Harwich's Glenn Rose reflects on Jaeden Greenleaf beating the Cape's high-scoring record
Bob Driscoll, Glenn Rose, Christian Messersmith and Jaeden Greenleaf.
They stand as the Cape Cod basketball version of Mount Rushmore when it comes to high-scoring careers.
Driscoll, who played through the late 1950s and early '60s for Bourne High School, became the first-ever 1,000-point scorer when he finished his career with 1,427 points at the time of his 1961 graduation.
That mark would last only one year, when Rose surpassed it with a career high 1,594 points following his senior season in 1962 at Harwich High School. The Rose record stood for 35 seasons until Chatham’s Messersmith finished with 1,705 in 2006.
This past season, Greenleaf set the new standard and became only the second player in Cape Cod basketball history to surpass 2,000 points (along with Falmouth Academy’s Kendall Currence) after he ended his career with 2,329 points for Cape Cod Academy.
Of the four Cape record holders, Rose uniquely connects them all. He played against Driscoll while in high school. He coached Messersmith at Chatham. And for the past five years, he has stood on the sidelines watching his own son, Adam, coach Greenleaf for the Seahawks.
“Jaeden is a true shooter, and he shot well from anywhere on the court,” said Rose, now 78. “He took the ball inside and pretty much lived inside. He was physically strong and his mentality was to go out there and score. He’s a very special person.”
What happened to Glenn Rose after setting the record?
Rose graduated in 1962, but never spent a lot of time dwelling on his point total while playing for basketball coach Charlie Dunbar and the Harwich High Rough Riders.
“We really didn’t follow how many points we had back then. We just enjoyed playing basketball and didn’t really care who scored,” he said. “I was quite surprised when I found out later how many points I had scored.”
More: Kendall Currence reflects on Jaeden Greenleaf as Cape basketball's leading scorer
He recalled going up against Bourne’s Driscoll, who had been the Cape’s leading scorer the year before he set the mark.
“Bobby Driscoll could shoot. He was a pure shooter,” Rose said. “Our game was fun back then. We didn’t care who scored, we just wanted to have fun.”
While players of today see their point total increased by the benefit of the three-point shot, it was not that way during his playing days.
“Back then, it wasn’t the running game it is today, it was more of a controlled offense,” Glenn said. “If we would have had the three-point shot, I would have been happy because most of my shots were from the outside.”
After high school, Rose attended Emporia State University in Kansas for coach Gus Fish, placing fourth in the NAIA national tournament in 1964. He was a Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference All-Conference selection for the 1965-66 season and is a member of the college’s hall of fame.
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He returned to the Cape, where he spent 42 years in education as a physical education and world history teacher at Harwich High for 33 years. He moved on to Chatham High, where he coached for seven more seasons.
In all, seven of the players he coached reached the 1,000-point plateau.
At Harwich, he coached Rick Roderick (1990), Chad Kodak (1991), Paul Gonsalves (1996), Dana Callahan (2000) and his son, Adam (2002).
“Dana was great; he didn’t care about scoring, he just loved to play,” said Rose, who added, “Adam played the game the way you’re supposed to. He was unselfish.”
After his son's graduation, Rose moved over to coach at Chatham where two more of his players, Messersmith (2006) and Steve Thomas (2011) also reached the grand total.
Messersmith wound up passing his coach in 2006 as the Cape’s all-time leading scorer at the time.
More: Greenleaf sets all-time Cape Cod high school hoops scoring record
“I was happy for Christian because, really, I hated to be compared to other people,” said Rose.
For the past five years, Rose has been a regular visitor to his son’s practices and games at Cape Cod Academy.
“Adam was always beside me when he was younger, and then when he played,” Rose said. “He knew how to coach even back then. I’m very proud of what he’s done over there.”
Mike Richard can be contacted by email at mikerichard0725@gmail.com.
Top Scorers – All Time – Cape and Islands Boys Basketball
Points; Player; High school year
2329 Jaeden Greenleaf Cape Cod Academy 2022
1705 Christian Messersmith Chatham 2006
1594 Glenn Rose Harwich 1962
1585 Jacob Ashworth Bourne 2017
1578 Rick Roderick Harwich 1990
1534 Joey Downes Sandwich 2015
1517 Dom Richmond Cape Cod Tech 2009
1507 Zach Luster Provincetown 2011
1495 Frank Reis Provincetown 1971
1486 Glen Santos Nantucket 1967
1440 Devaun Ford Mashpee 2018
1427 Bob Driscoll Bourne 1961
1410 Freeman Perry Cape Cod Tech 2007
1395 Charlie Campbell Nauset 2017
1362 Peter Keaney Martha’s Vineyard 2012
1361 Mickey Fein Barnstable 1995
1349 Zachary Tobias Provincetown 2010
1311 Kevin Reed Dennis-Yarmouth 1999
1301 Justin Sullivan Cape Cod Tech 2003
1298 Steve Thomas Chatham 2011
1297 Glenn DaSilva Nantucket 1972
1297 Peter Morris Provincetown 2002
1268 Doyle Eldredge Chatham 1992
1266 Bobby Joy Nauset 2020
1264 Ron Brown Martha’s Vineyard 1975
1259 Amaury Bannister Martha’s Vineyard 1973
1259 Jason Smith Bourne 2003
1244 Paul Gonsalves Harwich 1996
1237 Jacob Tobey Sturgis East 2015
1234 Billy Pina Cape Cod Tech 2003
1233 Scott Menegas Provincetown 1998
1219 Jim Rawl Nauset 1969
1215 Thomas Avilas Falmouth Academy 2012
1205 Anthony Saunders Nantucket 1997
1189 Brian McDonald Falmouth 1991
1188 Mike Sykes Sandwich 1985
1183 Dennis Fisher Barnstable 1988
1173 Dana Wilson Dennis-Yarmouth 1968
1169 Mike Pazakis Cape Cod Academy 1990
1166 Mike O’Brien Barnstable 1975
1141 Derin Gildersleeve Bourne 2005
1139 Luke Jackett Provincetown 1997
1138 Chris White Nauset 1994
1131 Dana Callahan Harwich 2000
1123 John Colley Provincetown 1964
1113 Adam Rose Harwich 2002
1107 Nelson Baptiste Falmouth 2011
1106 Joe Lopes Mashpee 2008
1093 Jordan Ferreira Nantucket 2008
1090 Devan Harrison St. John Paul II 2018
1081 Mychael Andrews Falmouth 1995
1075 Samuel Johnson Cape Cod Academy 2003
1067 Jade Cash Martha’s Vineyard 1992
1057 Shaun Fein Barnstable 1996
1056 Ken Dorr Barnstable 1971
1052 Peter Bosma Bourne 1998
1027 Adam O’Donnell Falmouth 2007
1026 Dave Tamasi Falmouth Academy 1990
1016 Eli Harris Falmouth 2018
1008 Chad Kodak Harwich 1991
1004 Larry Sylvia Martha’s Vineyard 1967
1003 Bob Jones Nauset 1967
1001 Steve Oliver Nauset 1975
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Glenn Rose, Jaeden Greenleaf both set high-scoring basketball records
