OUR MISSION

DC Basketball’s mission is to encourage local youth to view basketball as a door to a wider world, athletic or otherwise- and provide a network of former (and current) players to facilitate those opportunities. To increase appreciation for Greater Washington's contribution to the game. To further knowledge of those who have contributed to this rich history. To preserve local basketball history through documentation, preservation and restoration, collection, digitization, and awards and ensrhinement of deserving performers.

 

 

Pennington Greene

Pennington Greene was an All-Met and All-County basketball player at Parkdale High School, where he graduated in 1974. There he was voted Player of the Week in the Metro area (for his play vs. Northwestern H.S.), which earned him a spot on the Sam Jones Show. As a senior, he was second in the Metro area in scoring with 25.7 points per game, going over 30 five times, and hitting 18 of 20 free throws vs. Largo. His team won the Prince George's County championship.

Greene also played on the legendary Executive III AAU team with teammates Skip Wise and Moses Malone, two of the best schoolboy players in history. Local fans still speak in hallowed tones of his picture perfect jumpshot and explosive offensive moves, but Greene prided himself on his strong defense. In high school, he held All-Met St. Anthony's guard (and eventual Georgetown star) Jonathan Smith to 11 points, and outscored PARADE All-American Stacy Robinson, himself a Washington legend, 30 to 22 in one matchup. Penny played his college basketball at the University of South Florida, for former Virginia Coach Bill Gibson. At USF he started as a freshman, was named Most Improved Player as a sophomore, and that year broke the school single game assist mark with 15 vs. South Carolina, who featured future NBA players Mike Dunleavy and Alex English, and were coached by Hall of Famer Frank McGuire. His 142 assists as a junior broke a school record. Greene was the first USF player to score 1,000 career points, facing squads such as North Carolina (with Phil Ford), Dayton (with Johnny Davis and John Paxson), Cincinnati (Pat Cummings, Gary Yoder, Eddie Lee), and Auburn (Eddie Johnson, Mike Mitchell). His senior efforts earned him a spot on the Shoney's SEC All-Star team vs. the ACC All-Stars (though USF was not an SEC school). Kentucky's Joe B. Hall was the coach. Greene was also named All-Florida, and second team All Sun Belt Conference, being the only conference player in 1979 with over 500 points, 100 assists and 100 rebounds. He led the Bulls in free throw perecentage in 1974-75, assists in 1975-76 and 1976-77, in scoring in 1978-79, and in steals in both 1977 and 1979.

Penny left South Florida as the school's career assist leader, and was invited to try out for Coach Hubie Brown's 1979 Atlanta Hawks. He has been a camp counselor and coach at Lefty Driesell's Basketball Camp, with Executive III, and worked as an announcer for the University of Tampa basketball program. He earned his B.A. is Business Management from the University of South Florida. At the Xerox Corporation, he was Branch Salesman of the Year two of a possible three years. He has also served as a senior sales representative for United Airlines, where he performed promotional presentations for up to 100 agents. Recently he has worked as vice president of Miami's Gershon Group, president of Pro Home Consultant, and a loan officer with Discount Funding of Ellenwood, Ga. He is currently a real estate developer in Greater Atlanta www.tuscanyhillsga.com. His passion for the preservation of Washington area basketball history is the impetus behind DC Basketball. Penny can be contacted at 770-374-4750.

 

 

John Battle

Reverend John S. Battle has committed himself to pleasing God by serving others. He not only shows his faithfulness to God's people through the church, but is no stranger to his community. Rev. Battle holds a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from Rutgers University in New Jersey. After playing in the National Basketball Association for twelve years, he retired and became an entrepreneur. In addition to owning several restaurants in the Jock & Jill's chain since 1987, he was also the president of a construction and renovation company based in Washington D.C. that specialized in the development of multi-family dwellings, which created modern and affordable housing in the community. Among his many roles, he was also the president of the Battle Foundation, a community service organization that provides food to the hungry in the Atlanta area. The organization has helped to feed over sixty-thousand people since it began in 1995. Rev. Battle is a former member of the Newnan Georgia Chamber of Commerce and currently holds membership in the Tyrone Georgia Rotary Club.

As a highly sought-after motivational speaker, Rev. Battle has encouraged several groups including prisoners at the Rutgers University Rahway State Prison, The Washington D.C. School Board, and a host of churches and sports' organizations. Currently, he focuses upon uplifting in the community and enhancing the environmental and economical status of the community.

Rev. Battle’s former roles as Assistant Pastor of Little Vine Baptist Church in Tyrone, Georgia and Youth Pastor at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Washington D.C., and currently the Associate Pastor at New Shield of Faith Christian Ministries help him to service the people and achieve his goals. A native of Washington, D.C., he played basketball at McKinley Technical H.S. (where all of his first five teammates received major college scholarships), and was an All-East performer at Rutgers. There he averaged 21 points per game in both 1983-84 and 1984-85. He scored 1,385 points for the Scarlet Knights. Battle played 10 years for the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA, averaging double digits in scoring four different seasons. He is truly carrying out a vision that he has received from the Lord.

 

 

Bijan C. Bayne

Bijan C. Bayne is an award-winning Washington-based freelance writer, and author of “Sky Kings: BlackPioneers of Professional Basketball“, which was named to the Suggested Reading List of the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004. The book is also cited in “Booktalks Plus: Motivating Teens to Read” by Lucy Schall. In July 2002, Bayne, who speaks Spanish, won the Robert Peterson Research Award for his presentation “The Struggle of the Latin American Ballplayer”, given at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, N.Y. He currently writes for “Pro Basketball News”.

Bayne’s chapter on Black baseball in North Carolina appears in the book “Baseball in the Carolinas” (McFarland 2002). In addition to appearing in the upcoming documentary on the historic International League Baltimore Orioles, “The Forgotten Birds”, Bayne has been interviewed on radio programs in Puerto Rico, Boston, Providence, Durham, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. A member of United States Basketball Writers Association, his essay on schoolyard basketball appears in the anthology “Basketball in America” (Haworth 2005). Bayne has been a writing instructor in afterschool programs and at adult education centers, as well as a public relations writer. He is currently at work researching a documentary film.

Bayne has guest lectured on the social significance of the life of Jackie Robinson each year since 1996 at The George Washington University, at classes, and events such as Charter Day 1996 and Unity Week in 1999. His travel articles have appeared in AAA Horizons, Family Digest, Atlanta Goodlife, Ohio magazine, Arrington’s Inn Traveler, and Hotel Executive, and his book reviews have been featured in “Washington Post Book World”, “The Boston Herald”, Wild River Review, and The Crisis. He is a columnist for Sports Central, and has served as a consultant for film, television and corporate clients such as Aviva Kempner, Jennifer Lawson, and Jay Smith, Spike Lee, Nike, and CINE. On June 10, 2006, Bayne was a panelist at the annual conference of Washington Independent Writers, on the topic of marketing as an independent writer. He is an Executive Board member, and Media Relations Director of the Association for Professional Basketball Research.

His sports commentary may be heard most Monday’s, Wednesday’s and Friday’s at 8 p.m. EST on Outsider Radio. Bijan C. Bayne’s sports analysis and NFL blog have earned him a spot in High Heat Radio’s “Living The Dream” competition, wherein sports bloggers will compete for a salaried national radio talk show. He is the weekly radio sports commentator for http://www.blackcoffeechannel.com/, and a frequent arts and sports history contributor to “The Bay State Banner”. Bayne is a member of the Southern Documentary Fund.

 

 

Archie Talley

Archie Talley was an All-State basketball player at Central High School, from which he graduated in 1972. He is currently the owner of Archie Talley Presentations, Inc. No list of the greatest schoolyard, scholastic, collegiate, or summer league basketball players from D.C. is complete without Talley's name. Making a difference in young people's lives is his life's work. He holds a Master's Degree in Education from Salem (W. Va.) International University, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree as well. At Salem, Talley earned College Division All-America, and Player of the Year honors in 1975-76. He was named to "Who's Who Among American Universities and Colleges for Academic Achievement" (1976). His records at the college level include, but are not limited to: scoring 50 points four different times in the same week, erupting for 60 points vs. Alderson-Broadus University, a 40.8 scoring average in 1975-76, the all-time career scoring mark of the West Virginia Interstate Athletic Conference- 3,720 points, a single-season output of 1,347 points in 1976, topped only by Pete Maravich's 1,381 (1970), and a 58-point outburst vs. West Virginia State. Talley was drafted by the NBA's New York Knicks and but played the preseaon with the NBA's New Jersey Nets. He was also in the World Famous Harlem Globetrotters Camp. Later, he led professional leagues in scoring in countries such as Germany and Venezuela (his high point game in Germany being a phenomenal 116 for TV Clausen vs. Tria).

Talley says his greatest accomplishments, however have been influencing and helping shape the lives of youth across America as a National Motivational Speaker. He gives presentations in Schools, Colleges and Universities, Professional Organizations, and other Events.He has appeared in Thousands of Schools and Hundreds of Thousands of young people have heard his " Ingredients Of Life " presentation which includes positive, insightful messages about Life, Respect, and Professionalism! He has done so since 1984, and in a dynamic manner that marks everything he does. "Children Are Our Future!" Click here to see them smiling and having fun while also learning important lifeskills with National Motivational Speaker Archie Talley.We really do make a difference in their lives!

 

 

Bob Kuska

As long as he can remember, Bob Kuska has been a basketball junkie. This lifelong interest in basketball history was the inspiration for Kuska’s first book in 2004, Hot Potato: The Origins of Black Basketball in New York City and Washington, D.C. (1905-1930). Kuska has followed up with the soon-to-be-released Cinderell Ball, a real-life Hoosiers story about a small college in an old coal mining town in West Virginia. He’s currently working on a biography of former Washington Bullet star Archie Clark. A native of Sacramento, Kuska has lived in the Washington, D. C. area for over twenty years and currently resides with his wife on eight acres in Shepherdstown, WV.