Bob Lutz: Two teammates turned foes re-live the Battle of New Orleans

Antoine Carr and Darnell Valentine were teammates on the greatest high school basketball team I ever saw, the undefeated Heights Falcons of 1976-77.

Four years later, they were adversaries in one of the biggest games I ever covered, a Sweet 16 matchup in New Orleans. It was hailed as “The Battle of New Orleans,” the first time Wichita and Kansas had played in 25 years.

“The Battle of Omaha” could be next and if it happens Sunday – Kansas first must beat New Mexico State and the Shockers have to take care of Indiana – it’ll be the first KU-WSU meeting in 22 years.

“I’m definitely hopeful it happens,” said Carr, a Shocker great who played 16 NBA seasons. “So once again we can prove that Wichita State is one of the top basketball schools in the country.”

Carr was a sophomore on the great Heights team; Valentine was the senior leader, a powerful point guard who defensively overwhelmed opponents.

Valentine had known of Carr before that season, but was amazed at the sophomore’s raw skills. Emphasis on “raw.”

“Incredible skills, but raw talent,” said the 56-year-old Valentine, an executive for an aircraft parts company in Portland, where he has lived since playing for the NBA’s Trail Blazers. “I had a couple of years on him so I could help him with his level of maturity. And Coach (Lafayette) Norwood had the kind of structure in his program that just enhanced Antoine’s development.”

Carr, like everyone else who followed high school basketball in those days, was in awe of Valentine.

“I wouldn’t say he was a role model, he was more of a brother,” Carr said. “That’s the way Coach Norwood raised us – our teammates were our brothers. Darnell was our leader and one of those guys who could pump you up without saying too much. If you were running wind sprints, he was going to be the one out in front.”

After a hot recruiting battle, Valentine chose Kansas and became an All-American and four-time All-Big Eight guard.

Carr, who grew to 6-foot-9 and shed the rawness Valentine saw previously, stayed at Heights for two more seasons before deciding to attend Wichita State, turning down offers from Kansas and Kentucky.

“I definitely was impressed by KU’s tradition,” Carr said. “But the final thing was that Wichita was home. My family was there and my friends were there. For me, it was a no-brainer. I wanted to go to Wichita State and start proving to people what we were.”

Valentine was a senior during the 1980-81 season. It was his final NCAA Tournament after a great career for the Jayhawks.

Carr, meanwhile, was a sophomore and, as he hoped, the Shockers were becoming a college basketball force. WSU was 17-12 in 1979-80 when Carr, Cliff Levington and Ozell Jones were freshmen. People could see then it was a matter of time for the Shockers.

They were 23-6 and went into the 1981 NCAA Tournament as a No. 6 seed. WSU handled Southern and nipped Iowa at Levitt Arena.

Kansas, meanwhile, was 22-7 and a 7-seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Jayhawks were also assigned to the Midwest Regional, like WSU, and played their first two games in Wichita, beating Mississippi and upsetting 2-seed Arizona State.

Kansas-Wichita State was happening on a wild Friday night in New Orleans. The game and its preceeding hype matched anything happening on Bourbon Street.

And for the first time, Carr and Valentine were adversaries on the basketball floor.

“It was really weird,” Carr said. “It was one of those times where you’re kind of going, ‘Oh man, it’s my brother and we actually got to get in here and battle each other. You know what, though? I love him to death but this is war, baby. Here we go.”

Neither team was able to pull ahead by more than a few points.

KU led 65-62 with 56 seconds left when Valentine, one of the best clutch players in the country, missed the front end of a one-and-one.

The Shockers’ Mike Jones scored to cut KU’s lead to one.

Then, after a missed but contested layup by Valentine, the Shockers looked for a shot to win the game. It was taken not by Carr, Levingston or Randy Smithson, who had combined for 50 points, but by Jones, the younger brother of WSU assistant Jeff Jones.

His 25-footer with two seconds remaining, probably the most famous shot in Shocker basketball history, gave WSU a 66-65 lead.

Valentine had one more sly move up his sleeve. As KU prepared to play the ball in from underneath the WSU basket, he set a pick as teammate Booty Neal moved along the baseline.

The Shockers’ Jay Jackson ran over Valentine, which was part of the plan. But no foul was called, which wasn’t.

“You know, you just want to try and put yourself in a position where there’s a possibility,” Valentine said. “It didn’t work out that time, although even if we’d have gotten that call I would have still had to make the free throws.”

That night, making free throws wasn’t a given. Valentine was superb, scoring 21 points and making 8 of 13 shots. But he did miss four of his nine free throws.

“What a great game,” Valentine said. “That was a monumental game for me because you had the situation where I’m from Wichita, those are my roots. And then you have Kansas, the school I represented and which had my No. 1 allegiance. But right behind that was Wichita State.”

Carr had 16 points and nine rebounds for Wichita State and made 6 of 10 shots.

“Antoine and I had a lot of enjoyable, beautiful times together,” Valentine said. “We see each other at our Heights 1977 basketball reunions and you know how guys are – we don’t have to talk for 20 years but when we see each other we haven’t missed a beat.

“In that game in New Orleans, Wichita State played an outstanding game. They had so much talent. Antoine one-upped me that night.”

This story was originally published March 17, 2015 at 5:24 PM with the headline "Bob Lutz: Two teammates turned foes re-live the Battle of New Orleans."