N I T T A N Y L IO N BASKETBALL
SUCCESS WITH HONOR
HISTORY & RECORDS
2010-11 SEASON • PLAYERS • COACHES • OPPONENTS • ‘09-’10 REVIEW •
Head Coach
ELMER GROSS 1950-54 (5 Years) Record: 80-40 (.667) 2 NCAA (4-3), 1954 FINAL FOUR Munhall, Pa., native Elmer Gross served as John Lawther’s assistant for four years and assumed the head coaching position from Lawther following the 1948-49 season. Captain of Penn State’s 1942 NCAA team, Gross directed the Nittany Lions to an 80-40 record and two NCAA Tournament berths. He used Lawther’s sliding-zone defense and added a fast-break offense which saw the Nittany Lions top 1,000 points for the first time in 1950. His 1954 squad, paced by All-America center Jesse Arnelle, placed third in the NCAA Tournament, finishing No. 9 in the final AP poll. The Lions shocked eighth-ranked Louisiana State and ended Notre Dame’s 18game winning streak to advance to Kansas City for the Final Four. Gross was praised for masterful use of his bench and a full-court press which confused tourney opponents. Penn State has had two teams finish in the nation’s Top 10 (1942: No. 10 Dunkel Index) and Gross was a key figure on both. A World War II Purple Heart veteran, Gross was wounded in 1944, following one of the early amphibious landings on the coast of France. He returned to PSU as a graduate assistant coach in 1945 and earned his master’s degree in 1947. He was the first coach in NCAA tourney history (1952) to also have played in the tournament (1942). Dr. Gross retired from Penn State in 1978 and returned to campus March 12, 1994, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his NCAA Final Four team. He died in Sun City, Ariz., in 2007.
1949-50 W/L: 13-10 (H: 9-2; A: 4-7; N: 0-1) Coach: Elmer Gross Captains: Marty Costa & Joe Tocci Leading Scorers: Marty Costa (13.0), Lou Lamie (10.8), Lee Schisler (8.3), Joe Tocci (7.5), Jay McMahan (5.7). D _ 7 D _14 D _15 D _28 D _29 D _30 J __ 7 J _13 J _14 J _18 J _21 J _25 J _28 F__ 8 F _10 F _11 F _15 F _18 F _22 F _24 F _25 M _ 1 M _ 4
_Susquehanna ____________74-44 W _at Georgetown __________63-70 _ _L _at American ____________67-49 W _Duke (4) _______________51-48 W _West Virginia (4) ________46-41 _W _N.C. State (4) (#5 AP*) ___40-50 _ _L _Colgate ___________67-68 (OT) _ _L _at Carnegie Tech _________42-57 _ _L _at Washington & Jefferson _51-50 W _American ______________74-54 W _Pittsburgh ______________34-21 _W _at Pittsburgh ____________58-51 _W _Syracuse _______________67-61 _W _at Pennsylvania __________49-66 _ _L _at Gettysburg _______65-66 (OT) _ _L _at Navy ________________40-46 _ _L _West Virginia ___________82-56 W _Rutgers ________________51-64 _ _L _Temple ________________66-61 _W _at Colgate ______________72-57 W _at Syracuse _____________44-46 _ _L _at West Virginia _________56-59 _ _L _Georgetown ____________65-56 W
HISTORY & RECORDS • UNIVERSITY
1950-51 W/L: 14-9 (H: 7-3; A: 6-5; N: 1-1) Coach: Elmer Gross Captains: Lou Lamie Starters: Lou Lamie (14.5), Ted Panoplos (11.9), Jay McMahan (8.4), Hardy Williams (8.0), Frank Moore (6.1). Subs: Herm Sledzik (5.0), Joe Piorkowski (4.0). D _ 6 D _ 9 D _11 D _15 D _16 D _29 D _30 J __ 2 J __ 6 J _10 J _20 F__ 3 F__ 6 F__ 7 F _10 F _14 F _17 F _21 F _23 F _24 F _28 M _ 3 M _ 7
_Ithaca _________________70-31 _W _Syracuse _______________59-61 _L _at American ____________66-63 W _Rhode Island____________61-55 W _Washington & Jefferson ___52-55 _L _Michigan State (5) _______43-51 _L _Ohio State (5)___________67-58 W _at Lawrence Tech ________56-67 _L _Colgate ________________52-55 _L _at Bucknell _____________25-15 W _Gettysburg _____________73-52 W _Bucknell _______________67-53 W _at Georgetown __________76-70 W _at Navy ________________44-41 _W _West Virginia ___________76-60 W _at Pittsburgh ____________50-61 _L _at Rutgers ______________73-50 W _American ______________73-54 W _at Colgate ______________58-57 W _at Syracuse _____________46-50 _L _at West Virginia _________68-72 _L _Pittsburgh ______________64-44 W _at Pennsylvania __________58-61 _L
1951-52 W/L: 20-6 (H: 10-0; A: 8-4; N: 2-2) Coach: Elmer Gross Captains: Jay McMahan & Hardy Williams Starters: Jesse Arnelle (18.9), Herm Sledzik (9.2), Hardy Williams (8.4), John Sherry (6.8), Joe Piorkowski (5.6). Subs: Jay McMahan (6.5), Ron Weidenhammer (6.1), Ed Haag (3.7). D _ 5 D _12 D _15 D _27 D _28 J __ 5 J _10 J _12 J _16 J _17 J _19 J _30 J _31 F__ 2 F__ 6 F__ 9 F _15 F _16 F _20 F _22 F _23 F _27 M _ 1 M _ 8
_Ithaca _________________51-21 _W _Bucknell _______________73-63 W _at Washington & Jefferson _46-49 _ _L _Michigan (6)____________62-60 W _Pittsburgh (6) ___________62-40 W _Colgate ________________68-51 _W _Syracuse _______________61-57 W _Carnegie Tech ___________74-56 W _at Gettysburg ___________85-70 W _at Dickinson ____________89-45 W _at Pittsburgh ____________52-45 W _at Navy ________________53-49 W _at American ____________77-52 W _at West Virginia (#9 AP*) __61-60 W _Rutgers ________________66-52 W _Georgetown ____________83-55 W _at Rhode Island__________72-66 W _at Army________________85-73 W _at Pennsylvania __________52-54 _ _L _at Colgate _________63-65 (OT) _ _L _at Syracuse _______72-76 (2 OT) _L _West Virginia (#10 AP)____84-65 W _Pittsburgh _______________24-9 W _at Bucknell _____________80-67 W
M _21 M _22
NCAA TOURNAMENT _Kentucky (7) (#1 AP*) ____54-82 _ _L _N.C. State (7) ___________60-69 _ _L
▲ Lou Lamie was captain and the leading scorer on the 1950-51 team.
▲ Hardy Williams was a two-year letterman and captained the 1951-52 team.
1952-53
1953-54
W/L: 15-9 (H: 12-0; A: 2-7; N: 1-2) Coach: Elmer Gross Captain: Herm Sledzik Starters: Jesse Arnelle (17.0), Herm Sledzik (14.6), John Sherry (10.3), Ed Haag (7.4), Ron Weidenhammer (6.6). Subs: Joe Piorkowski (7.5), Dave Edwards (3.3), Jim Blocker (3.2).
W/L: 18-6 (H: 9-0; A: 5-5; N: 4-1) Coach: Elmer Gross Captain: John Sherry Starters: Jesse Arnelle (26.1), Ron Weidenhammer (11.1), Bob Hoffman (10.5), Earl Fields (9.8), Jim Blocker (5.5). Subs: Jim Brewer (6.1), Dave Edwards (2.9), Bob Rohland (2.7).
D _12 D _13 D _19 D _29 D _30 D _31 J __ 7 J __ 9 J _10 J _12 J _14 J _17 J _31 F__ 3 F__ 4 F__ 7 F _11 F _14 F _16 F _20 F _21 F _25 F _28 M _ 7
_Alfred _________________56-43 W _Washington & Jefferson ___62-50 W _Colgate ________________68-55 W _Oklahoma A & M (8) (#8 AP*)61-68 L _Bowling Green (8) _______67-56 W _W. Kentucky (8) (#17 AP*) 78-91 _ _L _Syracuse _______________71-62 W _Carnegie Tech ___________62-51 W _at Pittsburgh ____________56-57 _ _L _Gettysburg _____________73-66 W _at West Virginia _________72-82 _ _L _Ithaca ________________105-47 W _at Pennsylvania __________56-60 _ _L _at Georgetown __________73-70 W _at Navy ________________53-77 _ _L _at Rutgers ______________62-74 _ _L _American ______________69-53 W _Bucknell _______________71-49 W _Dickinson ______________56-42 W _at Colgate _________60-62 (OT) _ _L _at Syracuse _____________78-74 W _West Virginia ___________77-57 W _Pittsburgh ______________73-53 W _at Temple ______________54-56 _ _L
1954 Final Four No. 9 in final Associated Press poll D _ 5 _Washington & Jefferson ___66-41 W D _12 _at Pennsylvania __________72-67 W D _18 _at American ____________65-52 W D _19 _at N.C. State____________74-89 _ _L J _ _ 6 _Syracuse _______________77-63 W J _ _ 9 _Colgate ________________78-58 W J _13 _at West Virginia _________74-66 W J _16 _at Navy ________________58-62 _ _L J _27 _at Bucknell _____________49-43 W J _28 _Pittsburgh ________91-85 (3 OT) W F _ _ 3 _at Gettysburg ___________64-51 W F _ _ 6 _West Virginia ___________85-68 W F _13 _at Pittsburgh ____________62-74 _ _L F _19 _at Colgate ______________63-75 _ _L F _20 _at Syracuse _____________69-71 _ _L F _24 _Gettysburg _____________76-62 W F _27 _Rutgers ________________76-59 W M _ 4 _Georgetown ____________61-54 W M _ 6 _Temple ________________67-52 W NCAA TOURNAMENT M 9 Toledo (9) __________________62-50 W M 12 LSU (10) (#14 AP*) __________78-70 W M 13 Notre Dame (10) (#6 AP*) _____71-63 W M 19 LaSalle (11) (#2 AP*) _________54-69 _ _L M 20 USC (11) (#11 AP*) __________70-61 W
2010-11 P E N N S T A T E BASKETBALL
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