This is the story of the most iconic sports photo in Livingston County history – Howell’s Dave Hibner and Lansing Everett’s Magic Johnson shaking hands after their regional basketball game on March 9, 1977. Two of Michigan’s greatest high school legends in one photo.
These two are probably the best athletes each of their schools has ever seen and they were both first-round draft picks in their best sport.
Hibner was one of the best high school baseball players in the country and a few months after this photo was taken, he was taken in the first round of the Major League Baseball draft by the Texas Rangers. Magic was the best high school basketball player in the country, and after leading Michigan State to the NCAA title as a sophomore, he was taken in the first round of the NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers.
As for this photo, here’s the story. Howell and Everett had played earlier in the season and despite a gritty game by Hibner and the Highlanders, Everett won easily, 97-45.
Howell went on to win almost all of its games after that, though, and the Highlanders were making a nice run through the state tournament. They won the district easily, and that set up a rematch in the regionals with Everett, which took place on March 9, 1977, at Western Michigan University.
Several years later, when I was interviewing him for a story, Hibner told me the story of that game.
DAVE: “Everett had beaten us really badly early in the season, but we had an assistant coach on our team named Al Burnett who was the most intense guy you ever met. He had scouted Everett a bunch of times after that game because he thought we might meet them again. And he drew up a game plan that he was positive was going to work. He fired us up so much. When we went out to play that game, we were absolutely convinced we were going to win.”
BUDDY: “So what happened?”
DAVE: “They beat us 93-32.”
Nevertheless, it gave us this legendary photo. In June, Hibner signed with the Rangers and spent several years playing Minor League baseball, never quite making it out of Class A ball. He eventually decided to give up baseball to attend Hillsdale College, where he enrolled as a 25-year-old freshman and joined the football team, helping the Chargers win a national championship in 1985. He got an accounting degree and has enjoyed a spectacular career in the business field.
Magic did alright for himself, too.
