A former UW basketball star has died. Tri-Cities remembers one of its best players ever

I have watched high school basketball in this region for over 50 years.

Sometimes I got paid for it, while working 30 years at the Tri-City Herald.

And for two years, I played it.

But even as a young 12-year-old, I’d have my mom drop me off at a high school to watch a boys varsity basketball game.

Mostly it was Kamiakin, because my older brother went there and I wanted to go where he went.

But there were moments between 1972 and 1975 that I would get to see the Richland Bombers play.

There were some athletes over the years who were worth the price of admission just to watch them play. In the late 1980s, I loved watching Pasco High’s Chad Herron launch his rainbow bombs for 3 points. Kamiakin’s Scot Pollard in the early 1990s, was a 7-foot dunking machine.

Josh Woodard these past four years at Richland High, he was a guy you’d keep an eye on for the defensive steal, the flashy assist, or the pull-up 3-pointer.

But I still say Richland’s Mike Neill was the best high school basketball player I ever saw with my own two eyes.

And now he’s gone.

Mike Neill passed away at the age of 67 in a Yakima hospital from a heart attack on March 21, 2023.

His older brother, Phil, is that family member who keeps in contact with other family members.

Another brother, Steve, said Phil was the guy who helped their parents in their late stages of life. And Phil had been in contact with Mike in Yakima, sometimes once a month, other times once every three months.

Then the calls quit coming, or Phil couldn’t track Mike down.

“No one knew for 13 months that he had passed away,” said Phil, now 75.

Time to remember

Sometimes when people pass away, there’s a memorial service for the living to cope with the loss. There was never that service for the Neill family or friends.

But there will be one on Friday, June 14, in the form of the Mike Neill Memorial Golf Tournament at Horn Rapids Golf Course in Richland.

It’s an 8 a.m. shotgun start, 4-man scramble. Cost is $80 per person. That includes green fees, cart rental and lunch.

As of last Sunday, Rich Gentz, one of the tournament organizers, said there were 25 teams entered.

“Horn Rapids will allow more teams up to 36, but that would result in slower play,” said Gentz, who is expecting a 5-hour round with 25 teams. “We’ll accept more players/teams. But the bottom line is this event is more about the 19th hole and stories of Mike, as opposed to golf. The 18 holes are kinda an excuse to get to the 19th.”

To understand just how big of a star he was in the Tri-Cities, you have to remember the times in the early 1970s.

Computers weren’t available to most kids. No cell phones. Cable television hadn’t really taken off. There were no Seattle Seahawks, nor Seattle Mariners.

There was hanging out with friends, movie theaters and high school sports. And it seemed like every high school student went to the games. In Richland, EVERYONE went to the games.

Richland Bombers boys basketball was top box office at that time. Art Dawald Gymnasium was one of the largest high school gyms in the state, and when a good team — such as Pasco High — came to visit, you weren’t getting a seat in that gym for the 8 p.m. varsity game unless you got there before the junior varsity game began at 6 p.m.

“You are absolutely right,” remembers Phil Neill. “A lot of times when Richland played Pasco (at Dawald), they would open the school cafeteria up and people with transistor radios would listen to the game.”

1970s Richland Bombers

Phil Neill says that all started with the 1971-72 Richland team that won the state title under Coach Frank Teverbaugh. What I remember as an 11-year-old was the local CBS affiliate, KEPR, had a one-hour live show on the Sunday night after that title game interviewing Teverbaugh and the Bombers in the studio.

Steve Davis was on that team.

He remembers how good his younger brother was.

“Back then, ninth graders went to junior high. So it was just sophomores through seniors at the high school who could play at Richland,” Steve Davis recounted. “I’m glad that happened (and Mike couldn’t play on varsity). Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have been on a state championship team.”

Steve also remembers Mike’s first game on varsity as a sophomore that next season.

“It was at Shadle Park. Not an easy place to play,” said Steve. “He scored 40 points on them.”

And the legend grew from there.

The 6-foot-3 left-handed shooter had the following scoring stats his three years on the varsity:

• 1972-73, 24.5 points per game, Bombers 23-3 record, second at state;

• 1973-74, 26.1 points per game, Bombers 23-3 record, second at state;

• 1974-75, 28.7 points per game, Bombers 22-4 record, fourth at state.

I often wonder, as do many, how many points Mike Neill would have averaged had there been a 3-point line then. His long left-handed set shots, sometimes from 35 feet out, often found their mark.

I can still remember a game at Dawald against Kamiakin, when Neill and the Braves’ Kevan Aman kept matching each other long shot for long shot. I can still vividly remember that game, yet I can’t remember to take out the garbage, much to my wife’s chagrin.

Back in the 1970s, high school basketball was serious stuff. And sometimes a crazy fan would take the game too seriously.

Phil Neill told a story that happened during Mike’s senior year. Richland was visiting Pasco.

“My mom called me before the game. I was an assistant coach for Richland,” said Phil. “Mom was pretty shook up. So was dad. Some guy had called and said if Mike played in that game, he’d be killed.”

Pasco police took it very seriously, Phil said.

“They had two snipers up in the rafters, and two policemen behind the Richland bench, watching the crowd with their backs to the team bench,” said Phil. “No one knew about it but my parents, Teverbaugh, myself, and Mike.”

Phil said the subject was broached to Mike about sitting out.

“He said ‘There’s no way. I’m playing,’” said Phil.

UW Huskies

Mike Neill would go on to play three seasons for the Washington Huskies before he came home.

But Steve Neill is adamant that basketball wasn’t even Mike’s best sport.

“Basketball was his second-best sport,” said Steve. “In baseball, he was really good. He was on that Richland team that finished second in the Pony League World Series. But then he blew his arm out.”

In recent years, Mike Neill had fallen on hard times.

“Once he got his social security check, he didn’t want to work anymore,” said Phil, a former teacher and boys basketball head coach for Richland.

It was frustrating for Steve, a retired school administrator.

“I mean, sometimes you choose a way to live,” said Steve. “It’s hard to say what possessed him to do that. My dad was the hardest working guy I knew.”

It’s a sad ending for someone who brought so much joy to so many people in the Tri-Cities, especially in Richland.

But even if you’re not into golfing, it might be worth your time to show up at Horn Rapids Golf Course around 1 p.m. on Friday, June 14, and just listen to all the Mike Neill stories that come out.

For some of us, it will be a catharsis.

Note: Call Obie Amacker at 509-531-8786, or Rich Gentz at 509-420-0719, if interested in golfing.

Jeff Morrow is former sports editor for the Tri-City Herald.