SNOOK, Texas — In sports, a dynasty usually refers to a team that dominates their sport or league for an extended length of time.
In recent history, we've seen it with the 1990s Chicago Bulls. Tom and Bill Belichick's New England Patriots, and in the Brazos Valley, we have the Snook Bluejays basketball program who still hold the record for the most basketball state titles in Texas high school history.
Snook's boys’ basketball program began to see success in the mid to late 1960s, which is where John Sebesta remembers watching games when he was in grade school.
“I vaguely remember that even though I was real young, but even as they started going to state tournaments year, quite often, I'd go with my relatives,” said Sebesta. “And back then it was Gregory Jim on the University of Texas campus and, it's like going to the Super Bowl basically here for folks in Snook to go watch the state tournament.”
By the time Sebesta graduated high school, he had been a part of back-to-back state championships in 1978 and 79 laying the foundation for the next group of players to continue building on. In 1980, Donnie Victorick, a two time nook basketball state champion from the 60’s was announced as the next head coach.
“It was the sweetest thing that I could ever describe because after the school board meeting and coach Horn, who was also the superintendent, called me and said that, I had been named the next basketball coach,” said Victorick. “I thanked him and try to sleep that night I had a hard time.When I walked in the school, the next morning, there were five seniors coming back that were going to be seniors that were on that team. And they said, here's our next state champion coach.”
And they were right.
Victorick, without missing a beat, led the Bluejays to another five consecutive state titles.
“All we want to do is win and you had the guys that would win for us," said Victorick. "You know, I never, thought about it.”
The players expected to win. They put in the work of course, but to Victorick and the coaches that came before him, they always felt it went beyond the hardwood.
“We were just as concerned, maybe even more concerned about developing young men that will grow up to be successful in life,” said Victorick. “And if they were able to do that, then the success would come and, and like I said, they bought into it. We led, but they did the work and, and they're the ones that [did it].”
Victorick along with Jimmy and Don Horn who all coached throughout the Bluejays dynasty were inducted into the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame. Friday night will be the first time this group has been honored at the school, 40 years after their magical run came to an end.
Friday evening, 90 to 100 players from the sixties, seventies and eighties will be honored for the 40th anniversary of their seventh straight championship title run.