It is with great pleasure that I share Rod Stover’s review of An Almost Perfect Season. Rod was the sixth man of our great 1968-1969 Bluford Trojan team and no one ever threw themselves so fearlessly after a loose ball than he did. I am proud to have played on the team with him. Rod went on to coach several years at Bluford and had some great teams. You can read about his derring-do adventures as a high school player in my book.
The events related in Randy Mills’ latest book, An Almost Perfect Season, happened many years ago, during the 1968-1969 Illinois high school basketball season, at a small high school located in the tiny village of Bluford, Illinois. Yet the author has done a remarkable job in bringing the near perfect season back to life once again, sharing his personal struggles and capturing many up-and-down moments experienced by the Bluford community, by Coach Roger Yates, and by the individual players. This books vividly captures the golden age of small-town high school basketball, an era that has passed, but should never be forgotten.
Rod Stover
Southern Illinois high school basketball coach- 1975-1996 and member of the 1968-1969 Bluford basketball team