scene DeCember
1989
12 Heritage
8asketbal l - Pa rt Two By r. Philip Nordquist centennial Historian
(This is the 1 4t h feature in a 20-part se ries) PLU's most pu blic i zed success es d u r i ng the 1 9 5 0s a n d early 1 960s were i n ath letics, especial ly basketbal l . The best basketba ll teams in the i nstitu ti on 's history e m e rged after 1 9 5 5 , a n d records appeared that have not been equ a l ed . F rom 1 95 5 to 1 964 the basketba l l teams won the Evergre en conference cham pi o n ship n i n e times in ten years and went to the NAIA tou rna ment in Kansas City seven t i mes, fi nishing third in 1 9 57 and sec ond in 1 9 59. There were ten a ll-conference Lutes du ri ng that period, most selected more than once. Six of those al l-conference pl ayers lat-
er ea rned adva nced degrees; fou r earned doctorates, conti n u i ng a tradition of sc holar-ath letes that goes back to the Uni versity's fi rst d e c a d e a n d cont i n u es to the present. Bas ketba l l success d i d not mea n academ ic anemia. The g reatest of those basket ball teams were the Marv Harsh m a n a n d Gene L u n d g a a rd coached 1 956-1 959 tea ms whic h featu red the fa m o u s t r i o of Chuck Cu rtis, Roger Iverson, and Jim Van Beek, and a n able sup portin g cast . Th ose tea ms won 1 00 ga mes and lost o n l y 1 6, they were 49-3 in the Evergreen Conference ( 36-0 from 1 9 5 7 to
A � C E N T E N N I A L � T R E A S U R E Coming May 1 990
R
U'< centennial hi"",, i< n",,<I, h"" and
we're celebrating with a prepublication sale! Be among the first to own a copy by ordering now, and save 20% off the regular price of
$ 1 8.95. Written by history professor Phi lip Service: Pacific Lutheran Univers i ty ,
A. Nordq uist, Educating for
1 890- 1 990 describes the triumphs,
disappointments, and tenacious visions of those who helped to build PLU into the largest private educational inst itution in the Northwest. Beautifully bound in fu ll cloth, the book includes more than seventy photographs, capturing many of the faces and moments of the PLU community over the past century. Educating for Service will be an elegant keepsake of the univers i ty's centennial celebration
as
well as a
critical study of the school's often difficult enterprise, a memorable chronicle of achievements and follies, of struggles and growth. � Use the coupon below to reserve your copy. Books w i l l be shipped (or may be picked up at the Q Club banquet) in early May.
Name
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ ___ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
Address _______________________________________ City, State, Zip o Please send me __ copy ( ies) of Edw:ating for ( including tax and shipping & hand ling - $ 2 .50)
Service
@ $ 1 8 . 84 each
':I Please reserve for me __ copy( ies) of Educating for Serllice @ $ 1 6.34 each ( including tax ) . I will pick it/them up at the Q Club banquet. Send this coupon, along with your check or money order, to: Bookstore, Tacoma, W A 98447.
Service, PLU
Offe r ,ood throu,h March 30, 1990_
Edw:ating for
1959 L u tes - From left, Roger Iverson, Jim Van Beek, Chuck Curtis, Bob Roiko, Norm Oahl and coach Gene Lun dgaard.
1 95 9 ) , They won second a nd t h i rd place finishes at the Kansas City to u rn a m e nt a n d m o st experts and a l l PLU fans t h i n k they ca me with i n seconds of the n a t i o n a l ch a m p i o n s h i p i n 1 957 (Dick B a rnett, who later starred in the NBA, h it a 35-foot fa ll-away jump shot as time was r u n n i n g o u t a n d Ten n e ssee State defeated the Lutes 71 ·70>. Those tea ms a lso pl ayed the mo st d ra m a t i c a n d exc i t i n g series of games any PLU basket b a l l team has eve r p l ayed, agai nst the national Amate u r A t h l et i c U n i o n power B u c h a n Bakers, a team l oade d with recently g raduated west coast basketba l l talent. It wo uld have been i m poss i b l e to stuff more noise or people i nto Memorial Gym d u ring those games. PLU lost only once. Curtis and Iverson were ai l-con ference fo u r ti mes each, Van Beek twice. Cu rtis and Iverson made the NAIA a l l-tou rnament teams in 1 95 7 and 1 9 59. Cu rtis was PLC's fi rst l ittle All-American basketba l l pl ayer in 1 9 5 9 . That same year he was drafted by the NBA's Detroit Pi stons and l ater played for the National Indust rial Basketba ll League's New York Tuck Tapers a n d then for the American Basket b a l l Lea g u e's New York Ta pers and Pittsburg Rens. Iverson and Van Beek were dom inant players on the reg ional AAU circuit fo r many years, the bionic Va n Beek for two decades. In 1 9 71 Iverson made the NAIA Al l-Ti me Tournament Team and in 1 972 Marv Harshman and Iver son were na med to the NAIA Hall of Fame. Curtis and Iverson are st ill the leadin g scorers i n PLU basketbal l history and Van Beek is tenth. Basket b a l l was e n o r m o u s l y popular on the PLC campus (and i n Tacoma) d u ri n g this period. M e m o ria l Gym was reg u l a rly fil led to overflowing with people and noise (much made by a the ater organ, brought from Seat tle and installed in the Gym, that used to shake t h e wal ls). Why the buil ding was not reduced to
r u b b l e i n mome nts of great frenzy i s hard to u ndersta nd. The teams a nd PLC got a great deal of press and television cov erage. It was an excit i n g ti me, and memories are vivid. The orchestrator of those bas ketb all su ccesses, Marv Harsh man, left PLC fo r Was h i ngton State U n iversity in 1 9 58. He was rep l aced by Gene Lu n d g a a rd . Harshman had coached t h i rteen years at PLC and won 2 3 6 games; h e would coach thi rteen more at WSU, and com pleted his forty-year coach i n g career at the U n i ve rsity of Washi ngton where he was widely recog n ized as one of the fi nest coaches i n the nation. PLU players and fans had known that fo r years. PLU tea ms d i d n ot ret u r n to the national tournament in 1 960 a n d 1 96 1 , but from 1 96 2 to 1 964 they did once aga i n . They were led by the h i gh-j u m p i n g scori ng, reb ounding, and clown i n g of Swed ish i m po rt H a n s Al bertss o n a n d t h e daz z l i n g j u m p shooting of Tom Whalen. Both were a l l-conference. M a rv Fredrickson (who along with Gus K ravas was a lso a l l-co nference) added a new award to the ath letic trophy case in 1 96 3 when he won the Uston Award (which went to the NAIA's most accom pl ished scho lar-athlete>. Despite nu merous conference champ ionsh ip s since 1 964, PLU has not been able to return to the n a t i o n a l NAIA basket ba l l tou rnament. Central Washi ng ton State U niversity has become the d o m i n a n t l o c a l p o w e r . Ret u rn i n g t o Kan sas C ity after an ab sence of a quarter of a centu ry wou ld be a n ice way to celebrate the centen n ial, howev er, ce rta i n ly for t h ose who re m e m b e r t h e d ra m a a n d excitement of 1 9 5 5 -1 964, and certa inly for the present coach and tea m . Fol l ow the Lu tes i n yo ur local newspaper and i f you are determ ined to help subsid ize travel to national tournam ents (1 34 ath l etes and twelve teams last year) join the Lute Club. (Next time: Women a t PW)