There are currently fourteen former Wabash basketball players in the Indiana High School Basketball Hall of Fame.  Click on the link below and it will take you to the Indiana High School Basketball Hall of Fame web-site.  You will find the Little Giant members by doing a search for the names.  Here are the Little Giants listed in alphabetical order:

Francis Bacon  '18, Frank Barnes '29, Tom Bennett '60, Charlie Bowerman '61, Karl "Nobby" Dickerson '53, Charles Englehardt '26, David Glascock '09, Ward "Piggy" Lambert, '11, Virgil Robbins '24, Maurice "Guy" Robinson '26, Sam Scheivley '41, Alva Staggs '14, Homer Stonebraker '18, and Lee "Pete" Thorn '24.

http://www.hoopshall.com/main.html

Posted by Bill Boone '60 at 02:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

You will quickly recognize the members of the First Wonder Five. This was the team of 1907-08.  These Little Giants had a record of 24-0 and were proclaimed World Champions.  Ralph Jones was still the coach and the First Wonder Five included Brandy Freeman, Bill (Abe) Diddel, Big Bill Sprow, Ralph Wicks, and Rome (Ike) Williams.

The Second Wonder Five was the 1916-17 team which had a record of 19-2.  They were coached by Paul Sheeks and included, Del Clements, Knute Caldwell, Homer Stonebraker, Frances Bacon, and Abe DeVol.  Lester Hunt is the 6th member and Sam Bliss was the manager.

The Third Wonder Five was the team of 1921-22 which had a record of 21-3 and were National Champions.  They were coached by the legendary Pete Vaughan.  The players were Fred Adam,  Paul Schanlaub, Lon Goldsberry,  John Burns, and Clyde Grater.
 

                                                                                        Pete Vaughan

The Fourth Wonder Five was the team of 1924-25.  They had a record of 18-1 and played Big Ten teams Wisconsin and Iowa, plus perennial powers, Kentucky and Notre Dame (twice).  The team members were Benny DeVol, Theron Coffel, Maurice (Shang) Chadwick, Red Robinson, and Don Burdette.

Pictured at the right is Maurice (Shang) Chadwick who was a great supporter of Wabash Basketball all his life.  Chadwick Court is named in his honor.

          The Fifth Wonder Five--1981-82  24-4  NCAA Div. 3 National Champs

Standing L-R Matt Petty, Mgr. Barry Cope, Dave Clark, Paul Haviley, Mark Lee, Dave Bromund, Jim Beagle, Merlin Nice, Trainer Bob Burkhardt, Mgr. Dan Echer,  and St. Trainer, Jim Snyder.

Seated L-R Asst. Coach Rich Clouse, Chris Denari, Teddy Parker, Co. Capt. Mike Holcomb, Head Coach Mac Petty, Co. Capt. Pete Metzelaars, Kerry Seward, Kyle Foyer, and Asst. Coach Mike Brewer.

Little Giants celebrate NCAA Div. 3 National Championship

Posted by Bill Boone '60 at 07:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since Crawfordsville was the Cradle of Indiana basketball, the early Wabash teams drew heavily from the highly successful Crawfordsville High School teams.  Pictured below are the State Champions of 1905-06 team which had a record of 17-1.  They were coached by Ralph Jones who also coached the CHS teams and the YMCA teams in the early era.  Five of the six members of the team were from Crawfordsville.  They were L-R, Ralph Wicks, L.J.C. Freeman, Big Bill Sprow, Rome Williams, and Harter Walter.  The other member is Bill (Abe) Diddel who also designed the Crawfordsville Municipal Golf Course.

Four of the five of the members of the Championship team of 05-06 returned the next year and were again State Champs, posting a record of 17-2.  Ralph Jones was again the coach and the 1908-07 Little Giants were Ralph Wicks, L.J.C. (Brandy) Freeman, Big Bill Sprow, Walter Gipe, and Bill Diddel.

Posted by Bill Boone '60 at 06:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

       Benny as a freshman 1955                                     Benny hooks one in

   Opening tip against Quantico                                  1958 Little Giants

A Tribute to Benny Fellerhoff

It has been nearly 50 years since Benny Fellerhoff took off his Wabash basketball jersey for the last time.  However, his name is still prominent in the record books.  He is one of only 21 players who scored over 1,000 points for the Red and White recording 1,123 points in his four–year, 76-game career.  That number places Ben fifteenth on the all-time scoring list.  He is twelfth on the career scoring average list with a mark of 14.8.  He had high games of 43 points against Aurora in 1957 and 36 against The University of Chicago in 1956.  In his senior season, Benny led the Little Giants in scoring with 369 points and in rebounding with 189 rebounds. Part of the measure of a player is the respect and affection that teammates and coaches had for him.  The following are samples of what teammates said about Benny:

Coach Brock--"Benny was a real gentleman on and off the court. He was a fierce competitor and always thought of the team first."

John Hollett, '59--"Benny was a great teammate.  He was a hard worker and a surprisingly good passer for a big man.  I really had fun playing with him."

Duane Axel, 59--" I just remember Ben as a tough competitor.  He was really tough to go against around the basket.  You were glad to have him on your side." 

Benny Fellerhoff passed away on the morning of the Wabash Athletic Hall of Fame Inductions.  He was represented by his sister Liz Kahl and Bucky Dennis a teammate and Delt brother.  He was truly, “Some Little Giant.”

Posted by Bill Boone '60 at 04:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is picture from a post card showing the Old YMCA Armory.  It was the site of the first basketball game played outside the state of Massachusetts, where Dr. James Naismith invented the game in 1891. The game was played on October 16, 1894.   The Crawfordsville YMCA played the Lafayette YMCA with Crawfordsville winning.  On February 19, 1897, Wabash College and Purdue University got together and played the first basketball game  between two college teams using just five players.  The earlier games featured nine players on each side.  Wabash won the first game 23-13 and a great basketball tradition began.

Posted by Bill Boone '60 at 03:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jim Cumming was one of the brightest stars of the Brock era.  Jim played on three teams that went on to play in the NCAA tourney after the regular season.  He was a ferocious rebounder and still has his name in the Wabash record books for his rebounding.   In 1960, Jim recorded two 20 rebound games as he snared 23 against Illinois Tech and 22 against McMurray.  The 23 rebounds still stands as the single game record and the 22 is second on the list.  He led the Little Giants in rebounding in 1959-60 with 212 an 11.7 per game average and 247 in 1960-61, an average of 11.2.  Jim is shown in the picture setting a solid screen for Charlie Bowerman in their 1960-61 season.

Posted by Bill Boone '60 at 04:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Coach Bob L. Brock coached basketball at Wabash College from 1953 to 1965.  He was a 1940 graduate of Clay City High School in Clay County, Indiana. After graduation from high school, he went to Indiana State Teacher’s College, now Indiana State University. He played basketball there for the legendary Dave Glascock, coach of the Crawfordsville HS team that won the first Indiana High School State basketball tournament in 1911, and a member of the Wabash College Athletic Hall of Fame. 

After one year, Coach Brock joined the Marines and participated in four landings. He was stationed in the South Pacific and saw action in Okinawa, and the North, South and Middle Pacific. He returned to Indiana State after the war and played for two other coaching legends, Glenn Curtis and John Wooden. 

After graduation, he took a coaching job at tiny Richland Township in Fountain County and won two sectionals.  He was at Richland Twp. from 1949 to 1951.  He then moved to Tell City for the 1951-52 season before coming to Wabash to coach for twelve years from 1953 to 1965.  In his twelve year tenure, the Little Giants had a record of 114-111 against some of the best competition available.  His teams qualified for the College Division Tourney of the NCAA four straight years, 1957-58, 1958-59, 1959-60, and 1960-61.  He is a member of the Wabash College Athletic Hall of Fame.

                         Coach Brock and Charlie talk it over during a time out.

Posted by Bill Boone '60 at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)