A Natural State Underdog: The Story of the 1973 Vaster Pirates

The 1986 film Hoosiers is the token basketball underdog story. A disgruntled coach who pushes his team to compete at a high level and ultimately win the Indiana state championship. Of course, this film was based on the true story of the Milan Indians of Milan, Indiana who made quite the Cinderella run back in 1954. Why bring up the cinematic masterpiece that was Hoosiers? Because down in the southeastern corner of Arkansas, a similar storyline was developing.

In 1973, the Class B tournament was being held at the Farris Center on the campus of the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Menifee, a Black school from Conway County, was defending their title that season. However, a different Black school from Jefferson County ended up taking their own title. The Pirates of Samuel Vaster High School, led by a young coach named Herbert Pryor, had never been the most successful team in any terms.

Samuel Vaster High School, 1973. Photo courtesy of 1973 Samuel Vaster High School Yearbook.

Vaster was made up of mostly poor Black families from the communities of Linwood, Moscow, and Tamo just south of Pine Bluff. The school itself was a small campus located in the small community of Moscow, but the boys who played had the loyalty and trust of their coach and the whole of rural Jefferson County rooting for them. The Pirates had made it to the 1972 state tournament but would be defeated not long after their arrival. However, the small school would put themselves on the map with their tournament berth, giving them momentum when they returned in the next season. 

The 1973 Vaster High School Arkansas Class B State Championship Team. Photo courtesy of 1973 Samuel Vaster High School Yearbook.

Vaster powered their way to the ‘73 Class B title game against the Fountain Hill Wildcats. Fountain Hill was making its first finals berth in school history. The quick and scrappy team from Ashley County had come into the state tournament with a record of 22-7 and were red hot. But Vaster was hungry. The Pirates sealed their first state championship victory after a hard fought battle. The Class B title was brought back with them to Jefferson County.

At first glance, this story may seem like a completed underdog story. A small Black team in the south making it to – and winning – the state title game? Seems like a storybook ending right?. Well, in the smallest class of high school sports in the state of Arkansas, it was. But the success of the Vaster Pirates wasn’t confined to just Class B. One year prior in 1972, the Arkansas Activities Association created the “Overall State Championship”, which was a tournament combining all of the champions across all classifications B, A, AA, AAA, and AAAA. Little Rock Central had won the first overall championship in ‘72, representing the largest classification in the state. The mighty Tigers seemed poised to take home another title in ‘73 as well. But the small unsuspecting crew from Vaster set their eyes on the biggest crown the state had to offer as well. The Pirates’ underdog arc was about to go even further.

The five champions from all classifications included Vaster in class B, Stamps in class A, Morrilton in class AA, Conway in class AAA, and Little Rock Central in AAAA. The stage was set for what would be the most improbable cinderella run in Arkansas high school basketball history. Vaster defeated the Class AA Morrilton Devil Dogs in their first round of play. They would face the Class AAA champion Conway Wampus Cats in the second round. Conway had flourished in the regular season and state tournament finishing the season with an overall record of 28-6 en route to winning their first state title in school history. The Wampus Cats were led by future Arkansas Razorback Marvin Delph, who later led the team to a second state the following season. Conway had already pulled off a remarkable feat of not only winning their first title, but winning it in their first season among Class AAA. They carried that momentum into Barton Coliseum for their second round matchup with Vaster. The scrappy Pirates team took the Cats down to the wire, finally beating them 62-61. The unlikely crew from Jefferson County had just punched their ticket to a matchup with the basketball powerhouse, Little Rock Central.

Barton Coliseum, Little Rock, Arkansas. Photo courtesy Encyclopedia of Arkansas.

The 41-5 Samuel Vaster Pirates finally met up with the perennial power Little Rock Central Tigers. Barton Coliseum was rocking that night as the game progressed through many ups and downs. Vaster ultimately lost, but not in the way many people had thought. The Pirates went toe-to-toe with the mighty Tigers until the last buzzer sounded. A school with a student count of less than 100 kids competed with the giants, and almost sat atop the state’s highest basketball throne.

Stories such as the Vaster Pirates stand to inspire and remind people that, even though there you may be underrated or small, the amount of work you put in will ultimately decide the outcome. Samuel Vaster High School would make the Class B state finals the next season, losing to the Village Indians 55-43. That would be the last state finals appearance for the school as it shuttered in 1984, just eleven years after its famed state tournament run. Big things can come from small places, which is just another reason why small schools and high school sports are important. Life lessons are learned, memories are made, and storied tales of schools such as Vaster are woven together to be carried on for generations.

-- Jacob Cater