Welcome Bryan

[nickgyp]

Lucidity:

Strangely, Xavier hoops doesn't have any mention of this recent signing although Banners on the Parkway does list him as 6'8". How he transitions to D1 basketball in anybody's guess but if he had that many rebounds, it does suggest that he has good hands which cannot be taught. Height doesn't matte in all instances. See Charles Barkley. I believe Bob Pelkington who averaged some 22 rpg in the 60's to lead no only X but the nation as well was listed in the same range. Averaging 22 rpgs per is insane but Pelkington wasn't a string bean and he used his size effectively.

Welcome to Mr. Griffin and here's hoping he acclimates nicely to the Xavier basketball program.

Pelkington averaged 21 bds/game my freshman year (63-64). He was the top rebounder in the country narrowly edging Paul Silas of Creighton, who was a beast rebounder in the NBA for many years. Pelkington was a beast too. 6’7” and 250 pounds of muscle. He could catch a rebound and make a two handed pass before his feet hit the ground to a streaking Steve Thomas.

Believe this was the year Thomas averaged 30 ppg.. I was only 10 yrs old but I remember how good he was during games at Schmidt and against UC.
It sure would be fun to see video of those games. No three point line and he didn't even lead the country scoring either. How many recent collegians have been close to 30ppg? Thomas' jersey should be hanging at Cintas.

[olsingledigit]

Lucidity:

Strangely, Xavier hoops doesn't have any mention of this recent signing although Banners on the Parkway does list him as 6'8". How he transitions to D1 basketball in anybody's guess but if he had that many rebounds, it does suggest that he has good hands which cannot be taught. Height doesn't matte in all instances. See Charles Barkley. I believe Bob Pelkington who averaged some 22 rpg in the 60's to lead no only X but the nation as well was listed in the same range. Averaging 22 rpgs per is insane but Pelkington wasn't a string bean and he used his size effectively.

Welcome to Mr. Griffin and here's hoping he acclimates nicely to the Xavier basketball program.

Pelkington averaged 21 bds/game my freshman year (63-64). He was the top rebounder in the country narrowly edging Paul Silas
of Creighton, who was a beast rebounder in the NBA for many years. Pelkington was a beast too. 6’7” and 250 pounds of muscle. He could catch a rebound and make a two handed pass before his feet hit the ground to a streaking Steve Thomas.

Believe this was the year Thomas averaged 30 ppg.. I was only 10 yrs old but I remember how good he was during games at Schmidt and against UC.
It sure would be fun to see video of those games. No three point line and he didn't even lead the country scoring either. How many recent collegians have been close to 30ppg? Thomas' jersey should be hanging at Cintas.

Yes that was the year Thomas averaged 29 I believe. He was incredible. I charted his shots for each home game. Never saw a better shooter.

[nickgyp]

Wonder if anyone has footage of Thomas in games; or Pelkington for that matter. Their stats that year were off the charts

[gundun]

Steve averaged 29.7 which counted as 30 p/g. Steve is a good friend and I often kid him that most of the Bird's rebounds came off his missed shots. He was a super player. Funny thing is that X hasn't put his number on the wall and even though he was a stud at Roger Bacon (which retired his #4), LaRosa's hasn't play him in its HoF.
When I first met Bob Knight on the TTU campus, I asked him him if he remembered Steve. His first words were great shooter. That from a guy who never coached against X. He however did scout Canisius when they played here. Steve set X's FT record that night going 16/16.
Steve will be 78 in September and I hope we retire #10 before he passes.

[olsingledigit]

Steve averaged 29.7 which counted as 30 p/g. Steve is a good friend and I often kid him that most of the Bird's rebounds came off his missed shots. He was a super player. Funny thing is that X hasn't put his number on the wall and even though he was a stud at Roger Bacon (which retired his #4), LaRosa's hasn't play him in its HoF.
When I first met Bob Knight on the TTU campus, I asked him him if he remembered Steve. His first words were great shooter. That from a guy who never coached against X. He however did scout Canisius when they played here. Steve set X's FT record that night going 16/16.
Steve will be 78 in September and I hope we retire #10 before he passes.

I agree. Not sure what the issue is. Would love to see film of some of those games.minremeber listening on the radio to the Detroit away game. X won 114-112. The teams were scoring so fast that the announcers had trouble keeping up. Thomas shot 474% for the season and most were from long range.

[gundun]

olsingledigit, you said he averaged 29 p/g and that that 30 level is special. BTW, most people forget who had the winning shot for Xin the closing seconds. It was ...

Joe McNeil

[Lead Guitar]

I had the opportunity to see most of Thomas’s home games-the outside range and transition jumper and his unorthodox, wrong foot layups and bankshots. Like Larkin, Steve had many conventional 3pt plays and the quickest release and first step. Don Ruberg was ahead of his time with the uptempo, fast break offense. He did not rely on the Auburn shuffle or ten pass #1 play. He relied on getting it out and running. He had the University put in the three digit scoreboard. Although there has always been a bit of controversy regarding Pelkington’s rebound numbers, he definitely cleared most misses. To score in the hundreds without a 3pt line, a team has to take a lot of shots. It also meant there would be a lot of misses/rebounds. When Loyola Marymount was leading the nation in scoring, their 6’7” center (I think it was Gathers) was leading the nation in rebounding—similar to Pelkington.
Not sure how this thread morphed to Thomas and Pelkington (..and McNeal and Geiger), but it brought back great memories. Thomas should have his number retired.

[nickgyp]

I had the opportunity to see most of Thomas’s home games-the outside range and transition jumper and his unorthodox, wrong foot layups and bankshots. Like Larkin, Steve had many conventional 3pt plays and the quickest release and first step. Don Ruberg was ahead of his time with the uptempo, fast break offense. He did not rely on the Auburn shuffle or ten pass #1 play. He relied on getting it out and running. He had the University put in the three digit scoreboard. Although there has always been a bit of controversy regarding Pelkington’s rebound numbers, he definitely cleared most misses. To score in the hundreds without a 3pt line, a team has to take a lot of shots. It also meant there would be a lot of misses/rebounds. When Loyola Marymount was leading the nation in scoring, their 6’7” center (I think it was Gathers) was leading the nation in rebounding—similar to Pelkington.
Not sure how this thread morphed to Thomas and Pelkington (..and McNeal and Geiger), but it brought back great memories. Thomas should have his number retired.

Lead: I remember McNiel and Geiger as well. The latter was a very good player as well and I recall McNiel had some really good moments. Truth is that even though Xavier has seen a lot of good basketball lately, the year when Thomas and Pelkington did so well was as fun to watch as any Musketeer squad. Thomas' number and/or jersey should be retired without question. Hopefully, Mario Mercurio keeps up with this board.

[muskieman]

Guys, with all due respect to the former players, could we get back on topic? I suggest we have a thread on Thomas and Pellington et al. We car trying to talk about Bryan the newest Muskie.

[edgecliff hall]

Classic Xavier Players. There's you title, MM. Or, perhaps: "Memories."