes please committ to academics and always remain humble and teachable and that will carry you a long way in life.
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Written and Compiled By: Phillip M Haywood
