Continuing Honor Rolls to Rushmore . . . A Bundle of Memories
Let’s continue the exercise we began last week by looking at Purdue basketball’s all-decade teams going back to the days of Piggy Lambert.
1970s
Joe Barry Carroll – The 7-1 center became a fan favorite right from the start with his shot blocking skills in a backup role behind Tom Scheffler. On Dec. 10, 1977, Carroll recorded the only triple-double in Purdue history with 16 points, 16 rebounds and a school record 11 blocked shots in an 80-78 victory at Arizona.
By the time Lee Rose arrived as head coach for the 1978-79 season, Carroll was ready to break out. He averaged 22.8 points, led the Big Ten in scoring and grabbed a school record 352 rebounds while earning first-team All-Big Ten honors.
Carroll was nearly unstoppable his senior season, leading Purdue to the Final Four and earning first-team All-American and Big Ten honors in the process. He finished with 2,175 points – second at the time to Rick Mount – and left Purdue as the career record-holder for rebounds (1,148) and blocks (349)
Carroll was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the first overall pick of the 1980 NBA draft. He was inducted into the second class of the Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame in 1995.
Bruce Parkinson – Few played point guard at Purdue better than Bruce Parkinson, whose career spanned from an NIT championship in 1974 to an NCAA tournament berth in 1977.
The Boilermakers went 73-37 in the four years Parkinson started for Fred Schaus’ Boilermakers, a tenure that was interrupted by a broken wrist in 1976. He left Purdue as the record holder for career assists (690) and assists per game (6.2).
Parkinson was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 2020.
Jerry Sichting – Martinsville’s second-best export to Purdue, ranking behind the legendary John Wooden, Sichting left Purdue as its all-time leading free throw shooter at 86.7 percent (273 of 315), which helped the 6-1 guard score 1,161 career points.
Sichting was co-captain of the 1979 Boilermakers who shared the Big Ten Conference championship in Lee Rose’s first season as head coach. Later, he was a member of the 1986 NBA champion Boston Celtics.
Sichting was a 2002 inductee into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame and a member of the 2012 Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame class.
Walter Jordan – The 6-8 Jordan came to Purdue after leading Fort Wayne Northrup to the 1974 state championship. He immediately stepped into a starting forward role with the Boilermakers and averaged 14 points a game.
By his sophomore year, Jordan was the team’s leading scorer (16.9) and rebounder (9.2).
He would go on to lead Purdue in scoring as a junior (18.6) and a senior (17,0) to finish with 1,813 points. Jordan also was a first-team All-Big Ten selection in 1977 and 1978, the same seasons that saw him selected Purdue’s John Wooden Most Valuable Player.
He would go on to play in 1980 with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Jordan was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 2022.
Eugene Parker – Also a native of Fort Wayne, Parker started all four seasons at Purdue under coach Fred Schaus from 1975 to 1978.
As good as Parker was on the basketball court, he was even better in his post-graduate career as an agent for prominent NFL players, including Deion Sanders and former Purdue great Rod Woodson.
He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001. Parker died on March 31, 2016.
1960s
Rick Mount – He was the first high school athlete on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1966, the same year he would win Indiana Mr. Basketball honors out of Lebanon High School.
Recruited by Purdue assistant coach Bob King, Mount’s Purdue debut was one of the most anticipated in school history. It also happened to be opening night of Mackey Arena against defending national champion UCLA. Mount outscored Lew Alcindor 28-19 but UCLA won 73-71 on a last-second shot.
Mount would lead the Big Ten in scoring all three of his varsity seasons and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors three times. His junior season, Purdue went 23-5 and won the Big Ten championship for the first time since 1940. His game-winning shot against Marquette sent Purdue to the Final Four.
Mount left Purdue holding 20 records, including the career scoring mark of 2,323 points in just three seasons and a 32.3 career scoring average.
Mount joined his father, Pete, in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992. Two years later he was part of the inaugural Purdue Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame class and in 2017, he was elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Terry Dischinger – From 1959-62, Dischinger averaged 28.3 points per game – the third-highest average in program history – along with a school-record 13.7 rebounds per game. He also holds the Purdue record for free throws made with 713.
Dischinger earned All-Big Ten accolades in each of his three varsity seasons and was a second-team All-American as a sophomore and consensus first-team All-American as a junior and senior. Dischinger was a member of the 1960 gold medal USA Basketball team and went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year award in 1963. He made three NBA All-Star Teams.
Dischinger is Purdue’s all-time leader in double-doubles (54), seventh in career points (1,979) and third in rebounds (958). He was a member of the first Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994.
Dischinger died on Oct. 9, 2023.
Dave Schellhase – The Evansville native led the nation in scoring at 32.5 points a game during his senior season in 1965-66. He was selected a Consensus All-American that year and received his third consecutive first-team All-Big Ten honor.
He was the first Boilermaker to reach 2,000 points, finishing with 2,074. That total included a then-school record 57 points on February 19, 1966, against Michigan.
To learn more about Schellhase’s playing and coaching days as well as his battle with alcoholism, I recommend reading “The Schellhase Story: Rise, Fall, Redemption The Story of Purdue Legend Dave Schellhase” by Schellhase and Tom Speaker.
Billy Keller – He was the point guard on Purdue’s first Big Ten championship team since 1940 which went on to finish national runner-up behind UCLA.
Keller also won the first Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award as the nation’s outstanding college player under 6 feet. Later, Keller was a part of three ABA championships with the Indiana Pacers as one of the league’s top 3-point shooters.
He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Leroy Keyes Purdue Hall of Fame in 2007.
Herm Gilliam – The Winston-Salem, N.C. native was ahead of his time as an athletic small forward.
“When they talk about players today, they talk about how athletic they are,” Billy Keller said in 2005 after Gilliam died of a heart attack at age 58. “Herm had that athleticism and the heart to go with it. He was the ultimate team player.”
Gilliam earned All-Big Ten honors in 1969 and was a first-round draft choice of the NBA’s Cincinnati Royals. He later played on Portland’s 1977 NBA championship team.
He was inducted into Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.
1950s
Joe Sexson – Purdue’s first Indiana Mr. Basketball winner, Sexson was a three-year starting guard.
Sexson left Purdue as the school’s career scoring leader with 1,095 points. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986, and the Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000.
Sexson died on April 30, 2011.
Carl McNulty – A 6-3 center as a Boilermaker, McNulty still holds the single-game rebounding record with 27 set on Feb. 19, 1951.
As a senior he averaged 18 points a game to break his own single-season scoring record.
McNulty was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Leroy Keyes Purdue Hall of Fame in 2010. He died on Jan. 14, 2020.
Willie Merriweather – A teammate of Oscar Robertson at Crispus Attucks High School, the 6-5 forward/guard averaged 20.8 points a game as a senior to earn All-Big Ten and All-America honors.
Merriweather was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Leroy Keyes Purdue Hall of Fame in 2013.
Dennis Blind – The first 1,000-point scorer in Purdue history (1,011), the former Lafayette Jeff standout was Purdue’s Most Valuable Player in 1954.
He was a two-time “small” All-American, standing at 5-10 during his playing days.
Blind was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992 and the Leroy Keyes Purdue Hall of Fame in 2009. He died on Oct. 29, 2020.
Wilson Eison – The 1955 Indiana Mr. Basketball from Gary Roosevelt was among the Big Ten scoring leaders as a senior in 1959 at 18.7 points a game. He posted a career double-double of 14.7 points and 10.6 rebounds a game.
He was elected to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990. Eison died on Jan. 26, 2015.
1920s-1940s
John Wooden – The first man to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and a coach. Wooden led Purdue to the 1932 Helms Athletic Foundation national championship.
A 5-10 guard, Wooden was a first-team All-American three times and National Player of the Year in 1932. He earned the nickname “The Indiana Rubber Man” for his frequent dives for loose balls.
Wooden was part of the inaugural Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994. He died on June 4, 2010.
Charles “Stretch” Murphy – Purdue’s first three-time All-American led the Boilermakers to Big Ten titles in 1928 and 1930.
In 1929 he set Big Ten single-season (143) single-game (26) scoring records. This was during a time when a jump ball took place after made baskets.
He earned his nickname thanks to his 6-7 height, unusual for the times. Murphy joined Wooden and their coach, Piggy Lambert, in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960. Murphy was elected to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1963 and the Leroy Keyes Purdue Hall of Fame in 1995.
Murphy died on Aug. 19, 1992.
Paul Hoffman – A four-year starter at Purdue thanks to relaxed eligibility rules during World War II, Hoffman earned first-team All-Big Ten honors every year.
Hoffman was the NBA’s first rookie of the year in 1948 as a member of the Baltimore Bullets. He was elected to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977 and Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999. Hoffman died on Nov. 12, 1998.
Jewell Young – The former Lafayette Jeff star twice led the Big Ten in scoring, setting a single-season conference record as a senior in 1938.
The 6-foot Young was selected an All-American in 1937 and 1938. He was named to Purdue’s Centennial all-time team in 1997. Young also played five years of professional basketball in the National Basketball League and was twice named to the all-league team.
He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1964, the Leroy Keyes Purdue Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Lafayette Jeff Hall of Fame in 2000. Young died on April 16, 2003.
Robert Kessler – The Anderson native was a two-time All-American in 1935 and 1936 as well as a two-time first-team All-Big Ten forward. He led the Big Ten in scoring in 1936 with 160 points in 12 games.
His Pro Basketball Encyclopedia entry states he was nicknamed “Charley” because of the charley horses incurred from his double-jointed, unorthodox style of play. He once was traded for John Wooden while both were in the National Basketball League.
He was elected to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1968 and Leroy Keyes Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 2007. He died on Sept. 5, 2001.
Kenny Thompson is the former sports editor for the Lafayette Journal & Courier and an award-winning journalist. He has covered Purdue athletics for many years.