LYNN — It was a night full of fond memories and great stories at the Lynn Museum Friday, as all five members of the famous 1979-80 state champion Lynn Classical boys basketball team — dubbed “The Classical Five” — gathered for a celebration event and panel discussion to honor their excellence on and off the court since becoming state champs more than 40 years ago.
The 1979-80 Rams starting five was made up of William “Pancho” Bingham, Angelo “Tony” Thurman, Meryl Brown, James “Sandy” McGee and Stuart Primus.
“This is something that happened 40 years ago, and it was huge for the city of Lynn,” said McGee. “This is big for the history of the city, and I hope it brings us closer together with the youth of the city so we can let them know that this is possible for them, too.”
“We just want to thank everyone for showing all their support over the years, and everyone who helped us out along the way,” said Thurman. “It’s emotional to see the level of appreciation for what we did all those years ago.”
In the 1979-80 season, Classical won the Northeastern Conference Championship by finishing 18-0 before going on to win the Division 2 Championship with a 25-0 record. The Rams then played a unification game against the Division 1 champion Cambridge Rindge and Latin — led by future NBA No. 1 overall pick and 11-time NBA All-Star Patrick Ewing. Classical won the game 94-73, becoming the State Champions of Massachusetts.
“And yes, we all remember that Stuey Primus did dunk on Patrick Ewing,” said Dan Dill, a former coach of the group who served as emcee for the event.
The Rams had four players who reached the 1,000-point plateau for their careers (Bingham, Thurman, Brown and Primus) and one player who finished his career with 1,000 rebounds (McGee).
All five players were named Northeastern Conference All-Stars, Harry Agganis All-Stars and State Scholastic All-Stars. All five also went on to college — Primus at Boston College, Bingham at Boston University, Brown at Framingham State University, Thurman at Boston College for football and McGee at the University of Kansas for football — and all achieved their diplomas. Thurman went on to be named a consensus All-American in 1984, while Primus became the first and only player from Classical to be drafted into the NBA when the Pacers selected him in 1985.
A number of people got up and spoke at the event, including some of the group’s former coaches in Dill and John Hoffman. There were also a number of other players from the Classical basketball team present.
“I’ve had the pleasure of not only coaching these guys 40 years ago, but I’ve become great friends with them and been in their lives since then,” said Dill. “Forty-one years ago, this team went 25-0 and they took on everyone.”
“I just hope that this event is a kick-off for us remembering all of the great athletes and teams from the city of Lynn,” said Hoffman. “We have such a special sports history here. I hope we can keep this going and keep bringing people together through sports in this city.”
The program was offered as part of the “Untold Stories: A History of Lynn” exhibition with the help of program partners North Shore Juneteenth Association, Inc. and Stuart Primus.
