By Cary Stemle
It wasn’t quite a Dan Dakich moment, but Rob Conway can say he played a big role in dealing Indiana High School basketball legend Damon Bailey his last loss. It happened on Feb. 9, 1990, when the No. 2 Stars invaded the Doghouse and walked away with a 60-59 loss at the hands of No. 17 New Albany.
Both were seniors, and Bedford, of course, captured the state title later that season in Bailey’s third and final trip to Indy.
Bailey went on to play at IU, while Conway became a popular WWE wrestler. When ESPN televised New Albany’s game against Princeton (Ohio) last month and the announcers rattled off a list of famous NAHS connections, Conway’s name was mentioned along with pro golfer Fuzzy Zoeller, SEC basketball announcer Joe Dean and scientist Edwin Hubble.
These days Conway lives in New Albany with his wife, Billie, still wrestles professionally and works in competitive bodybuilding.
I caught up with him recently to hear about how he and his 1989-90 teammates slayed the giant.
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“I remember it being a big game. Both us had won 12 or 13 in a row coming in,” he said. “We were preseason Top 10 but we had some injuries at the beginning of year and began (with a 1 and 2 record). When everyone got healthy we started winning.”
Conway started at guard alongside Ronnie Combs, with forwards Joey Hether and James Smith and center Jeff Byrne. Back court players Marcus Williams and Juan Brown and guard David Brewer were next up in the short rotation, and a handful of players who’d go on to NABB prominence — sophomores J.T. Shirer, Mark Kinnaird and Pino Pipes, and freshman Noy Castillo — also were on the roster.
“We were ranked,” Conway recalled, “and they were 1 or 2. That made it a big game. We were also in the HHC together so we played them every year. Our top six were all seniors. Bailey was senior but the rest of the team was young — statistically, it wasn’t the best Bedford team he’d been on. Other than Damon, none of their other starters would’ve started for us. They’d score 30 total between the rest of the team.
“I think it became a bigger game after it was over — being sold out, the fact it was on pay-per-view, people were watching at Steinert’s and Hardees. Scalping tickets for $200. We averaged 3,500 to 4,000 people, and he was selling out everywhere he went.”
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Bailey had torched New Albany in prior years, and this time, the Dogs figured if they could simply limit him to his average of around 30 per game, they’d have a good shot at winning.
When it came to the notion of beating a bigtime team led by a superstar, Conway said his squad learned they could do that the prior year, when they took down a loaded Floyd Central team with Pat Graham and the Gibson brothers, Shawn and Shane.
“Being in that sell-out environment against Floyd Central, it felt like our place. New Albany at home is where great players come to lose, so we didn’t feel like underdogs playing at home against Bedford. Coach Miller did a good job preparing us. In the past we lost to them, and he got 40-something and hit 15 in a row. We thought if we could hold him to his average, we’d do our job and win. We never got blown out. We knew they were good and it would be close and every possession would be big. Whoever made the fewest mistakes would win.”
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The game was tight. “No one got a big lead,” Conway’s said. “It was back an forth. I remember shooting good — I think I was 8 for 11 or 8 for 12. We all shot well.”
Did you match up on Damon?
“Originally it was James — he was our most athletic player and a similar size. But we switched a lot — he’d screen and then I’d be on him. On any given play, you might end up guarding two or three guys.”
And Damon’s game?
“Athletically, he was more developed. He was really strong for a high school player, a good outside shooter. He could jump. Sophomore year, he got two or three dunks on us. He could do everything. Every team that played him knew that if they could shut him down they could win, and it never happened.
“In high school, he could go inside and get points any way. He’d find a way to score and win. He was good.”
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Conway’s memory serves well — he hit 8 of 12 shots in the game for 17 points. Combs led New Albany with 19.
Before he was an ESPN tart, Dakich played at Indiana and lives in legend as the guy who held Michael Jordan to 13 points in a March Madness upset of North Carolina. New Albany didn’t hold Bailey quite that low, but did meet its goal of keeping him near his average.
The game had a big twist at the end. In a story headlined, “Shot Bailey tried to miss sinks Bedford,,” here’s how The Courier-Journal’s Pat Forde reported on the game:
“How good is Damon Bailey? He can’t miss a shot even when he tries to. … It unfolded this way:
“With the Stars trailing New Albany 60-58 and two seconds on the clock, a pay-per-view audience and the near-capacity crowd of 5,000 sucked in its collective breath and waited for the legend-in-gym-shoes to intentionally brick his second free throw. The plan was for the ball to carom into the hands of one of the Stars, who would then put it back into the basket to force overtime.
“Bailey took the ball into the hands that had already scored 29 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. He bounced it, found the seams, arched it up high off the backboard and — gasp — through the net.
“NEWS FLASH: The Can’t-Miss kid can’t miss.
“The play shocked Bailey. He stopped dead in mid-charge for the rebound and stared mutely at the Stars’ bench. The Bulldogs inbounded the ball successfully and the game was theirs.”
Of the New Albany team, Forde wrote: “Give credit to wingman Rob Conway. The eight field goals he hit in 12 attempts were darts through the heart of a tough Stars defense. Give credit to inside men Jimmy Smith (for defense) and Jeff Byrne (for rebounding). But most of all, give credit to point guard Ronnie Combs. The sweaty, savvy 5-foot-9 senior looks like a pick-up player who walked into the wrong gym and walked off with 19 points, seven assists and the hero’s mantel.”
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(Update: I just learned this cool story from David Brewer, who was a junior on the 1990 New Albany team and currently coaches the JV there. When Brewer was in junior high at Eastern Greene, his team played against Bailey. “It was the first time Bob Knight saw Bailey play,” he recalled. “Coach Knight refused to sign any autographs at the game. I remember they were up 52-16 at the half. Seeing Bob Knight there was unreal. What are the odds of me being at that game where it all started, then being on the only team that beat Bailey his senior year?”)
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The Bulldogs went on to win the Jeffersonville Sectional, sending them to the Seymour Regional along with Bedford, Scottsburg and Charlestown. Conway recalls that Bailey had a chance to break the state scoring record in the night game. All the Dogs had to do was beat Scottsburg, then they’d advance and have a shot at denying Bailey’s quest.
Unfortunately, we know how this story ends. New Albany never got going and couldn’t get separation. The Dogs took the lead on Conway’s deep corner 3-pointer with a few seconds left, but Scottsburg’s Chad Marley broke open for a game-winning layup at :03. Combs’ basket that followed was ruled too late.
“We thought we could stop Damon and get to semistate,” Conway says. “It’s just one of those things no matter how much coach prepares you … It didn’t feel right. Scottsburg played great and they beat us. In hindsight, when you’re young you might unconsciously think about the next game. I think we’d have beaten them in a series.
“When you play basketball in Indiana and it’s all you ever think about … the worst thing is when you lose, you have no more games, ever. To come to the night game with people scalping for $100 and to have to sit there and watch them win was hard because we should’ve been in it.”
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How cool is it to have played against Damon Bailey, whose legend grew after he committed to IU in the 8th grade (and exploded after his inclusion in John Feinstein’s book “A Season on the Brink”)?
“One of first things I mention is that as a senior, I played against him,” Conway said. “He’s considered to be the best player in Indiana history, and his records are there. It not only feels good to have played against him, but also we were the last team to beat him. If you’re gonna be linked to somebody, you’d rather it was people who did great things.”
“You can’t exaggerate that he scored more than anyone. When you think about it, a high school game is only 32 minutes; he averaged nearly a point-per-minute for his whole career. Damon scored a lot more points because he was better early. He averaged a lot of points from his first year.
“Damon in his youth was a great athlete. He had the skill and athletic ability and physique — he could hold you off with his left hand without pushing off. He was so strong, he’d hold it there and you couldn’t get by it. When he dribbled to his right, he’d have his off arm out and then bring the left arm up as he turned and you couldn’t get close enough to him. A center would guard him and be too slow. A guard was too small and not strong enough.”
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Conway sees similarities between Bailey and New Albany’s Romeo Langford, who has a shot at breaking Bailey’s career scoring record.
“They’re alike in that they’re always the best player on the floor. Nothing seems to be too big for them — the bigger the stage, the better they are. Everybody knew Damon and tried to stop him but they couldn’t. It’s the same with Romeo.
“One difference I see is, Romeo only looks like he’ll get bigger and stronger. One day he’ll be 20 or 30 pounds heavier. As a senior in high school, Damon looked the way he did at IU. Romeo has better athletic ability, and his body will only get more developed.
“When I watch Romeo, he’s so smooth he looks like he is moving slower than anyone, and he’s actually moving faster. I saw Cam Newton play the Colts once and noticed same thing. He looks different when he moves. You see people moving as fast as they can and Romeo goes past them like he doesn’t even see them.”
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Conway became a pro wrestler in 1997 and competed in WWE from 2000-2007. He’s seen the limelight, been in the ring with The Rock, done Wrestlemania in Madison Square Garden. One time at the Garden, the first people to congratulate him after his match were Donald Trump and Pete Rose.
Having been the center of attention and the object of mass affection/obsession, Conway is impressed by how both Bailey and Langford have conducted themselves.
“Since Romeo’s freshman year, I’ve heard about how humble he is,” Conway said. ‘”Not eveybody can handle that, but those who can are meant to do that. Damon was ready for it, and so is Romeo. It is really impressive.”
