He’s a Cass Tech legend: Meet Willie 'Roy' Ogletree, basketball scorekeeper of 48 years

When Willie “Roy” Ogletree is asked whether he can pass along a phone number for Steve Hall, the closeness of the two men is apparent by the time the eyes of the recipient reach the third line of the iPhone contact card: Instead of a job title or company name, the description is simply “My Boy!”

Knowledgeable fans of high school sports in Detroit likely recognize Hall’s name as the head boy's basketball coach at Cass Tech. And anyone who has seen the Technicians play this season, or really anytime during the past 48 years, has most likely seen Ogletree courtside — even if they didn't realize it was him.

Because, since 1975, he has neatly blended into the scene at Cass Tech basketball games — home and away — as the team’s official scorekeeper. Known affectionately as “Tree” by many, Ogletree’s devoted service in this role has allowed him to become close to Hall and literally hundreds of other people connected to Cass Tech and Detroit Public School League basketball.

“Mr. O is a fixture and he’s one of a kind,” Hall said while describing Ogletree, whose journey as a scorekeeper included recording two-point shots, three-pointers and free throws made by Hall when he was a standout point guard for the Technicians during the mid- to late-1980s. “Everything Mr. O brings to our program exemplifies Cass Tech. He’s multifaceted and does much more than just keep the books. Mr. O is with us at practices, camps, alumni activities and he can calculate things on the fly. He can tell you what the score was at the end of the third quarter from a game 30 years ago. It’s just great to have him as a part of our program because of his passion; he always wants to be there to support our team.”

There was a time when Ogletree wanted to be on the court as a player for the Technicians. Back in the days when Cass played home games in a snug gymnasium located on the first floor of the former eight-story building which housed CT from September 1922 through the end of the 2004-05 school year, Ogletree tried out for the junior varsity boys basketball team. The Class of January 1970 graduate of Cass Tech’s science and arts curriculum did not make the JV team as a sophomore, so he quickly pivoted to Plan B.

“I was 15 years old and I didn’t have a car, but I still wanted to go to the games, so I became the student manager and I was able to ride on the team bus,” the 71-year-old Ogletree explained on Wednesday.

With that move, Ogletree ensured that he would be attached to the Cass Tech boys basketball team for the remainder of his high school days. However, when he continued his education at Wayne State University, CT basketball was still very much on his mind and in his heart. That led him to strategically schedule his college courses so that they ended before 3 p.m. on Cass Tech game days, so that he could arrive at the gym before tipoff. Still, it was not enough for Ogletree to simply watch the games from the packed, cramp bleachers as a Cass Tech alum. His need to be connected to the team resulted in him first keeping statistics for the late Jim Spivey, who the legendary Hal Schram selected as the PSL’s “Top Coach” in the Feb. 26, 1977, edition of the Detroit Free Press. And after keeping stats, in 1975, Ogletree transitioned to his current role as official scorekeeper.

Through the years, Ogletree has had an up-close view of Cass Tech successes on the court, such as PSL championships — including three Detroit Public Schools Community District titles won by teams coached by Hall — and deep runs in the state playoffs. But more than the digits on the scoreboard or even the numbers he compiles in his scorebooks, Ogletree says he has witnessed the planting of seeds that have contributed to other positive outcomes.

“The student-athletes playing the games learn how to internalize commitment and that can follow them through life,” said Ogletree, who, before retiring from the Michigan Department of Transportation in 2002, would often use hard-earned vacation hours to cover extra time he needed to get to games after work that were played roughly 30 minutes away from his job. “From the 1972 Cass team, there are former players that went on to become a judge in Chicago; an auto dealer with four new car dealerships; another attorney; a social worker, and an accountant with offices in two states. I can’t tell you the extent to which being on the team helped them to succeed afterward, but clearly it didn’t hurt them.”

In response to a question about the number of total games he has worked as a scorekeeper, the former road construction inspector and husband of nearly 36 years to Gwen Ogletree provided an impromptu demonstration of his calculation skills. While explaining his tabulations out loud along the way — and including the Cass Tech girls basketball team, which he became the official scorekeeper for about a decade ago; and junior varsity and freshman games for the boys and girls teams; and even other Detroit PSL games where his expertise was requested — Ogletree calculated 1,555 games, give or take a few because he didn’t have time to look up the exact number of state playoff games he has worked.

Despite the many games that Ogletree has been a part of, he admitted that on the day of a big game, he often finds himself feeling “nervous, excited and worried a little bit” for his Technicians. And as Ogletree spoke on Wednesday, the “big game” scenario he described appeared to be possibly approaching as Cass Tech’s undefeated boys team (No. 1 ranked in Mick McCabe’s High School Super 10 rankings published in the Jan. 15 Free Press) was preparing for a home rivalry game Friday (Jan. 20) evening against King High School. Ogletree cautioned that games must still be won on the court regardless of records and rankings, because as he put it: “You can be the best team and lose if you don’t bring your best effort.” Following a hard-fought 57-55 victory on Friday, the Cass Tech boys varsity squad improved its record to 12-0. And while the outcome of the Cass Tech boys and girls basketball seasons remains a mystery to be played out on the court, Ogletree plans to be a consistent, positive presence at all games, where in addition to serving as scorekeeper, he will continue his practice of providing halftime and postgame summaries to a circle of CT alums.

“We text now, and he gives you a good recap,” said Michael Daniels, Cass Tech Class of 1970. “He’s my reporter. But it’s not just me, it’s about 20 other people that receive the texts. We all depend on Tree.”

Daniels’ relationship with Ogletree goes back even further than their high school days at Cass. With pride, Daniels describes losing to Ogletree in a spelling bee at Webber Junior High because Ogletree was “not only the smartest kid in his class, but also the smartest kid in the school.” Daniels also makes it known that he wants his buddy to write a book about the history of Detroit PSL basketball because he has “seen everybody” and “there is no one better suited in the city of Detroit” to write that history. But even if Ogletree does not write the book that Daniels and others in their circle have yearned for, Daniels says he is still very proud of the unique contribution his boyhood friend has made to student-athletes in Detroit.

“Sports give you a practice field for life. And the greatest thing about sports is you lose, because every time you lose, you have to get back up,” said Daniels, who after graduating from Cass was a Detroit police officer before embarking on a 38-year career on Wall Street. “Willie never stopped cheering and supporting the kids that play and he’s done it through rain, sleet and snow. He’s just an outstanding person and he will always do what he can to help out and help the kids be successful. I’m so happy that he has been a part of my life, and he’s so humble. He’s always been humble Willie Ogletree.”

A day after Daniels’ statement, the genuine humbleness of Ogletree shined through when he could not recall important details from the day that Hall and the Cass Tech boys basketball team, out of deep appreciation, presented Ogletree with a portrait of the gentleman who has contributed to the CT program since his days as student manager. Ogletree was quick to heap praise on the artist, John Baker III, a Cass Tech graduate, longtime DPSCD art teacher, and teammate of Hall on the Cass Tech basketball team, who created the piece that profoundly likens Ogletree on multiple levels. But the date (Dec. 27, 2019), the time of the presentation (before tipoff) and opponent (Saginaw High School) all escaped Ogletree’s memory because, evidently, there is no space in a scorebook or his stat-packed brain to record personal thoughts.

While Ogletree’s memory of the on-court presentation in his honor may be a bit of a blur for him, he made it clear later in the conversation that if he was to write a recap about his entire Cass Tech basketball experience it would be filled with nothing but positive highlights.

“I’ve never lost my enjoyment for doing this,” Ogletree says proudly. “I have enjoyed what I have seen at Cass, and I have always wanted Cass to win. But I also have always enjoyed and appreciated all of the great players I have seen from other schools.”

Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and lifelong lover of Detroit culture in all of its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the city’s neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at: stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott's stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/.

Detroit PSL: A Deep Pool of Basketball Talent

When it comes to the Detroit Public School League, Willie "Roy" Ogletree bleeds green and white, the school colors of Cass Tech. While serving as the official scorekeeper for the Cass Tech boys basketball team the past 48 years, and even before as a student at Cass and as a youngster growing up near Northwestern High School, Ogletree has had an opportunity to watch some of the best players to ever play high school basketball in Detroit from all schools. Without hesitation he says former Northwestern High School point guard Curtis Jones, who recently had a Detroit park named in his honor, was the best high school player he ever laid eyes on. "You never knew what he was going to do," Ogletree recalled. "And defenders often didn't realize what happened even afterward."

The following is a listing of some of Ogletree's other all-time favorite PSL high school players listed in alphabetical order:

*Derrick Coleman (Northern): Led Syracuse University to the NCAA championship game in 1987, where they lost to Indiana. He would go on to be the first player chosen in the 1990 NBA draft.

*Chris Douglas-Roberts (Cass Tech and Northwestern): Consensus First-Team All-American on the University of Memphis team that lost in overtime to Kansas University in the 2008 NCAA championship game.

*Larry Fogle (Cooley): Poured in 73 points in less than three full quarters in a game against Cody in 1972. He went on to lead the nation in scoring for one season at Canisius College.

*Patrick Ford (Cass Tech): Burst onto the PSL scene when he was a first-team All-City selection as a sophomore. He would finish second in the Michigan Mr. Basketball voting in 1982.

*George Gervin (King): The "Iceman," as he was known, was a nine-time NBA All-Star and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996.

*Lindsay Hairston (Kettering): After helping Kettering become a PSL power, he starred at Michigan State and was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 1975.

*Steve Hall (Cass Tech): He excelled as a scorer and passer for the Technicians before playing collegiately at the University of Washington and Virginia Tech. Today, Hall is the boy's basketball coach at Cass Tech, where he is focused on "scholarships and championships, in that order."

*Spencer Haywood (Pershing): The star player on one of the most celebrated high school teams in Michigan history, he was the youngest American player in Olympic basketball history as he led the United States team to a gold medal in 1968. He later led the nation in rebounding as a sophomore at the University of Detroit. Haywood is perhaps best known for the "Spencer Haywood Rule," which opened the door for players to enter the NBA without having to wait four years after graduating from high school.

*Antoine Joubert (Southwestern): A highly celebrated high school All-American for the Prospectors, who went on to play collegiately at the University of Michigan.

*Eric Money (Kettering): He helped to put the University of Arizona basketball program on the map before being selected by the Detroit Pistons in the second round (33rd pick overall) in the 1974 NBA draft.

*Ralph Simpson (Pershing): He teamed with Spencer Haywood to lead a legendary state championship team. He went on to star at Michigan State and later was selected to five ABA All-Star teams as a member of the now Denver Nuggets.

*Terry Tyler (Northwestern): He starred at the University of Detroit, where he played for Dick Vitale and Dave "Smokey" Gaines. He was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the second round (23rd overall) of the 1978 NBA draft.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Meet Willie ‘Roy’ Ogletree, Cass Tech basketball scorekeeper of 48 years