LORETTO, Pa. (April 9, 2013) – Five Saint Francis men's basketball greats have been elected to the second class of the University's Golden Era Hall of Fame, president Gabriel Zeis, T.O.R. announced on Tuesday afternoon.
The 16-member Golden Era Men's Basketball Committee has selected Gene DeBerardinis, Ed Dugan, Joe Hazinsky, Len Murray and Ed Winters for enshrinement in an on-campus ceremony on June 29.
“Once again, as in 2012, it is with great joy and pride that the Saint Francis University Golden Era Hall of Fame announces its inductees for 2013,” said Father Zeis. “The University community is so very proud of its legacy in basketball that truly is celebrated through the achievements of our athletes who are now alumni. Their many contributions to this outstanding legacy will never be forgotten, proof of this is in this induction to the Golden Era Hall of Fame.”
“The University is proud to congratulate these five men for their great contribution to the legacy of Red Flash Basketball and its on-going story.”
The general public is invited to attend June's induction weekend festivities, which will be attended by inductees, former players and alumni. Last year's inaugural event drew nearly 200 attendees to Loretto. The 2013 celebration will also serve as the final official event of Father Zeis' nine-year tenure as University president.
In 2011, in an effort to preserve and promote the forgotten story of Saint Francis' men's basketball's earlier prowess, Father Zeis created the Golden Era Men's Basketball Committee and charged it with identifying players and teams of that period to be inducted the new extension of the SFU Athletics Hall of Fame.
To R.S.V.P. or to request more information, please contact the Department of Athletics at 814-472-3286 or visit
SFUathletics.com/goldenera.
JOE HAZINSKY
1968-1972
A rangy 6'3” guard who could shoot, drive and rebound, Joe Hazinsky was a formidable force on the floor for Saint Francis during the opening decade of the 1970s. As was the case with many prior Frankie teams, this was a guard-driven unit where he served as a perfect complement to future NBA great Kevin Porter providing much of the team's offensive punch.
Moving seamlessly into a starting role by his sophomore year, Hazinsky went on to conclude his career with 1,187 points and upon graduation was the 10th leading scorer in Saint Francis history with the eighth highest scoring average of 15.4 points per game. A pure shooter who could just as easily put the ball on the floor and drive to the basket, he piled up points his junior and senior years averaging over 17 points a contest and had some of his best games against his team's best competition: 30 points vs. Missouri and Old Dominion, 22 vs. Temple, 20 vs. Syracuse, 19 vs. Saint Joseph's, and 18 vs. Virginia Commonwealth – to name just a few.
With Porter running the break, Hazinsky liked to operate on the wing where he could launch his patented jumper. He was just as good passing the ball and with his long arms he was one of the best defensive players on his teams and a fine rebounder, taking down an average of 5.6 rebounds a game - an impressive number for a guard.
ED WINTERS
1959-62
Sharpshooters of the early 1960s nudged college basketball to more of a modern wide-open attack and brought a new formula to winning and, in guard Ed Winters, Saint Francis had a formidable weapon and like former Frankie teams and later ones, too, his were known for their guard-dominant play.
Recruited out of Western Pennsylvania at a time when it was a region especially rich in basketball talent, Winters, from Sharon, and backcourt mate Calvin Fowler, who hailed from Pittsburgh, were a tandem no one who followed the game could easily forget once they took up starting positions on a team that featured the likes of Joe Aston, Bobby Jones and Wilbur Trosch along the front line. With the graduation of guard Jack O'Malley, Winters exploded out of the shadows his sophomore year. “If the three-point shot had existed back then, there's no telling how many points he would have scored,” Trosch would recall.
His scoring numbers held steady throughout his entire varsity career as he put up more than 1,000 shots and his average peaked at 20.5 points per game his junior year and 16.4 his senior season. To gain some appreciation for what he and Fowler meant to their team, consider that they were the only starting backcourt in the nation to feature two 1,000-point scorers during the 1961-62 season.
ED DUGAN
1950-54
An all-state player out of Delaware, “Steady Eddie,” as he was known, was as his nickname suggests. He lettered all four years at Saint Francis at a time when its teams met with success against some of the accomplished college squads in the East. Playing on teams dominated by the great Maurice Stokes he managed to score in double figures from his sophomore to senior years averaging 13.6 points and 7.3 rebounds a game.
Dugan's time at Saint Francis was a period of great prosperity for the college, when indeed, it became difficult for the small school to find competition. Still, his teams made it to two NITs at a time when it was the nation's premier postseason tournament. Moreover, he played a key role in the school's march to the championship game of the National Catholic Invitational where the Frankies lost to Marquette.
Operating from the low pivot, Dugan played much taller than his listed height of 6'4”. But perhaps his greatest quality was his dependability. He never missed a game over his career and his teams could count 76 wins and only 22 losses during his days at the “College Among the Pines.”
LEN MURRAY
1964-68
Lenny Murray was the consummate swing man who moved seemingly effortlessly in and around the basket, handling the ball, rebounding it, shooting it while defenders bothered themselves with the likes of a Norm Van Lier and Larry Lewis inside.
Spanning coach Skip Hughes' final years at the helm and the arrival of coach John Clark, Murray lent a veteran presence to Saint Francis' emerging powerhouse teams of the late 1960s. A professional of the first order and a rare competitor, it was not in him to give anything less than his best.
A double-digit scorer for all but one of his four years, he reached the zenith of his career during the 1967-68 campaign where he averaged 16.3 points and nearly 10 rebounds when Saint Francis compiled a 19-6 record. He was a key component in Clark's overplay, full-court pressure defense where his long arms and 6'7” frame could deflect passes and teammate Bill Snodgrass credits his play his senior year for much of the program's success.
No self-promoter on or off the floor, Murray's contributions may have gone unnoticed to some but his fingerprints were all over the unfolding drama that was Saint Francis basketball during his time at the college.
GENE DeBERARDINIS
1961-1964
Gene DeBerardinis had the rare gift of being in the right place at the right time and that goes far in identifying his success on the basketball court. He, along with Sandy Williams, were the face of Saint Francis basketball for the years 1962-64, but his role was a bit different than his celebrated teammate.
He had, as they say, a nose for the basketball, or where it or his teammates might be on court. “He was always around the ball,” remembers guard Don Appleman. “Wherever it was in and around the basket he seemed to be in the action.” That sense may explain his ranking among the top three in field goal percentage in the nation his senior year. He had a range of shots near the hoop and he used them with great dexterity against taller opponents. He averaged nearly 14 points a game his senior year along with seven rebounds.
Just as important, when matters became most heated on the floor he was an organizing force, directing his teammates before things got out of hand. His were not the greatest teams in school history but it was because of his mature leadership and efforts along with Williams' explosive play that put a winning face on Saint Francis basketball no matter what the final record might show.
