Anyone who attended Central High School in the late 1960s, or anyone involved in the high school sports world at the time, will likely remember Central’s “Rhythm Boys,” as they became affectionately known.
The Rhythm Boys were the starting lineup for Central’s basketball team in 1967-68. A cloud of controversy swirled around them, for a couple of reasons, the most predominant of which was the fact that all the starters—Dwaine Dillard, Willie Frazier, John Biddle, Phil Griffin, and Roy Hunter—were Black.
During a time when racial tensions in America were at an all-time high, these five young men were both celebrities and targets of ridicule. Amidst an intense political climate, their story is perhaps not remembered by the world, as was the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the memorable rhetoric of activists like Ernie Chambers and Malcolm X, but it is a powerful story nonetheless.
An important role in this story was played by Warren Marquiss, the head coach of the Central basketball team. Concerned only with the talent his team had to offer and not with racial biases, Marquiss saw Dwaine Dillard, standing six feet, five inches, on a basketball court and immediately took an interest. “[Dillard] walked around the gym on his hands,” said junior varsity coach, Jim Martin. “For a guy that tall to have that balance and strength and coordination—it was fabulous.”
Dillard and Marquiss developed a close relationship, and it’s easy to see why. Marquiss, a white man in his 40s at the time, truly cared for his players. Dillard said, “He was a father to all of us—a great father image to me especially, because I had no father image.”
As Steve Marantz wrote in his award-winning book, “The Rhythm Boys of Omaha Central: High School Basketball at the ’68 Racial Divide,” published in 2011 by Bison Books, Marquiss often provided essentials for his team. “For his poorest black players,” Marantz wrote, “he bought collared shirts, ties, slacks, and sport coats, so that they could meet his dress code. The money came from his own modest salary, as it did when he bought their families a bag of groceries…Somehow, Marquiss found money for team meals, too often in his own pocket.”
Though Marquiss was confident in his new team, there still lingered some doubt and upset at his decision.
“[Marquiss] won’t start five Blacks,” Griffin said to a teammate. “The school board won’t allow it.”
Indeed, the school board, with J. Arthur Nelson in the principal’s chair, was concerned about public image regarding race. Though Nelson, who himself often used racial slurs, opposed Marquiss’ preferred lineup, he eventually gave in.
The new starting lineup proved to be highly successful and very popular among the students at Central.
Don Lee, a reporter for the Omaha World Herald, wrote of one game played by Central and Creighton Prep, “It was a five-man victory, with the Rhythm Boys playing the entire 32 minutes. Willie Frazier, John Biddle, Phil Griffin, and Roy Hunter lined up behind the fabulous Dillard.”
Thus the nickname “Rhythm Boys” was printed—and stuck.
Victories abounded for the team, despite personal struggles. Dillard had been a victim of racial profiling by police during a nighttime cruise with friends and was arrested. Frazier was navigating teenage relationships with white girls at the school, one of whom ended up pregnant, and one who continually wrote about him in her diary, confused and saddened by the societal disapproval of interracial romance. Biddle (and others) had dealt with riots and looting in the area where his mother’s business, Sadie’s Home Bakery, stood, standing outside the storefront in case it needed protecting, noting, “That [shop] was our livelihood.” Presidential candidate George Wallace, a firm believer in segregation and other racist ideals, had incited riots at his rallies in Omaha, during which police and Black citizens unleashed violence on each other in crowds, causing collateral damage.
Still, the young men pressed on in the sport they loved; basketball seemed to be an escape.
That perseverance paid off, and the Rhythm Boys are still today remembered as perhaps the best high school basketball team to have ever played in Nebraska.
For more information, visit stevemarantz.com.
This article originally appeared in the October 2024 issue of Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
