I have been around Lehigh Valley sports for a long time. Some of you may think it’s been too long. I hope that is not the majority opinion. But I digress. Each year, I attend the VIA All-Star Basketball Classic Banquet. I am always impressed with the quality of the speakers (Michael Irvin and Chuck Dibilio this year), the formal venue, the attendance and, especially, the Hall of Fame selections.
By my count, there have been 186 individuals inducted into the VIA Lehigh Valley Basketball Hall of Fame. I have had personal contact, either as a player, coach, or broadcaster with 138 of them – 74%. The few I did not come in contact with accomplished their success either before I was born or when I was a young child.
This year’s group is no exception. I know them well.
Darnell Braswell played for William Allen under Doug Snyder from 2002-2006. In his senior year, he helped lead his team to both the LVC and District XI championships. He was the second leading scorer that year behind Terrence Roderick. I remember that season very well. Darnell went on to play four years at DeSales University under Hall-of-Famer Scott Coval. He is the all-time leading scorer at DeSales and two-time player of the year in the conference. His coach thought so highly of him that he is now the assistant coach and Coordinator of Athletic Recruiting.
Deanna Rayam played basketball at Freedom High School during the exact same years as Darnell. And I remember Freedom’s late-season run. RCN was there. In 2006, her team won the District Championship by upsetting Parkland and went on to the third round in state playoffs. She was the third girl to score 1,000 points at Freedom and was third-team All-State. She went on to play at East Stroudsburg University leading the team in scoring, rebounding, and assists in the same season! No one had ever done that before. She scored 1,000 points at ESU, too. The ESU coach wants her to be her assistant, but she has chosen to devote time to her family.
I REALLY remember Ron Hassler because I followed him as a player and continued to watch his career as a coach. I broadcasted the game when he scored 48 points against Bangor in 1974. I announced many, many of his games when he coached at Catasauqua, Whitehall and Central Catholic. He won six League championships and 10 District championships. Basketball has been his life and a Hall of Fame one, for sure.
Jack McCallum is a nationally known journalist who has spent the past thirty years at Sports Illustrated. He has covered Super Bowls, Final Fours, the Masters, the NBA and he has written 11 books, including the New York Times bestseller, The Dream Team. He is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. So how do I know this elite writer? When I was pitching for Moravian College (1964-1968), Jack covered our games for the Bethlehem Globe Times. I will always remember his article when I lost a “perfect game” after 6 2/3 innings pitching against #9 Temple University. His article turned out to be much, much better than the outcome. I did not register another out!
It is a pretty good career when you have rubbed elbows and, in some cases, thrown elbows with the elite of Lehigh Valley basketball. I wish I would have known the other 36%. But then I would be even older!
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
- Syracuse and North Carolina will play each other next Saturday in the Final Four. North Carolina beat them twice this year. Both schools have suffered from accusations of “academic fraud” and I am sure there will be plenty written about that this week. North Carolina should win this game.
- I, for one, did not like the Notre Dame strategy of holding the ball until there were ten seconds on the shot clock. That approach appeared to me to force Notre Dame into desperation mode each possession while North Carolina was scoring by running their offense.
- Can Villanova beat Oklahoma? Can anybody stop Buddy Hield of Oklahoma? He scored 37 against Oregon and has averaged 29.3 points in the tournament. This Villanova team has an air about them, however. They held Kansas All-American, Perry Ellis, to four points. There is a will and tenacity about this team and big-man, Daniel Ochefu, could be the difference. I like Villanova.
- I love “Match-play” golf. This week, the PGA featured the WGC-Dell match Play championship. Scores do not matter – what matters is how many holes have you won against your opponent. There is a winner every match and a loser. One goes on; one does not. Every hole matters. That’s what I like to play and that’s what I like to watch.
- As I write this, the Flyers will make the NHL playoffs. They are tied in points with the Red Wings, but own the tie-breaker. That’s the good news – the bad news is they would play the Washington Capitals, the best team in the NHL. Do you believe that the ‘76ers have still not won 10 games? I wrote this same sentence last week. As of this Monday, they were 9-65, losing four more games this past week. The Phillies are coming! And, once again, thank goodness for Villanova.
