When ever talk is underway in reference to "Who is the greatest athlete?" — in this case, at Morris Community High School, several names are mentioned — one must consider the era the player participated in, his accomplishments, what kind of competition was he up against and so on.
It would very difficult to name any one player as the greatest, but many have excelled. Over the years, the names of John Dergo, Dan Darlington, Kelly Dransfeldt, Ted Panish, Red Sleight, Clyde Enger, Scott Spiezio, Billy Petrick, Gehrig Dergo (undefeated wrestling champion), Jim Cryder and many others have been standouts. The list goes on and on.
Another all-around athlete at MCHS should be included in that group, and I'm talking about Jerry Mettille. Mettille was All-State in basketball his senior year at Morris. He also played very well in football, baseball and track while in school. Mettille played at Morris from 1959-1963.
Jerry later played four years of basketball at the University of Illinois.
Jerry played four years of varsity basketball at MCHS. He was moved up to the varsity squad as a freshman, and the cage team had as much success as any team in the history of the school. His last three years on the team, Morris had marks of 21-6, 21-5 and 20-6. No team at Morris can match that three-year period.
After his career at the University of Illinois (he was on the team the first year that the Assembly Hall was built), Jerry went into the Marine Corp, during the Vietnam conflict. He served in the reserves for six years. He then worked in Wisconsin and Chicago for a company called Anaconda American Brass company. Mettille then entered the furniture business and the commodities business.
At the time of my "legends" interview (2004) with Jerry, he was living West Palm Beach, Fla.
While Jerry was at the University of Illinois, the school had a slush fund scandal, which really hit the news big time, and the basketball squad ended that season with eight players.
When Jerry was a freshman, he was in the lineup with Rollie Cornish and Russ Battersby, two of Morris' best players. During his senior season, Jerry (6-4) was joined with Mike Trucano, Jerry Lanier, Greg Trenter (6-2), Dick Lois and Ray Borens (6-5).
Bob Hinkle was the Redskins' coach and he attempted to schedule some tough competion for the team. Hinkle had Crane of Chicago on the 1962-63 schedule. The Redskins defeated the big-city team, 55-50, before a near-capacity gathering at MCHS. Mettille scored 22 points to pace the Redskins in the non-conference battle.
Mettille said Hinkle was, in his own words, "The greatest coach, I have ever encountered. He was dedicated to the guys on the team. If you had problems, he would try to work with you. I'm talking about off the court too. I can't say enough about him."
Jerry said that Ottawa was always in the way of Morris advancing in tournament action. When I brought up Ottawa, Jerry said, "Is that town still around?"He could still muster a laugh after all these years when thinking about the Pirates.
Mettille said once he got into high school, Ottawa's legend was everything. Jerry added, "It seems that every year, they were the one that put us down at the end of the season, including my senior year."
Morris played in the United High Conference in football and basketball. Jerry said Morris needed to get in a bigger conference, and coach Hinkle tried to do just that, but the conference would not let Morris out of the obligation.
During Mettille senior season, there were other standout athletes in the area, such as Ken Barnett of Braidwood (he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls) and Jim Finley of Dwight. Finley later played football at Purdue University and even later with the Joliet Explorers.
When I asked Jerry what he remembers most about his days in Morris, he replied, "Everything. Everybody was so behind us in Morris. It was common place, everybody was for us at Morris. When we would be on the street, people were always so friendly to us, that's what I remember. Morris was a small town, but I'll tell you, it's a great town."
Mettille added, "It was the greatest experience in the my life. I enjoyed high school, and I would venture to say, more that I did in college."
Mettille closed by saying, "I still miss Morris."
Jerry Mettille — one of Morris' finest.
Morris Herald-News