Editor's note: The following account of OSU's legendary basketball team, Coach "Slats" Gill's 1947 "Thrill Kids," was written by team member Alex Petersen and presented to the Alumni Association two years ago with the idea that it might be shared with Beaver alumni at some time in the future. Well the time is now and we at Eclips are delighted at the opportunity to feature this priceless "eyewitness" account of one of the greatest moments in OSU athletic history, featuring some of the biggest names to ever wear the Orange and Black and including three All-Americans and an Olympic gold medalist.

Alex Petersen

Living in retirement today in Corvallis, Alex Petersen still towers over most returnees to alumni gatherings and maintains a soft-spoken, unassuming personality that adds great dignity to everything he does and everyone he meets. In keeping with the kind of person he is, Mr. Petersen wrote his story in the third-person, as if he had been a student in the stands of the old Men's Gymnasium and not the collegiate superstar he turned out to be.

By Alex Petersen. Edited by George Edmonston Jr.

If Yankee Stadium is "the house that Ruth built," then Gill Coliseum can be said to be the house the 1947 "Thrill Kids" built.

Just as Ruth's home run hitting prowess brought a multitude of fans to the Yankees' games, so too did the basketball prowess and style of the "Thrill Kids" burst the seams of the old Men's Gymnasium (now Langton Hall).

Winning games was a factor, but even more was the way the team won. Speed was the hallmark of the squad, so much so that coach "Slats" Gill, who created a legend during his career with his high-percentage, control system of basketball, felt comfortable in turning this team loose. The style was certainly not a "run and gun" approach but what a longtime official once told the coach of a preseason opponent, "You're going to see the best fast-break you've ever seen."

The Thrill Kids (counter-clockwise from left): Cliff Crandall, Lew Beck, Morrie Silver, and Red Rocha.

The style went beyond the effectiveness of this team's fast-break offense because "Slats" devised a fast weave with three guards, two corner-playing forwards, and no post man in the middle. The weave was so fast, "Slats" worked out a special backward pass off the dribble to lead the man racing by, rather than blasting him with the momentum of both the pass forward and the forward motion of the full-speed run. All this movement created an excitement new to the veteran OSU fan. So who made up the squad, dubbed by many as one of the greatest in school history? By the time of their trip to New York City to play in Madison Square Garden, the traveling team of 11 members had been established, including Ephraim "Red" Rocha; Lew Beck; Cliff Crandall; Alex Petersen; Erland "Andy" Anderson; Morrie "Mushie" Silver; Dan Torrey; Norm Carey; Frank Roelandt; Dan Samuel; and Doug Martin.

They finished the season at 28-5, 13-3 in the Northern Division conference. The Beavers won three of four from Washington, Washington State and Idaho, and swept all four games from Oregon. UCLA was the victim in two straight games for the Pacific Coast collegiate championship, but then lost in the NCAA Western Regional tournament by two points to a fine Oklahoma squad after coming back from a 15-point deficit at half. Wyoming was beaten in the Western consolation game to end the season. To many locals, this meant that Oregon State had finished as the fifth best team in the nation.

But the real strength of the team must be considered in relation to the fact that this was the first time since World War II the Beavers had turned in a full season in basketball. With a large group of returning service veterans, lettermen from the 1945-46 season, plus a talented group of incoming freshman, strong basketball programs abounded throughout the country. It was often said at the time that the better college teams were as good or better than some of the average professional teams. Many colleges had arguably their best teams in history, and many could not even win their conference championships. The result was that the teams who did make it to the NCAA championship in 1947 were very, very good. Without counting the one 17-year-old freshman to make the Oregon State College traveling squad, the average age of the Beavers in '47 was close to 23.

"Red" Rocha, "Andy" Anderson, and Cliff Crandall returned from a team that had finished second in the Northern Division in 1946-47. Lew Beck and Alex Petersen returned from the service along with quite a few others. And Morrie Silver transferred to OSC for his senior year.

Red Rocha

There were so many out for the team in the fall of '46 that strong junior varsity and freshman teams were fielded. There were lettermen either playing JV or just unable to play at all. Some all-state and Portland all-city players also could not make the team, and a few were counseled out of college basketball altogether. Rocha, at 6-9, was faster than any other center he played against. He could score several ways...off the fast break, driving to the basket around a screen from his "new" position in one corner, or with his rebounding quickness. He led the team in scoring, was named an All-American, and played 11 years in the professional's top league.

Beck, a combination of jack rabbit and quarter horse, was next in scoring, and was the fastest of all. He overcame a severe service training injury to become team captain. As quick as he was on the drive, the defense couldn't lay off him or he would score with a two-hand set-shot. He later became captain of the 1948 Olympic gold medal team after his Phillip's Oilers won an AAU championship.

Lew Beck

Cliff Crandall was fast for a forward but "Slats" had him play as a third guard. His strength was in reversing off the fast weave. If still under guard, he would twist in on the dribble and go all the way for a lay-in or use his patented running one-hander to score from around or inside the foul line. He was an All-American after the 1949 season and became captain of a national champion AAU team.

Petersen, a fraction under 6-6, cracked the starting lineup for the first half of conference play. He played in the opposite corner from "Red."

Since "Red" was usually the first option if nothing developed off the weave, Petersen's defender would gradually move closer and closer to the key to provide defensive help.

So Alex, wide open in the corner, became known for his long, one-handed set shots (best field goal percentage in the NCAA in 1948) and could also score on the fast break or fill a lane to occupy a defender, which left an opening on the opposite side of the key.

The short publicity blurb on Petersen in an opponent's game program was often..."good shooter, fast for a big man." He later turned down "make good" contracts with St. Louis and Syracuse, then in the newly formed NBA, while working his way through Columbia graduate school playing in the Eastern professional league, where he was named an all-star.

Anderson was 6-4, 200, and was noted more for his strength than his speed, although he was not slow. A good rebounder, he later played for several years in a new Northwest professional league.

Silver, the smallest man on the squad, was a very special case. His minutes more than points indicated his value. He was the prototype "point guard" before that term was coined. Quick and a fantastic passer, he was often the leader on the fast break and would rather get an assist than score himself.

After one game, for example, it was found that "Mushie" had not taken a single shot. On the other hand, in a game against Oregon, OSU was struggling. Morrie's man was helping defend Lou and Cliff to reduce their output, thinking "Mushie" was no scoring threat. So Silver cut loose for 12 points and OSU got the win. He went on to play for two Oakland AAU teams of major quality.

Doug Martin's 20 Northern Division points belied his value. At 6-8, he was a good rebounder and post defender and could give "Red" eight to 10 minutes rest without hurting the team.

The others had their moments. Even Don Samuel, who came out late because he also played football, had his most playing time in the last conference game against Oregon, in which the Ducks tried to out-physical the Beavers with 40 fouls!

So, of the six players with the most points and playing time, three played professionally at some level, two were captains of National AAU champions, and Lew Beck captained the Americans to gold at the 1948 Olympics. (Editor's note: The "head coach" of the 1948 U.S. Olympic team was Dean Bartlett Cromwell, legendary University of Southern California track coach from 1908-1948, whose hometown was Turner, Oregon, located just south and east of Salem. When he died in 1962, his family returned him to Turner where he is at rest in the Twin Oaks Cemetery.)

Morrie and Alex played in at least one National AAU tournament, and Alex competed on a service team that beat the Harlem Globetrotters at Fort Warren, Wyoming, during World War II.

The Men's Gymnasium could not handle the crowds that wanted to see the
"Thrill Kids." Students were limited to attending every other game according to their student body card number, and a large part of the general public was left out. A growing student population, many returning from the war to continue their studies, was part of the equation. A tie for the Northern Division crown in 1948 (losing a play-off game to Washington) and another Pacific Coast championship and a fourth place finish in 1949 kept up the pressure. But by then, the coliseum was under construction and a final win over UCLA was the last game played in the old gym.

The '49 team was never considered among the best-ever OSU teams, even though the guys finished number four in the country. It was considered, and rightly so, as one of Gill's best coaching performances, which is marked by its inclusion in the OSU Sports Hall of Fame and the State of Oregon Athletic Hall of Fame.

But the Coliseum was already under way by then and under way because of a great team, the 1947 "Thrill Kids," the team that built Gill Coliseum.