How far is it from an 8-18 record to the national runner-up in the NCAA College Division national basketball tournament? According to Head Coach Wyatt Webb, it was four years of hard work, pride, determination, and the tremendous bond among his players. The University of Akron’s highly successful 1971-72 basketball season was also a culmination of four years of rebuilding of the Zip’s program that had slumped to its lowest ebb in almost two decades.
When the 27-year old Webb inherited the head coaching duties in May 1968, after serving one year as an assistant to nine-year Head Coach Tony Laterza, he was the 13th individual named to the job in UA basketball history. Perhaps there is something to the myth about “unlucky 13”, because Webb was left with little talent and only two lettermen around whom to build a team. The results were as expected, UA’s first losing campaign since 1953-54.
For all intents and purposes, the breakthrough for Webb of taking the Zip cagers back into the national limelight began with the recruiting of 6-5 junior college guard-forward Tom Henry and two freshmen forwards, 6-4 Len Paul from Cleveland John Hay High School and 6-5 Harvey Glover from Orange, NJ for the 1969-70 season. Webb promised improvement and the Zips performed true to his word with a 12-11 record. Paul established the all-time freshman scoring record with 454 points and led the team in both scoring and rebounding (11.6 rpg), while Henry aided the cause with a 16.1 points per game.
However, by adding two more junior college veterans, 6-3 guard Larry Quarles and 6-7 center Randy Anderson, as well as freshman point guard Larry Jenkins, UA regained some of its national prominence. Paced again by Len Paul’s team-leading 518 points and double figure scoring from Henry, Glover and Jenkins, Akron put together a 19-5 record, that included a 14-game win streak, to earn another NCAA Mideast Regional bid in Reading, PA. Unfortunately, the Zips were knocked off by an excellent Cheyney State squad but, recouped for a third-place finish by defeating Wooster, 77-68, to finish with a 20-6 mark. Little All-American honors went to both Paul and Jenkins, the first and only freshman basketball player to ever earn the accolade. George McClain
With four starters, Jenkins, Quarles, Anderson and Paul, as well two-year starter Wil Schwarzinger and “super sub” Glover among seven returning lettermen, Webb began the 1971-72 season with the most experienced squad since taking over the helm in 1968. However, when Jenkins was sidelined for the season with a leg injury, it was little wonder Webb was cautious with his optimism when he said, “We are much deeper than we were last year and it’s a more talented group. If we pickup from last year in terms of team play and continue to play together both on offense and defense, we’ll be competitive but, we’ll have a difficult time repeating our success of last year.”
It is clear that Coach Webb underestimated the closeness of this squad, the leadership of his tri-captains Anderson, Paul and Quarles, and its tremendous desire for team success. While winning 26 games, the most in 71 seasons of the sport on campus, during a 31-game season, UA would capture its fourth NCAA Mideast Regional title and finish national runner-up to Roanoke College in the NCAA College Division National Championship in Evansville, IN. En route the Zips established six team and nine individual all-time school records.
The seemingly impossible dream was achieved by a veteran cast and a strong bench. “We received much improved performance from Anderson and Glover, who moved into the starting lineup vacated by Tom Henry, Schwarzinger really stepped it up with his steady play and Paul and Quarles had the kind of year we expected.”
From the early going the Zips displayed poise and discipline which proved to be the key to several wins during the season. It was especially true in big wins over Kent State (53-39), at Toledo (80-76), at Wittenberg (57-53 in overtime), Indiana State (66-58), at Kentucky Wesleyan (63-59) and in the three wins over Youngstown State (62-57, 54-53 and 87-71 for the NCAA Mideast title).
Larry Jenkins
In the season opener with Malone, UA netted the first 15 points before the Pioneers scored. Yet, the Zips didn’t overpower too many opponents and were far from awesome. The wins came when they out-finessed, out-hustled, out-defensed and out-coached most of the opposition. The goal was to get the opponent to play UA’s game and, if it controlled the tempo it usually won.
Akron brought back the old-time tactic from the peach basket days- the stall. A two-point lead was as good as 10 as long as UA had the lead and the ball. When Akron, unequal in size and supposedly in talent, defeated favored Kent State, after losing five consecutive games to the Golden Flashes, it did so with superior heart and by putting on a gutsy display of ball control to produce the upset. It was one the 16 victories before raucous sellout crowds on UA’s homecourt, the 3,200 seat Memorial Hall, that was demolished in 2010.
“Let’s play with pride and determination,” Webb told his players during a timeout in the Toledo encounter. The Zips responded by coming back from a 48-32 second half deficit to knock off the Rockets, 80-76, by outscoring them 14-1 in the last three minutes. “A great comeback under duress,” shouted Webb. “Sixteen points down and on the road; that’s duress.”
This type of comeback was to be repeated: down 12 points at Wittenberg, UA came back to win in overtime. Perhaps the epitome of Akron’s comebacks occurred in the NCAA Semi-final game with the Associated Press’ number one ranked team, Tennessee State. Down 42-28 at the half the Zips had to use all their attributes of poise, discipline, hustle, determination and best defense to halt the vaunted Tigers’ 15-game win streak, 71-69, in overtime.
Harvey Glover
It was defense, rather than offense, that was the Zips forte in 1971-72. “Defense! Defense!” Akron fans would shout, and the Zips would respond, limiting 18 opponents to 65 points or less. The switching UA defenses were especially strong in the first half when it allowed a shade over 28 points per game and its 64.9 points defensive average ranked Akron 11th in the nation.
In a game for Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, UA’s defense was at its best against hopeless Baldwin Wallace before its hometown fans. The Yellow Jackets were limited to only 11 points in the first half and hit just three baskets out of 34 attempts, including 28 straight misses, for an 8.8 shooting percentage.
For the third straight year Len Paul paced the UA offense. In netting 564 points, for an 18.2 scoring average, he became the first player in school history to score over 500 points twice in a career. His offensive output also replaced Fritz Nagy’s 547 points scored during the 1944-45 season to break the all-time individual UA season scoring record. The southpaw’s performance earned him first team Little All-America honors by the Associated Press and he was voted All-Tournament on both the NCAA Mideast Regional and the NCAA National Championship teams.
Paul began the 1971-72 season in 16th place on UA’s all-time career scoring list and rose to the number two spot with 1536 points. A season later he would finish his outstanding career with 2,028 points to surpass Bill Turner, who had 1,630 points during the 1962-67 years. Nate Barnett
Also scoring in double figure averages were Quarles (13.6), Glover (10.8) and Anderson (10.6). The other regular starter, Wil Schwarzinger, he would earn Academic All-American honors at season’s end, came close with almost nine points a game and was the best free throw shooter with a percentage of 76. In addition, Quarles paced the Zips in assists (137), Glover in rebounds (304) and Anderson established a new UA record of 55.2 in field goal shooting percentage.
Last second heroics were commonplace with the Zips. Quarles, a Muncie, IN native, was the most active hero, scoring the last nine points in the overtime win over Wittenberg, the last two in the 67-65 defeat of Central Connecticut, the last four in the 63-59 Kentucky Wesleyan victory, the last six in 62-57 win over Youngstown State and he netted a last second memorable basket to edge Philadelphia Textile 54-52 in the first round of the NCAA Mideast Regional played in Memorial Hall.
Also getting into the final-second victory act was Glover and 6-8 super-sub Brian Westover. Glover pumped in a goal with five seconds remaining in the 65-63 win over Western Illinois and two-seconds was on the clock when Westover drove the lane and put up the shot that jolted Tennessee State.
Other subs who contributed to the very successful campaign were George McClain, Tony Werner, Paul Mesko, Karl Schwarzinger, Ron Owens and Marty Hines. McClain, who’s 24 points led UA to an 81-57 victory at Buffalo State, and Werner, who was a bundle of hustle all over the court in 21 games, also earned super-sub accolades. Brian Westover
Under the guidance of Head Coach Wyatt Webb, the UA cagers won several close battles during this highly successful 1971-72 season, yet, he would lose out to Defiance College’s Marvin Hohenberger in the vote for Ohio Coach of the Year honors by the narrowest of margins, 54-53.
Unfortunately, Webb passed away at the age of 62 in 2003 after a courageous battle with cancer. Alex Adams, his assistant coach, followed him in 2011 at the age of 76.
Honors would come to Webb, who took four of his teams to NCAA Tournaments while compiling a 126-60 record during his seven-year UA coaching reign. He was inducted into the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame in 1975 and UA Sports Hall of Fame in 1981.
Six of his players would also be inducted into the UA Hall of Fame, Paul in 1983, Wil Schwarzinger in 1992, Glover in 1993, Quarles in 1997 and Anderson in 2003. Paul (1981) and Glover (2013) are also in the Summit County Sports Hall of Fame. Karl Schwarzinger, Wil’s brother, was honored at the 2012 UA Hall of Fame with the Mike Krino Award for career achievement. Now the entire 1971-72 UA Basketball team is so honored to become the school’s fifth to go into the Hall of Fame as the Team of Distinction.
1971-72 Akron Men’s Basketball Team 26-5 overall National Runner-up
H/A
Name
Pos.
Ht.
Wt.
Yr.
Hometown | High School
50/51
*Randy Anderson
C
6-7
205
Sr.
Port Huron, Mich. | Port Huron
10/11
*Harvey Glover
F/C
6-5
190
Jr.
Orange, N.J. | Orange
52/53
Marty Hines
G
6-1
190
So.
Cleveland, Ohio | East
12/13
*Larry Jenkins
G
5-11
160
So.
Cleveland, Ohio | East
34/35
Paul Mesko
C
6-6
195
Jr.
Akron, Ohio | Hoban
24/25
George McClain
G
6-0
180
So.
Cleveland, Ohio | John Hay
30/31
Ron Owens
F
6-4
180
Jr.
Akron, Ohio | South
20/21
*Leonard Paul
F
6-4
190
Jr.
Cleveland, Ohio | John Hay
22/23
*Larry Quarles
G
6-3
205
Sr.
Muncie, Ind. | Central
32/33
*Karl Schwarzinger
G
6-0
170
Jr.
Akron, Ohio | Hoban
42/43
*Wil Schwarzinger
G
6-1
170
Sr.
Akron, Ohio | Hoban
40/41
Tony Werner
F
6-3
215
Jr.
Medina, Ohio | Medina
54/55
Brian Westover
F
6-8
230
Jr.
Massillon, Ohio | Massillon
Head coach: Wyatt Webb
Assistant coaches: Alex Adams, Joe Ungvary
Graduate assistant: Jim Kusnyer
Managers: Pete Mier, Chris Lett
Trainers: Bob Jeffers, John Karipedis
*Letterman as printed in the 1971-72 media guide
1971-72 (26-5) Results
D1 Malone W 81-69
D4 Kent State W 51-39
D8 Ashland W 84-64
D13 at Toledo W 80-76
D16 at Bellarmine L 68-69
D18 Illinois Wesleyan W 88-78
D20 St. Vincent W 100-62
J3 at Wittenberg W 57-53
J5 Youngstown State W 62-57
J8 Brockport State W 84-73
J12 at Cleveland State L 58-64
J15 at Central Conn. W 67-65
J17 at Buffalo State W 81-57
J19 Buffalo W 87-68
J22 Wayne State W 93-49
J26 at Hiram W 85-71
J29 at Youngstown St. W 65-59
F1 at Baldwin-Wallace W 78-45
F5 Central Michigan W 92-64
F9 at Gannon L 85-99
F12 Western Illinois W 65-63
F16 Indiana State W 66-58
F19 at Ky. Wesleyan W 63-59
F23 at Central Michigan L 73-87
F26 Cleveland State W 86-56
F28 Otterbein W 85-62
NCAA Mideast (Akron, Ohio)
M10 Phila. Textile W 54-52
M11 Youngstown State W 87-71
NCAA Finals (Evansville, Ind.)
M15 vs. Southern Colo. W 92-77
M16 vs. Tenn. St. (ot) W 71-69
NCAA Championship (Evansville, Ind.)
M17 Roanoke L 72-84
When the 27-year old Webb inherited the head coaching duties in May 1968, after serving one year as an assistant to nine-year Head Coach Tony Laterza, he was the 13th individual named to the job in UA basketball history. Perhaps there is something to the myth about “unlucky 13”, because Webb was left with little talent and only two lettermen around whom to build a team. The results were as expected, UA’s first losing campaign since 1953-54.
