Blue White Illustrated

as you will read later. Gross wanted to recruit Maurice Stokes, who had led Westinghouse High School of Pittsburgh to back-to-back city championships in 1950 and '51 but couldn't get him a scholarship. Stokes went on to become a star at St. Francis and the NBA and is enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame. When I wrote my column, junior Mark DuMars was Penn State's shining star. Recruiting DuMars was a milestone that I also didn't realize at the time. He was a blue-chip 5-foot-10, 155-pound guard who had led Sharon to the Pennsylvania state championship. He graduated as Penn State's second-leading scorer after Arnelle and is still 19th in career scoring despite playing when freshmen were in- eligible. DuMars also followed Arnelle as the school's second honorable mention All-American in 1959 and '60. DuMars was among the players who wanted to punch me out when my col- umn appeared, and we have joked about it since he moved back to the area. My column also provoked athletics di- rector Ernie McCoy and led him to help me write a nine-part series about the athletic department, including extensive interviews with McCoy and university president Eric Walker. They gave me a complete rundown of team-by-team fi- nancial aid except for identifying the players. It's far too detailed and complex to go into, but financial assistance ranged from full scholarships and limit- ed fees to helping players find jobs or getting them subsidized by fraternities who wanted them in their brotherhood. In 1958-59, some $135,000 was bud- geted for financial aid for 11 sports. That's about $1.1 million in today's dol- lars. According to McCoy's figures, 68 football players were on full scholarship, with 12 others receiving some type of monetary aid. There was only one other full scholarship among the other nine teams. That was in baseball, where nine other players received fees. Basketball had 13 players getting fi- nancial assistance, mostly from fees and fraternities, meaning even the great Mark DuMars was not officially receiv- ing a full scholarship. I suspect he was one of those players listed by McCoy as getting room and board from his frater- nity. I know it was a fraternity that helped subsidize whatever other finan- cial assistance Sledzik was receiving. Financial aid has changed immensely over the years for all Penn State sports and especially basketball. It's not the lack of financial support that is hamper- ing the basketball program these days, no matter what some in the media and a former coach or two may tell you. One can argue that basketball has not been a top priority within the athletic depart- ment since the 1950s, but that's a dis- cussion for another day. Certainly Joe Paterno was trying to upgrade the basketball program when he sought an Eastern all-sports conference but was thwarted by jealous rivals, par- ticularly at Pitt and Syracuse. The coaches who followed Egli all tried without success to turn the Nittany Li- ons into a basketball power. Winning might be enough if it's con- sistent over a long period of years. But winning takes the right players. Penn State has had its share of good players, but it needs a few great ones, too, the type who make their teammates even better. We all know it's been difficult to recruit the type of players who can make that happen, the kids who spurn a Vil- lanova, Syracuse or Maryland to play for Good Old State. All of Penn State's past coaches tried to do that and had limited success. Now Patrick Chambers and his ener- getic staff are trying. And they're mak- ing inroads as the incoming recruiting class shows. Philadelphia sportswriter Dick Jerardi, who doubles as analyst on Penn State radio broadcasts, believes Chambers and his staff have broken into the talent-rich Philadelphia area and that can be a "game changer." Whatever the reasons for this season's disappointing record, the coaches need more time to recruit more Tim Fraziers and D. J. Newbills and some super tal- ents. Changing coaches right now, as The Remarkable Journey of the 2012 Nittany Lions A diary by Lou Prato, author of the Penn State Football Encyclopedia and four other Nittany Lion books Personalized autographed copy available through Lou Prato and Associates Call 814-692-7577 or email louprato@comcast.net Price: $19.95 plus tax and shipping SEE PRATO PAGE 58

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