Greatness never changes, regardless of the era. Such is the case of the Waterloo Wonders.

The outlandish sidebar stories that followed the famous starting five that made it difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction can never diminish what this group of young men accomplished.

The Wonders entire team exhibited unparalleled passing, shooting and ballhandling skills that may never be seen again at the high school level. Their talent and style led them to back-to-back Ohio high school Class B state championships.

Not only did they win the state title, they received special permission from the state to barnstorm and play games throughout Ohio. The team reportedly played at least 88 games in 1935.

The death of Lee Drummond this past week and the enshrinement of the team in the Ohio Hoop Zone high school basketball Hall of Fame in May has put the Wonders back in the spotlight for one last time.

“If you had a chance to see the Wonders, you didn’t miss it,” said Tom Hairston in a recent interview. Tom was the younger brother of Magellan Hairston, the Wonders head coach.

The colorful stories that accompanied the Wonders were often exaggerated.

For instance, after winning the regional championship in 1935 at Athens, the Wonders received their trophy. As the players were gathering up loose ends, a bottle of rubbing alcohol was stuck in the trophy.

The jostling of the trophy caused the glass to break and the rumor said the players elbowed their way to the locker room carrying the liquid-filled trophy. Actually, the glass broke and the mixture of liquid and glass caused everyone to take note.

However, there were many true stories and no one was safe. Take for instance head coach Magellan Hairston.

Hairston was complaining about how unlucky he was in a poker game the previous night. But the Wonders’ coach was the victim of a mirror on the wall behind him that allowed the players to see the cards in all his hands.

The Wonders famous starting five of point guard Beryl Drummond, Curt McMahon, Stewart Wiseman, Orlyn Roberts and Wyman Roberts played virtually the entire game and rarely got into foul trouble. If they did, Lee Drummond, a third cousin of Beryl Drummond, was the sixth man.

“Orlyn would stand at halfcourt and I’d just keep feeding him and he’d shoot over the rafters and make it every time. And he was shooting them as fast as I could feed him. It was one right after the other,” said 1954 Waterloo graduate Frank Jenkins.

Hairston not only brought the group together, he kept them there. It wasn’t unusual for him to have them stay over at the house, feed them meals, and clothe them. He even let them borrow his car for dating purposes.

Hairston did a masterful job of coaching the Wonders, drilling them so precisely that they became what guard Stewart Wiseman described as “sort of a machine. Coach set up a training schedule, offensive plays and defenses, and we drilled on that and drilled and drilled on that.

“Hairston not only brought the group together, he kept them there. It wasn’t unusual for him to have them stay over at the house, feed them meals, and clothe them. He even let them borrow his car for dating purposes.”

But with the Wonders, even the unusual was the norm.