CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Every family has its traditions. For some, it is a particular vacation destination. For others, it is a favorite holiday meal. For the Tallman family, it’s basketball.
“When I was a kid, my grandfather, dad’s dad, this was our family vacation. The Tallman’s didn’t go Myrtle Beach, they came to Charleston,” said Dave Tallman, Jr. who is now in his 11th season as head coach at Morgantown High School.
Tallman, Jr. has made the annual pilgrimage to the state tournament so often, it has become a sort of second home. He is so comfortable in Charleston, that the familiarity has helped alleviate the pressure that comes with coaching in Charleston Coliseum with the state watching.
It’s no accident that Tallman, Jr. is so comfortable on a basketball court, whether its at the Charleston Coliseum or an empty gym back in his hometown of New Martinsville. He was raised in the gym and his family consumed with the sport they love, basketball.
“My mom would tell you a couple of days after I was born he was coaching a game and I was there. She said my eyes just followed the ball the whole time. Literally two days after I was born I was in the gym,” said Tallman, Jr.
As a family, the Tallmans have experienced a level of success in West Virginia that is hard to match. They have been part of eight basketball state championships. Dave Tallman, Sr. won a state championship in 1973 as a player at Paden City High School. He’s won three titles during his 34 years as head coach of Magnolia High School.
Dave Tallman, Jr. was part of Magnolia’s 2000 championship-winning team. He’s also won four titles as the head coach at Morgantown. Dave, Jr.’s brothers, Nate and Daniel were also members of the 2003 championship team at Magnolia.
Everyone has a ring in the Tallman family.
“That’s better than winning the lottery,” Tallman, Sr. said of the chance to not only coach his three sons but win state championships with each of them.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Magnolia’s improbable state title run that led to this basketball dynasty.
Magnolia was just 10-11 at the end of the 2000 regular season and had not made an appearance in the state tournament since 1972. However, led by point guard Dave Tallman, Jr and a group of players including Richie Pefferman, Steve Imes, Eric Burke, and Jason Baxter, who grew up playing basketball together at Bruce Park in New Martinsville, Magnolia upended Bridgeport and Petersburg to earn the schools first basketball championship in nearly three decades.
“It was great. My parents were in the stands, your whole family and community and they were hungry for success, it was a great day,” said Tallman, Sr.
That championship could have been a storybook ending. After all, Tallman, Jr. was practically raised in the gym.
However, the winning was just getting started for the Tallmans. Magnolia went on to win two more titles in 2003 and 2015.
Morgantown High School has been on a dynastic run with Tallman, Jr. as head coach.
Morgantown went 26-0 in 2016 winning the school’s first boys’ basketball state championship and entered this season’s state tournament as the three-time defending champions. Tallman, Jr. now has four titles as a coach and one as a player. Tallman Sr. has three rings as a coach and one as a player.
But who’s counting?
As hard as winning a title is, and as difficult as it is for fathers to coach their sons, according to Tallman, Sr., that is nothing compared to the helpless feeling of sitting in the stands and watching your son coach his team at the state tournament.
“I have very little control and you want them to win so bad,” said Tallman, Sr. “When you’re the coach and you’re in charge, there’s less pressure. It’s really tough. It’s your whole family and you just want them to win so bad.”
For the Tallman family, the success on the court is ancillary to the family’s unbreakable bond and passion for the game.
“We talk every day,” explained Tallman, Sr.
“Dave calls, and has a question ‘How would you handle this?’ I call him with a situation and ask ‘How would you handle this?’ We’re best friends and we bounce everything off each other.”
While father and sons have received attention over the years on the court and patrolling the sidelines, none of them have seen more basketball than an omnipresent figure at every game in which a Tallman coaches or plays.
Mom.
“There is nobody who has watched more high school basketball games in West Virginia than Carol Tallman. It’s remarkable,” said Tallman, Jr.
“In the wintertime, she’s in the gym every night and it has been that way for 30 or 40 years.”
It will continue to be that way as the next generation of Tallman basketball players is already preparing for their chance to take the floor at the state tournament. Trey Tallman, Dave Jr.’s son, is growing up just like his dad, constantly in the gym consumed with the sport his family loves. If Trey is not playing for his teams, he’s probably with Dad at a Mohigan game or practice.
What else would you expect?
“None of us dreamed of this,” Tallman, Jr. said.
“Now, we’re here, and the success we’ve had we don’t take it for granted. We’re very blessed and I thank the good Lord above for it because nobody would have dreamt that back in the day.”