Sam Ragnone Attorney was a dominant recreational league basketball team on virtually every level from the moment the team was formed.
But the Attorneymen, as late Flint Journal sports writer Vince Sikora dubbed them, took it to another level once they added former collegiate and professional stars to the mix in the late 1980’s.
That’s when they became national champions for three years running.
When former NBA players such as Terry Duerod, Greg Kelser and Phil Hubbard, as well as, college star Eric Turner joined longtime Ragnone stars Joel Ragland, Ernest Williams and Spider Edwards, the Attorneymen were unstoppable.
They won three straight national AAU tournaments from 1990-92, a feat that will earn them induction into the Greater Flint Area Sports Hall of Fame Dec. 4 at Genesys Banquet Center.
“It’s such a tremendous honor,” said sponsor Sam Ragnone, who doubled as the team’s coach. “I’m really overwhelmed by it. We just had such a great time together, working hard toward achieving a goal.”
“Being with those guys was a fantastic thing. To share it with so many different guys and their kids, it was a great time. What really made it special was we were representing Flint. I was always so proud of our city and the people in our community.”
“We traveled a lot and representing Flint was very good.”
Ragnone played in the national tournament three times before winning it. The Attorneymen reached the semifinals in 1988 and lost in the finals the following year to David Robinson’s Armed Forces team.
They finally reached the mountaintop in 1990 with a 97-92 victory over the Lafayette Hustlers from Indiana.
Kelser, who helped Michigan State win the 1979 NCAA Championship before playing six NBA seasons, was named the Most Valuable Player after bagging 23 points and 17 rebounds in the title game.
The following year, Ragnone became the first repeat champion since the Armed Forces teams of 1968-72 by once again beating Lafayette, this time by a 110-100 margin.
Duerod made six 3-pointers en route to 29 points and was named the MVP while making the all-tournament team along with Ragland and Kelser. Edwards was named the outstanding defensive player.
Duerod was the MVP again in 1992, when Ragnone knocked off the USA Verich Reps of Ohio 102-93 in the championship game. Duerod had 29 points, Hubbard added 17 and Kelser supplied 12.
“They were always dedicated to playing together,” Ragnone said. “That was the biggest thing: 12 guys on the team and all were superstars. Some played in the NBA.”
“You’ve got Phil Hubbard playing off the bench. Those were the things everybody had to understand.”
Ragnone’s sponsorship started when he was a player and Ragland approached him about funding a new team.
Ragnone agreed although that was something attorneys didn’t do back then.
“Sam was a trailblazer back then,” said Circuit Court Judge Duncan Beagle, a member of the GFASHOF Board of Directors. “He was maybe the first attorney who did advertising of that type.
“He deserves a lot of credit for putting those teams together.”
And Ragnone treated his players in a first class manner according to Turner, a high school All-American for Central in 1981 who played three years at Michigan and is being inducted into the GFASHOF this year as an individual.
Opponents “didn’t care for us,” Turner said. “We weren’t going there to make friends anyway. For us to win three in a row, it was hard to believe. David Robinson was in AAU at the time. You could go on and on about the talent level in those tournaments.”
“One thing about Sam, even though we were competing on a national level, he never forgot the guys who played year round. Spider, Joel Ragland. It was a nice blend of people.”
The Attorneymen were no stranger to top-notch competition when they finally won the national title.
Ragnone beat the Angola National Team twice prior to the 1992 Olympics and there was also the time the Attorneymen went down to Crisler Arena to play Michigan and the Fab Five, perhaps the most celebrated recruiting class in college basketball history.
“They ended up beating (Michigan),” said Beagle, who was at the game. “Spider Edwards, without question, was the best player on the floor. I mean without question.:
Ragnone laughs at that memory.
“That was a huge win,” he said. “Steve Fisher was a friend of mine. I finally convinced Steve Fisher to play us and we beat them in overtime when they were No. 1 in the country”
“Our team would go out and play a schedule against top-ranked college teams. (Duke coach) Mike Krzyzewski would never play us. Most teams wouldn’t play my team. They said we were too good.:
Technically, Ragnone only won two national championships despite winning the tournament three straight years.
After an opponent protested in 1991, the AAU declared the Attorneymen had to forfeit a game because of a roster snafu.
“I really looked at it as sour grapes,” Ragnone says. “We never sent the trophy back. It didn’t diminish our accomplishments and what we achieved.”
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