On the lonely high plains of eastern Colorado, where wheat fields stretch to the horizon and towns are measured in grain elevators rather than stoplights, the story of Joes High School still echoes as one of the most remarkable chapters in Colorado basketball history—perhaps even in American history. It’s basically, the true Hoosiers story based on the plains of eastern Colorado. In 1929 and 1930, ten farm boys and a first-year coach—who had never played basketball himself—marched into Colorado’s biggest urban gymnasiums and defeated every major program in the state. Then they took on the rest of the nation. And then, unbelievably, they even defeated the Harlem Globetrotters.
Their legend is so enduring that Merino author and playwright Nell B. Propst later chronicled it in her celebrated book, The Boys From Joes, ensuring that the miracle of Joes would never be forgotten.
This is that story.
Humble Beginnings: No Gym, Sewn Uniforms, and a New Coach Who Studied Books
In 1929, Joes was not just small, it was tiny. So tiny, in fact, as one Denver columnist later teased, that the town “could not furnish enough men to organize a baseball team.”
Census records at the time indicate the community of Joes had a population of 129 souls. The Joes post office had been in operation since 1912. The community was named for the fact that a good share of the first settlers were named “Joe.”
According to Propst, “The high school boys practiced outdoors on a cinder court because the school had no gym. Their uniforms were lovingly sewn by their mothers. Every boy came from a farm, rising before dawn to do chores before jogging into town for morning practice.”
Their coach, R. L. “Dick” Sullivan, had arrived in Joes that fall to begin his first year as principal. Basketball was merely listed among his many duties—along with teaching five classes, directing the school orchestra, and, as the Denver papers noted with amusement, “superintending the entire public school system of the village.”
Sullivan had no basketball background. Determined to do right by the boys, he ordered coaching manuals, built a small basketball library, and studied every system he could find. According to contemporaries, he possessed a brilliant analytical mind and soon devised a hybrid style emphasizing crisp passing, punishing man-to-man defense, and focused on quickness over size.
“It was the boys who did all the work,” Sullivan insisted after the state championship.
“They deserve all the credit. I merely dropped into the gymnasium occasionally to keep them company.”
East High Shocked—“Four Men and a Basket Shooter” Take Down Denver’s Elite
The first whispers of Joes’ greatness rolled westward during the district tournament in Limon. Reporters and fans from Denver scoffed at the notion that a remote plains school could compete with the elite Front Range programs. One reporter from the Rocky Mountain News mocked the tiny team as merely “Four men and a basket shooter,” referring to Joes’ electrifying forward, Clyde Nikkel.
Sportswriters from the Denver Post expected Joes’ District win over Denver to be an anomaly. Instead, they witnessed dominance. One sports analyst excused Denver’s defeat by suggesting it was the size of the “match box gym” in Limon that threw them off and gave Joes the advantage.
In the March 18, 1929 edition of the Rocky Mountain News, Curly Grieves’ sports opinion column stated, “When Joes defeated Denver’s basketball team in the district tournament in Limon, a mild squawk arose from various points in this city and elsewhere. That team would never have won if the tournament had been played on a large-sized court, such as those in Denver.” Grieves went on to tell the RMN readers, “Shortly after the Limon tournament, I received a telegram from Limon to this effect: ‘Four men and a basket shooter.’ It was signed ‘Limon Match Box’.”
Grieves continued, “Upon the receipt of the telegram I pondered deeply its meaning. Gazing at the box score I discovered that writer evidently referred to Nikkel as the ‘basket shooter.’ It then dawned upon me that perhaps there was something significant behind the telegram. So, I waited for the state tournament. Joes waltzed through the state tournament with the same unmitigated ease it did the district tournament. And a little, speedy chap by the name of Nikkel figured prominently in the victory.”
The column closed by sheepishly stating, “Yesterday afternoon ‘Limon’s Match Box’ dispatched a second crypt wire that said, ‘Four men and a basket shooter,’ it said. And it evidently was right.”
State Tournament, 1929: A “Wonder Team” Is Born
The 1929 Colorado State Basketball Tournament was registered as the first state championship in boys’ high school basketball. The boys from Joes made history by etching their name in the Colorado basketball annuls.
In the regional round the Denver East Angels were expected to handle Joes easily. The Joes boys entered the expansive and modern Denver East gymnasium and were awestruck by the Angels’ sleek uniforms and immaculate warm-ups. As the Denver team went through their warmup drills, the boys from Joes sat quietly along the sidelines, watching in respectful silence.
But their awe lasted only until tipoff.
The Boys from Joes defeated the mighty Angels 34–23, stunning the crowd and earning their place in the state tournament in Greeley.
The plains boys were no longer a curiosity; they were a threat.
Joes rolled past Fort Lupton, 36–19, in the state semifinals game in Greeley setting up a showdown with powerful Fort Collins in the title game on March 17, 1929.
In the championship game, the Lambkins from Fort Collins were overwhelmed from the start. Joes led 14–2 after the first quarter, 25–6 at halftime and cruised to a 37–14 championship victory. “The Lambkins really never had a chance,” wrote Eddie Day Jr. of the Rocky Mountain News. “There is no doubt but what Joes is the greatest prep team in the state this year.”
The article described Joes’ man-to-man defense that was “employed throughout the tournament stopped other quintets cold.”
According to Day’s reporting, “Nikkel tonight was particularly effective under the basket, pushing in shot after shot. He made nine field goals. This man was the outstanding player of the tournament. In the crucial final battle, he did everything just right. He was as equally good at long range as he was within the foul line.” Guard Snyder directed the offense with “highly polished work,” and defenders Hudlburgh and Vaughn neutralized Fort Collins star Tommy Soden, a “basket-shooting wizard” who managed only three field goals.
Joes had five players in the scoring column in the state contests including Nikkel (F), Snyder (F), Hall (C), Vaughn (G), and Hudlburgh (G).
The crowd, swept up in the underdog miracle, gave the boys from Joes a standing ovation. “Joes was the most popular team in the tournament,” the paper noted.
Colorado Falls in Love—And Sends Joes to Chicago
The state wanted the Boys from Joes to represent Colorado in the national tournament in Chicago, but the school could not afford the trip.
So, Colorado stepped up. The schools in the city, even the ones who lost to Joes at the state tournament, raised money to send them to Chicago. Fort Collins donated $40, Windsor raised $20, Greeley raised $100, and the communities in eastern Colorado including Wray, Akron, Yuma, Sterling, and Limon raised over $1,600.
By late March, the fund had grown to $2,191—far beyond what was needed. “Never before in the history of high school basketball in Colorado has such a fund been raised,” wrote Eddie Day Jr.
Before leaving for Chicago, the boys played an exhibition against the University of Colorado Buffaloes at Denver’s massive Auditorium Arena. Few gave the tiny school a chance.
Instead, Joes won, 39–32, in front of the largest basketball crowd to that date in Colorado history. Donations poured in that night as well.
Colorado’s little team was suddenly its pride and joy.
Nationals: Joes Finishes Third—Beating Giants from Across America
The national tournament in Chicago included huge high schools from across the country. Joes was the smallest school in the field by far. Despite being completely out of their element the boys from Joes defeated the Delaware state champions, South Dakota’s powerhouse state champions that had been a six-time national qualifier, the Michigan state champions, and Louisianna’s state champions.
Their only loss came to Oklahoma City’s champions, 29–23, in the semifinals.
Still, the nation’s sportswriters were stunned: the boys from Joes had finished third in the entire United States.
1930: The Repeat Championship
After returning home from Chicago and placing third in the national tournament, Colorado knew better than to underestimate the farm kids from Joes in the ensuing year. True to form, Coach Sullivan’s team from Joes marched through the 1930 season and once again won the Colorado state championship, cementing themselves as one of the greatest basketball legends in state history.
It was the story of the underdogs taking on the big dogs and besting them at their own game. A story of a coach who was truly a student of the game of basketball. And it created the legend of the Boys from Joes who won the first two Colorado state championships, back-to-back state titles, and a third-place national trophy.
1933: The Harlem Globetrotters Come to Joes—And Lose
The boys from Joes weren’t quite finished gaining notoriety across the state and beyond. By 1933, the boys from Joes were well known for their legendary basketball prowess—so much so that the world-renowned Harlem Globetrotters showed up on the eastern plains of Colorado—imagine the optics—wanting to challenge the two-time state champions.
By 1933, the Harlem Globetrotters were a serious barnstorming team, regularly defeating professional squads. They heard about the Joes boys—now young men—and decided it would be amusing publicity to travel to the tiny town and put on a show.
The Globetrotters arrived expecting laughs. They did not expect Joes’ patented defense.
Abandoning their antics early, the Globetrotters buckled down to real basketball. But Joes—who in earlier tours had already defeated college and university teams across the Front Range—held firm.
In 1933, the Globetrotters lost only two games. One of them was to the boys from Joes.
Even Hollywood couldn’t script a better final chapter.
According to author Nell B. Propst, The Boys from Joes were more than champions. They were—and remain—a miracle on the plains of rural Colorado.
