Off The Boards
By Jack Scheuer
November 13, 2013
Happening on Hawk Hill
In the 1962-63 season, Saint Joseph’s produced one of its best-ever teams as the Hawks ((23-5) advanced to the final game of the NCAA Tournament’s Eastern Regional. Members of that team will be honored on Saturday evening before the present team hosts the highly regarded Blue Jays of Creighton featuring All-American Doug McDermott.
Under Hall of Fame coach Jack Ramsay, and led by Tom Wynne, Jimmy Lynam, Steve Courtin, and the late Jim Boyle, St. Joe’s won a first round game by beating Princeton, 82 – 81 in overtime, despite 40 points by the great Bill Bradley. Then, Boyle and Wynne each had 23 in a 97 – 88win over West Virginia at College Park. Former 76’ers President Rod Thorn of the Mountaineers went for 40 in that one.
In the Eastern Regional championship game, Duke, ranked # 2 in the nation, won 73 – 59 with Jeff Mullins scoring 24 points, while Wynne had 29 for the Hawks.
In this Saturday’s game, St. Joe’s faces a stiff challenge. Creighton not only has McDermott, who may be the best player in the country, but a fine supporting cast as well.
Phil Martelli’s guys do have several things going for them however. They want to make up for last season’s disappointment: they want to avenge the drubbing they took in Omaha last year (80-51), and they’ll have the backing of that 1962-63 team.
Trivia Time: Who is the youngest player to ever play in the NBA? Answer at the end of the column.
If you have a guess … leave it as a comment.
Big Five Alums
Speaking of the NBA, nice to see that Temple’s Dionte Christmas is playing with Phoenix, and LaSalle’s Rasual Butler is on the Indiana Pacers. Butler is a nice story. After being cut by Toronto last year, he played with Tulsa in the Development League, and was impressive enough to be signed by the Pacers.
This and That: Penn is assured of being first in one category this season, and that would be hyphens. Miles Jackson-Cartwright, Darien Nelson-Henry, and Patrick Lucas-Perry are all playing for the Quakers….Villanova’s Ryan Archidiacono had such a strong second half last year, everyone knows how to say his name now….How’s this for look-alikes: 76’ers coach Brett Brown looks like he could be old friend Fran O’Hanlon’s younger brother….Guard John Johnson, who was a standout at Girard College, is at Penn State after transferring from Pitt.
Answer to Trivia Time: Well-known bowler Andrew Bynum, at 18 years, 6 days, is the youngest to play in the NBA.
Contact: Glenn@PhillyCollegeSports.com
Be the first to comment