OSU
Sports History Minute - January 19, 2001
Part
1 of 20: The Overachievers
Coach
Paul Valenti watches his team during the 1966
season. |
Who can forget the football season
just ended? And who could have predicted, after
the Beavers struggled against Division II Eastern
Washington in the first game of the season,
that this same OSU team would go on and establish
gridiron records that could be around for the
remainder of this century?
It was much the same beginning for Paul Valenti's
1966 men's basketball squad.
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Pre-season prognosticators had picked OSU to finish
no better than 7-7 in conference play, about what
they had done in '65. The squad contained no blue-chip
athletes. In fact, not one player from the previous
season had averaged more than 10 points a game.
And it didn't help matters a bit when Valenti's
boys opened conference play with a 75-39 drubbing
at the hands of UCLA, still the worse defeat in
Oregon State basketball history. The starters were
Charlie White (Capt.), Loy Peterson, Ed Fredenberg,
Rick Whelan, and Scott Eaton. Center Fredenberg,
at 6-6, was the shortest post player in the Pac-10.
Football end Harry Gunner was the chief substitute
and a great help on the boards.
It wasn't exactly a group whose talents would make
history but this they did. Employing great desire,
discipline and, defense, Valenti's team reeled off
10 conference wins in a row. Simply put, these guys
and their coach knew how to win.
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Left: Rick Whelan drives for a
layup during the 1966 season.
Above: Team captain Charlie White
beats the entire Washington State team
to the basket.
Both photos from The Beaver, 1966. |
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In the process, the squad became the No. 1 defensive
unit in the country and the absolute best at working
the ball around for the best shot.
In a rematch against the Bruins for the conference
crown, OSU took UCLA to the cleaners at Gill with
a convincing 64-51 victory.
On to the regionals in Los Angeles. The opponent was
Houston, with its magnificent center Elvin Hayes (6-9,
240).
The future NBA star was averaging 27 points a game
and 16 rebounds. His team was also averaging an astonishing
100 points a game, the highest in NCAA history. With
Oregon State leading the nation in defense (54.7 points
a game), the stage was set for one of the greatest
games in playoff history.
In the end, Hayes got but 14 points and 10 rebounds
(Fredenberg played brilliant defense) and OSU won
in a stunning upset, 63-60. Whelan hit 11 of 14 from
the floor for a game-high 24 points.
But all good things sooner-or-later come to an end.
One victory more and they would go to the elite Final
Four tournament for the national championship. Standing
in the way was Utah but the Utes prevailed with a
70-64 victory.
Valenti was named PAC-10 Coach of the Year. Of that
final game to end the season, he only smiled and said,
"We went out like champions."
--Chuck Boice and George
Edmonston, Jr.
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