goat519

SoCalHoops Memorial Tribute

Earl "The Goat" Manigualt Is Dead At 53--(May 19, 1998)

Our sincere thanks to reader "Jesus Shuttlesworth" who alerted us to this sad news by posting a message on the SoCalHoops Message Forum of the death of Earl "The Goat" Manigualt. He died Friday at the age of 53 from heart failure.

For those who didn't know, Earl Manigualt was the greatest player never to make the NBA. He was a legendary jumper, with an incredible vertical, who made dunking an art form at a time when the game was traditionally played "below the rim", before the era of Michael Jordan, before Magic Johnson, and at a time when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was still known as Lew Alcindor.

Earl "The Goat'' Manigault was a New York City playground legend whose heroin addiction cost him a professional career.

His life was the subject of a 1996 HBO movie, " "The Legend of Earl 'The Goat' Manigault," aka "The Goat." If you haven't seen it, go rent it. You won't be sorry. And if you think your life as a future star is assured, then really, go rent the movie. Unlike the fiction of "He Got Game", the story of The Goat is real, and it should serve as a warning beacon to all young players about the dangers of becoming complacent, and the destructive power of drugs in the world of sports.

Manigault, at 6'-1", was "the best player his size in the history of New York City,'' according to Abdul-Jabbar, who often played against "The Goat'' in city parks during the 1960s. Manigault's domination of other players at the 98th Street courts was so complete that the park eventually became known as "Goat Park.''

"All this stuff you call NBA basketball and 'Showtime'?'' Manigault said earlier this year. "Well, we were the ones who brought in the noise and brought in the funk.'' But while city contemporaries like Abdul-Jabbar and Connie Hawkins went on to become professional stars, Manigault sunk into the depths of drug addiction and was sentenced to two prison terms. Eventually, his body was so wracked by his drug usage that a 1971 tryout with the old ABA Utah Stars ended with him being cut by the team.

"For every Michael Jordan,'' he once said, "there's an Earl Manigault. We can't all make it.''

Manigault's stunts were legendary: leaping to place a quarter on the top of a backboard; reverse-dunking a basketball 36 straight times to win a $60 bet.

Author Pete Axthelm, in his book "The City Game,'' said Manigault would typically leave other players slack-jawed. "Occasionally he would drive past a few defenders, dunk the ball with one hand, catch it with the other -- and raise it and stuff it through the hoop a second time before returning to earth,'' Axthelm wrote.

Manigault never really was able to make the transition from the playgrounds to organized ball. After starring at Harlem's Benjamin Franklin High School, where he was eventually thrown off the team and unable to play in the championship game against Alcindor, and with grades which would not allow him to attend a four year college, he went to a North Carolina prep school where he attracted the attention of recruiters from colleges such as Duke, Indiana and North Carolina. But ultimately, Manigault chose a smaller school, Johnson C. Smith University, a predominantly black college. However his grades were miserable and he fought with the coach over playing time, and eventually left the school, returning to Harlem.

When he returned to Harlem's playgrounds, his legend and his drug addiction grew. Manigault did 16 months in jail for drug possession in 1969-70, and was sentenced to another prison term from 1977-79 for his part in a failed robbery attempt.

Manigault eventually cleaned himself up and once again returned to Harlem, this time as a community activist. He began working in a neighborhood recreation and counseling center for teens, and ultimately became a coach at Wadleigh High School. This year, Wadleigh won a City Championship.

Manigault is survived by his wife, Yvonne, and two sons.

Most of the above information comes from the AP report. We've searched around and found that only the New York Times wrote an alternate obituary piece. Here it is:

By 9 o'clock Friday morning, word began filtering out over the village of Harlem that the Goat was dead. Earl Manigault, the playground legend, the player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar once called ``the best basketball player his size in the history of New York City,'' was dead at age 53. His heart, which had undergone two major operations, finally gave out.

While the family was putting together funeral plans, tributes already were rolling in. At the playground at 99th Street and Amsterdam Avenue that came to be known as Goat Park, at the court Manigault made famous, someone placed a bouquet of flowers on the surrounding fence. It was here that Manigault ran his popular tournament for young players, beginning in the mid-1970s.

Tobey Gray locked the gate to the playground. This bright Friday afternoon was the saddest day of his life. Gray has known Manigault for nearly 37 years, since he was 8 and Manigault 17. The night manager at Anchor House, a Christian rehabilitation center in Manhattan, Gray also served time with Manigault in prison on a drug-related conviction.

``I've seen him in good times and bad times, but he's always been basically the same person,'' Gray said. ``Earl had one of the biggest hearts of any regular man on the street that you'll ever meet.''

Manigault's wife, Yvonne, spent Friday making preparations for next week's services. She and Earl met at Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina, where she had gone to finish her secondary education. He had gone to get the grades to attend Johnson C. Smith University.

``His main goal was to be a pro basketball player,'' she said. Manigault attended college for one year. He left after a dispute with his coach and returned to New York, and that's when the bottom began to fall out.

He hung out with a street crowd and began using heroin. He was arrested for possession and went to prison. Gray said the Goat's already substantial legend grew while he was behind bars.

``Man, he was able to walk around like a king, almost like he was free,'' Gray said. ``It was like, `Hello, Mr. Manigault.' ''

Near the end of his prison term, an arrangement was made for him to try out with the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association. But Manigault's best days had been ravaged by the addiction. There was no more spring in his legs. He returned to New York, where he began his tournament.

There was one more descent. A 1977 drug conviction and a two-year prison term. The tournament resumed when he got out and has been held without interruption since.

``We're going to continue this,'' Yvonne said determinedly. ``We're going to keep his memory alive through the tournament.''

We all mourn the passing of a legend, not only for the greatness eventually achieved in his work with young players, but for the tremendous potential he was never able to fulfill. He will be missed by many.