Held at Guevara’s home in Morgan Hill, the weekend brought players from three teams from Whittier’s 1968-71 rosters together for a nostalgic celebration. Guevara, an Orthogonian who played for the Poets as a student before returning to campus to coach, said it was arguably the best consecutive years for Whittier basketball with the team winning four Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conferences in a row.
Their success and subsequent induction into the College’s Hall of Fame is what inspired the reunion. Guevara praised the function and added that participating in it was a welcome break from some challenging medical issues.
“Listening to all these people talk about their youth and the great things that they accomplished was really something,” Guevara said. “I’ve been going through kidney dialysis and this really perked me up.”
Reminiscing about international trips they took as a team to Central America was a highlight, as was viewing a slideshow of their younger selves on the journey. But the most moving moment was when Brian Miles, former basketball manager, received a Hall of Fame plaque that inadvertently wasn’t presented to him before.
“It was a special moment,” Guevara said. “The whole weekend was an incredibly wonderful time.”
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