"Players and coaches from the 1940s: Would you come down to the gym floor..." assistant principal Mitchell Parham said into the microphone.

To a large cheer, several former players stepped forward from the crowd.

Then came the 50s, the 60s, the 70s ... and so on. And, finally, present players - and by the time it was over there was hardly anybody left in the stands to cheer.

Such is the tradition of 55 years of Gleason basketball at Dudley Sanders Memorial Gym, the place the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs have called home since 1949.

Friday night marked the final time a regular-season high school game would be contested in the gym. A gym that's seen its share of excellent basketball, including girls' state title runs in 1992 and 1999.

Former players and coaches who made it back for the final game were presented with a small piece of the floor with a placard describing the event.

It was an emotional night for many, including Gleason's girls coach Randy Frazier who looks back on the gym fondly - and with good reason - his teams lost just 16 games in that building in the 18 years he's been coaching.

"It's a lot of games, a lot of tradition," Frazier said. "But it's the people who played here that made it so special."

And with more than 100 former players in attendance on Friday night, tradition was everywhere at Gleason High School.

"I'm not surprised at the turnout," Frazier said. "The people here support their high school basketball."

The history

Among those in attendance on Friday were the first two coaches in the gym's history, girls coach Wendell Reed and boys coach Wylie Wheeler.

Before the current gym in 1949, Wheeler and Reed had their teams practice on a dirt court in front of the school when weather permitted.

"Our entire game schedule was away from home," Wheeler said. "When the weather was bad and we wanted to practice, we had to call Dresden or McKenzie to see if they would let us practice on their courts."

Wheeler only coached a few years at Gleason, from 1948 to 1950 before leaving to become the girls coach at Milan for the next 15 years.

But he still says he's got a soft spot for Gleason.

"I'm proud of them," Wheeler said. "I don't make it to many games but I keep up with them when they're in the paper."

The gym's first event was the graduation ceremony of the class of 1949, even though the gym wasn't completely finished. The first basketball played on the floor was during the 1949-1950 season.

Reed, who coached the girls team at Gleason from 1948 until 1964, remembers the days of 6-on-6 basketball and said while many things in girls' basketball have stayed constant over the years, a lot has changed.

"The goals are the same height, the court's the same size," Reed said. "But that six-on-six stuff was a whole different ballgame, it'd be interesting to see this year's team play our team years ago."

Linda Campbell played for Reed from 1953 to 1956, and remembers having some good teams, but most of all, she remembers the crowds.

"The attendance, the enthusiasm was great," Campbell said. "It was so fast-paced."

The gym's name came from the girls head coach that led the team to state tournament in 1969, Dudley Sanders.

A longtime teacher and coach, Sanders retired in 1980, and after his death several years later, the gym was named after him in November of 1990.

In 1982, the gym was renovated along with the rest of the school, and the structure has stayed basically the same since.

Clarence Barham coached the girls team from 1970 to 1980, and was in attendance to see many people he hadn't seen in a long time.

"It's been great," Barham said as he greeted old friends. "I've seen a lot of people I haven't seen in years.

"I'm going to miss this gym. We never seemed to lose very often here."

That sentiment has been passed on through the years. Current Lady Bulldog Amy Suddath said she was glad the girls team was able to go out with a win.

"I've been playing on this court since I was in the third grade," Suddath said. "And with all the people here, we wanted to show the crowd we can win, too."

The future

Though the night was filled with reminiscing, the future is bright for Gleason. A brand new gym with a higher seating capacity will be ready for next season, and with it, the ability to host district and regional tournaments.

"I hate to see it go, but we had really outgrown it," said Thomas Morris, a player in the late-40s, early-50s. "I'm looking forward to it, we feel real fortunate to be able to get a new gym."

The current gym will still be in use, however, for the junior high and elementary school basketball teams.

"I'd feel bad if it (the current gym) were to be torn down," Clarence Barham said. "But they're going to use it.

"It'll be a good way to let the younger kids run off some steam."

Gleason boys coach Pete Angelos is in his second year coaching the Bulldogs, and the new gym only adds to his excitement for the program.

"We're not quite set on the seating capacity yet," Angelos said. "It's going to be great for our team."

"I'm really looking forward to getting into that gym."

And while it's tough to say goodbye to an old standby, the Gleason faithful seem to have one thing in common - looking forward to hosting playoff basketball down the road.

And Frazier is happy to lead his team into the new facility.

"I'm ready for this," Frazier said. "It'll be a new challenge and I look forward to it."

So as the crowd filed out late on Friday night, Parham, in his 25th year at Gleason, said goodnight to friends.

"See you later," someone called out to Parham.

"Hopefully at a playoff game," Parham said back with a laugh.

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