Should we have a Charley Hyatt banner next to the retired numbers?

[MarshallGoldberg]

I don't believe jersey numbers existed yet, but shouldn't he get the same honors as our big four? Helped popularize the one handed shot, which became a popular form in between the two-handed set shot era and the jump shot era.




1927

Pitt produces its first All-America basketball selection-Charley Hyatt. As a 6-0 forward, Hyatt goes on to become a three-year All-America player at Pitt while leading the Panthers to two national titles and a 60-7 record from 1927-30. Nicknamed the "Clipper," he twice led the nation in scoring during his collegiate career. He concluded his career with 880 points and was named to the Helms Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame and elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959.

February 18, 1928

Charley Hyatt's last second basket preserves Pitt's perfect season and gave Pitt a 24-22 win vs. Notre Dame. Hyatt received a pass from Paul Zehfuss to defeat the Fighting Irish. The victory serves as a catalyst as Pitt wins its first mythical Helms Foundation national title by winning 21 straight games and averaging a then-phenomenal 38 points per game. Coached by the eccentric H.C. "Doc" Carlson, All-America Charley Hyatt and Stan Wroblewski were the nation's two highest scorers.

January 6, 1930

Charley Hyatt scored on a last second basket, the last two points of his game-high 27, to give Pitt a 38-37 win over Montana State. Hyatt's 27 points were even more impressive considering they were scored against a Montana State team featuring future Hall of Famer John "Cat" Thompson.

March 12, 1930

Charley Hyatt plays his final home game at Pitt, a 67-20 win over Washington & Jefferson. Hyatt concludes his career as a three-time All-American. The 6-foot forward guided Pitt to a three-year 60-7 overall record and two national championships.

 

[CrazyPaco]

I don't believe jersey numbers existed yet, but shouldn't he get the same honors as our big four? Helped popularize the one handed shot, which became a popular form in between the two-handed set shot era and the jump shot era.




1927

Pitt produces its first All-America basketball selection-Charley Hyatt. As a 6-0 forward, Hyatt goes on to become a three-year All-America player at Pitt while leading the Panthers to two national titles and a 60-7 record from 1927-30. Nicknamed the "Clipper," he twice led the nation in scoring during his collegiate career. He concluded his career with 880 points and was named to the Helms Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame and elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959.

February 18, 1928

Charley Hyatt's last second basket preserves Pitt's perfect season and gave Pitt a 24-22 win vs. Notre Dame. Hyatt received a pass from Paul Zehfuss to defeat the Fighting Irish. The victory serves as a catalyst as Pitt wins its first mythical Helms Foundation national title by winning 21 straight games and averaging a then-phenomenal 38 points per game. Coached by the eccentric H.C. "Doc" Carlson, All-America Charley Hyatt and Stan Wroblewski were the nation's two highest scorers.

January 6, 1930

Charley Hyatt scored on a last second basket, the last two points of his game-high 27, to give Pitt a 38-37 win over Montana State. Hyatt's 27 points were even more impressive considering they were scored against a Montana State team featuring future Hall of Famer John "Cat" Thompson.

March 12, 1930

Charley Hyatt plays his final home game at Pitt, a 67-20 win over Washington & Jefferson. Hyatt concludes his career as a three-time All-American. The 6-foot forward guided Pitt to a three-year 60-7 overall record and two national championships.

Yes. There is no debate on this. He's Pitt's most decorated player: its only 3X 1st team All-American, its only National Player of the Year, it's only national scoring champion, and its only player elected in either the Naismith or College Basketball Halls of Fame.

There should also be something for Doc Carlson, also elected into both Halls and the only coach to win 2 national titles, play for another, go undefeated, and get to a Final Four.

And there should be a banner listing Pitt's 4 Eastern Intercollegiate Conference championships.

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

CP, why hasn't it happened? Or for Carson? Any insight?

 

[CrazyPaco]

CP, why hasn't it happened? Or for Carson? Any insight?

A general lack of appreciation for history and legacy. Recentism. Stupidity. Take your pick.

 

[HailToPitt1985]

Yes. There is no debate on this. He's Pitt's most decorated player and only player in both the Naismith and College Basketball Halls of Fame.

There should also be something for Doc Carlson.

And there should be a banner listing Pitt's 4 Eastern Intercollegiate Conference championships.

No doubt about it. Both Charley and "Doc" deserve to have banners hanging with their names on them.

We have a rich history in college basketball. We need to always remember that by honoring those who contributed to it.

 

[Pitt79]

A general lack of appreciation for history and legacy. Recentism. Stupidity. Take your pick.

Most people will say anything before a certain time doesn't count. Like nothing before the Super Bowl, and Pitts football championships other than '76, I guess it's "recentism".

 

[bobfree]

A general lack of appreciation for history and legacy. Recentism. Stupidity. Take your pick.

I choose recentism!

 

[levance2]

4 of our "NINE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS" in football came before Charley Hyatt graduated.

Recentism or boneheadedness?

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

Highly recommend Seth Davis' John Wooden biography. Basketball was so...weird in those days (played in Purdue around 1930 or so.)

Also, pretty violent game!

Playing in cages left its imprint on the pros, literally. The late Joel S. (Shikey) Gotthoffer, a star during the 1930s for the famed Philadelphia Sphas who also played for Nanticoke in the Penn State League, once said, "I played the first few games at Nanticoke in a [rope] cage, and I came home with the cage's markings on me. You could play ticktacktoe on everybody after a game because the cage marked you up; sometimes you were bleeding and sometimes not. You were like a gladiator, and if you didn't get rid of the ball, you could get killed."

...

Not surprisingly, fights were common and sometimes involved spectators as well as players. In researching my book, Cages to Jump Shots, I came across an unidentifiable newspaper clipping in an old player's scrapbook, describing the state of pro basketball in the early '20s: "In some cities of the New York State League, gladiatorial combats of the ancient Romans pale into insignificance compared with the rowdyism rampant among some of the fans and some of the players. No effort on the part of the managers to curtail such tactics has apparently been made, with the results that the good old indoor game is getting into disrepute. The games are not fit places on some occasions to take a lady, certainly not the sort of contest they should like to witness."

 

[MarshallGoldberg]

1930s description from the Daily News about why young Jewish men made up a disproportionate amount of basketball enthusiasts: "It places a premium on the alert, scheming mind ... flashy trickiness, artful dodging, and general smart aleckness, traits naturally appealing to the Hebrew with his Oriental background."