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WVU’s 1942 champions somethill TOW CONSI AW INKMorgantown Post Sports EditorThe 1942 team ivas puny* physically andin numbers, by modern standards. Hut%this gutty group of guys was the only Mountaineer basketball team ever towin it all.THE 1942 BASKETBALL teamreturning here for a reunion this week occupies a special niche in West Virginia University athletic fameIt is the onlv Mountaineer team that ever won a national championship tournament in that sport, with its surprising sweep of three games in the National Invitation Tournament at New York City. fThat feat, at a time when the NIT was recognized as a more prestigious event than the NCAA championship tournament, catapulted WVU into national basketball prominence for thefirst time.West Virginia has turned out better basketball teams since, bigger and more talented, but it’s doubtful that any achieved as much as the 1942 team didwith what it had That team barely got a bid to the NITCarpets-Fine Furniture \ Draperies and Accessories lt;► Your Complete Home « Decorating Store iSANDERSFLOORCOVIRING, INC. \! 290S Univ. Ave. Ph. 599-4500 Son its 16-4 record It was invited last and as the eighth place entry was paired in the first round against topseeded Long Island.The Long Island team, coached by Grafton native Clair Bee, rated at the time, before the introduction of national polls, as the best in the nation It owned a 24 2 record It had won the NIT twice in the three vears of its existenceThe other entries were Toldeo 22-3. Western Kentucky 26-3. West Texas 28 2. Creighton 17-4, Rhode Island lt;national scoring leader averaging 79 points a game) 18-3, and Citv College of NewYork 14-2,The Mountaineers shocked everybody with a 58-49 victory over Long Island m overtime They then trounced favored Toledo 51-39 In the championship game they rallied to nip Western Kentucky, 47 45, on two free throws in the last 10 seconds.What kind of players made up this extraordinary WVU team0 It was puny, physically and in numbers, by modern standards Onlv three plavers had been starters the vear before, on a team thatposted a 13-10 record.Its coach, Richard A. (Dyke) Raese now vice president of the West Virginia Newspaper Publishing Co and Greer Steel, had coached only at a small State high school i Davis) before moving to his alma mater as the successor to Marshall lt;Little Sleepy) Glenn He was in his fourth vear at WVUThe school’s official outlook for the 1942 season said:West Virginia University’sbasketball passers won t be as good as they were last winter, but they may be a better club than most people expect them to be,”The “giant of the team was Capt Rudy Baric at 6-3 and 200 pounds He had starred as a schoolboy at Benwood, but came to WVU with less of a reputation than other graduates of his school. Hehad developed into an all-round standouthere, though He was the key to the defense with his play around the bankboards, besides being a fine shooter and ball-handler in the pivot position Barie’s size was a little deceptive Like Jerry West to follow, he had a large wingspread His unusually long arms prompted teammates to tag him ‘Goon, after a comic page character of those days.The rest of the starters each measured 5 11. smaller than most highj^ninbiip Dominion Dostschool players today, and different quite a bit physically.Floyd (Scotty) Hamilton, a magicianwith his passwork and dribbling, was a rol v-poly 195 pounds One bystander said that when Scotty came stormingdowncourt as the middleman on the WVU fast-break, it was like rolling out the barrel Besides being a superb ball handler, he was smart and a good shooter.As an All-Stater at nearby Grafton, Hamilton had won the biggest schoolboy reputation among the MountaineersRoger (Shorty) Hicks, the team’s sharpshooter from long range and best foul shooter, scaled only a scrawny 155 He was the third returning regular He had set a record in 1941 by converting 44 of 50 free throws, including one string of 20 straight He was one of the last two-handed set shot artists at WVU.Dick Kesling, a wiry 165, played barely enough as a sophomore the previous year to win a letter He hadIDrtirl Drinormt
Newspaper Details
Sunday Dominion-Post
Morgantown, West Virginia, US
Sun, Feb 14, 1971
Page 38
Full Page
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Anonymous
WV, USA 27 Mar 2021
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