About a week ago, we told you about the high school exploits of "starting point guard" Skip Bayless. According to Skip, he started for the team that would eventually lose in the state finals. Turns out, Skip Bayless is a fibber. Or, maybe his coach just had an unconventional way of constructing his lineup. You decide.
A blog in Oklahoma City has gotten its mitts on some scans from the 1969 and 1970 Northwest Classen High School yearbooks. These scans are supposedly from Bayless's junior and senior years at the high school. They include team photos, end-of-season write-ups, and a stat sheet from the 1970 season.
In an article under the headline "Coach VanPool Posts 200th" (victory presumaby), junior point guard Skip Bayless is described as a leader of the junior varsity team (he was also apparently in the varsity team photo that year, but was absent from the stat sheet). An obituary for the Northwest Classen head coach Don VanPool confirms the team was runner-up in 1970 and also mentions that VanPool ended his career at Northwestern with 250 wins in 1971. Skip never mentioned what year (or what grade he was in) but from all the context clues it certainly appears like Skip was referencing the 1970 season, likely his senior year, as the year he "started" for the runner-up squad in the state finals.
According to the undated scan obtained by LostOgle, Skip played in 15 of the team's 22 games and averaged a gaudy 1.4 points per game in the 1970 season. Good enough for 21 total points on the year. Coach certainly had his hands full with the shot-happy, self-proclaimed Maravich.
So I guess it's possible that Bayless started one game that year and is thus technically telling something vaguely resembling the truth. It's also possible that Bayless is full of shit, since being hugely full of shit is basically how the Skipper pays the bills.
UPDATE 4:15 p.m.: All the obtained scans are available on Classmates. Just create a free account and see for yourself. The stat sheet appears in the 1970 edition, Skip's senior year.
Also, a high school sports reporter for The Oklahoman, Ryan Aber, recently tweeted that he did some digging: "I checked our archives: Not listed in the box of any of NWC's state games in 70."
Skip Bayless lied about his prestigious high school basketball career [The Lost Ogle]