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Veteran Jack Biery Faces Third Basketball SeasonBy Sy BarashJack Biery, fiery basketball forward who will probably start against Washington and Jefferson Saturday night, settled in his chair and said that Penn State's team will be lucky to win half the games on the 1947-48 schedule.He bases his observation on the perennial strength of such opponents as Temple, Navy, West Virginia, De Pauw, and Washington and Jefferson. These teams come up with winning combinations each year, Jack pointed out.The -slender dark-blond athlete established a Ree Hall .scoring record in 1942. That year, against Susquehanna University, he tallied 22 points. Later the same year he tied the mark in BIERY a game with Carnegie Tech.At Susquehanna, in the opening contest of the 1946-47 Season, Jack topped his previous record by rallying for 25 points. However, Nick Diettrick. later in the year shattered the mark.SLIDING ZONEJack explained that he now enjoys the sliding-zone system of basketball since he has become accustomed to it. When he first joined Coach John Lawthec’s squad he found the system difficult to master.Not only was the system difficult to master, but Jack also discovered that he became tense before large audiences. The first time he played at Convention Hall in Philadelphia and at the Madison Square Garden he tensed, but loosened up once the games began.“It was kind of awing the first time I ran out on the court in New York,” Jack said. “It seemed like I could look straight up through the smoky haze and see a man lighting a cigarette.”Jack played for the Chicago Pneumatic Tool Company which has a plant at Franklin, where his home is located. He believes the experience he gained while onthat team enabled him to become a better player.“In independent leagues you take quite a beating,” said Jack. “And you meet good teams that play alert basketball.”LARRY GENTWhile playing for the company team, Jack met Larry Gent. Gent played on the Penn State team which entered the N.C.A.A. basketball tournament at New Orleans in 1941. Through conversations with Gent, Jack became interested in attending Penn State. Then a Senatorial scholastic scholarship from Venango County convinced Jack to matriculate at Penn State.He was the first freshman to play varsity basketball at Penn State in 1942, the same year he established scoring records at the College.Asked about military service, Jack mentioned that in England he serviced 8th Air Force bombers after they returned from bombing missions over the continent.In England Jack attended a radio refresher course at a R.A.F base. Working at the same field as an ambulance driver in the WAAFs was Jack’s future wife. Six months after he returned to the United States, his wife, Iris, made the trip across the Atlantic.Because Iris hates to see Penn State lose, Jack will be trying especially hard to prove his prediction inaccurate.Around the RimTwo members of last year’s team are making a name for themselves in pro basketball circles. Nick Dietterick, Penn State pivot man, signed with Sunbury and is now starting center for the Mercuries. Johnny Rusinko vacillates between the Wilkes-Barre Barons and the Sunbury Mercuries.Last Wednesday he played for the Sunbury team as “Rushinko” and scored eleven points. Sundayhe was back with the Barons as Rusinko and scored three, and then he returned to the Mercuries as Rushinko to score 20. Both Wilkes-Barre and Sunbury are in first place in their leagues.
Newspaper Details
State College Daily Collegian
State College, Pennsylvania, US
Thu, Dec 11, 1947
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Oil R.
PA, USA 11 Apr 2020
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