Post by fjs64 on Apr 18, 2020 14:40:54 GMT -5
I was going to respond to AZ63's mention of Freddie Crawford, but instead of it being lost within another thread, I thought that a separate thread was warranted, and would allow many of us to comment, as their are many who have so much more info on him.
Probably the first introduction to Fred Crawford for many of the posters/students is when walking into the RC. directly in front of them is the Mural of the Stith brothers. But when looking at it, to the right is another mural, donated by the Class of '63, of Fred Crawford. Fred was part of the dynasty that Eddie Donovan and his coaches (Robert Sassone & Fred Handler) had created from NY to Olean. St Francis Prep gave us the Stith brothers, first Sam, then his younger brother, Tom. But that NY connection did not end there, as players were selected and recruited to come to Bonaventure. Sam, Class of '60, Tom '61, and Fred '63, next it was Miles Aiken, '64, but neighboring NJ was not off limits, as Barry Herbert, John Mahonchak, Mike Rooney, Roger Bauer became Bonnies, and lest I forget from Brooklyn came a classmate to Mike Rooney, the greek, Bob Barnek. Some were stars others darn good complements to the team.
I remember seeing Llyod "sonny" Dove, who was to be part of the pipeline, eventually choosing St John's. As an outsider watching this, in retrospect, the pipeline got highly damaged with the move of Eddie Donovan to the Knicks, all for a paltry request for a pay increase after the first NCAA appearance, thus Donovan left and with it our fertile pipeline. This is mostly conjecture on my side, but it makes sense.
Tom and Sam played together for the 58/59 and 59/60 season, then Freddie joined Tom on the 60/61 season, and our first NCAA tournament, but alas Tuberculosis hit Tom and Freddie, and Freddie was unable to play the next season, as Miles Aiken and he were to form our next dynamic duo. Freddie had averaged 21.9 his sophomore year and good enough for honorable mention All-American (Tom was 1st team for his 2nd consecutive season). So without Freddie, Miles averaged 23.7 ppg playing in 20 of our 21 games....with a very young and inexperienced Larry Weise coaching the team, they finished 14-7
Fred came back to campus during that season, and looked terrible physically, he was pale, thin, and the goal was to get ready for the following season, TB had devastated his body. As students we were looking forward to Fred and Miles playing together, and on the Freshman team were these 2 studs, Mike Rooney and Bob Barnek (I will never forget watching Rooney score 56 points in a game, and that was before the 3 point shot).
With the 62/63 season looming, with a Miles Aiken, and hopefully healthy Fred Crawford, with Rooney, John Mahonchak, Barry Herbert at center, and Barnek's muscle, we were going to be a formidable team......those of us students were picking them to be top 10, of course personally I thought Top 3 in the nation. We were all wrong. Fred had limitations placed on him by the doctors, all regarding playing time, like 5 minutes on, 5 minutes off, at least to start with. We were looking forward to Fred and Miles playing together, again the Bona hex continued. Miles only played about 25 more games for the Bonnies as knee injuries plagued him. So Fred and Miles never got the chance to really showcase what could have been. Both of them graduated in 1964,and I really feel with them our NY pipeline ended.
Fred's 62/63 season had him average 19.7 ppg, and then his last year again at full strength he scored 26.3 ppg. Miles ended his career with a loss against Army when he scored 30 of our 62 points in the loss to Army in the first round of the NIT, as the team finished 16-8.
Fred went on to be drafted by the Knicks and had a 6 or so year NBA career, not a star, but not too shabby. I remember watching him many times when he played for the Knicks. Fred will always be remembered as a great Bonnie, and will always be on my all-time starting 5, and too bad not many of you ever got a chance to see Fred Crawford wearing the #54 in Brown and White, but look at it hanging in the rafters and picture how great a ballplayer he was.
Probably the first introduction to Fred Crawford for many of the posters/students is when walking into the RC. directly in front of them is the Mural of the Stith brothers. But when looking at it, to the right is another mural, donated by the Class of '63, of Fred Crawford. Fred was part of the dynasty that Eddie Donovan and his coaches (Robert Sassone & Fred Handler) had created from NY to Olean. St Francis Prep gave us the Stith brothers, first Sam, then his younger brother, Tom. But that NY connection did not end there, as players were selected and recruited to come to Bonaventure. Sam, Class of '60, Tom '61, and Fred '63, next it was Miles Aiken, '64, but neighboring NJ was not off limits, as Barry Herbert, John Mahonchak, Mike Rooney, Roger Bauer became Bonnies, and lest I forget from Brooklyn came a classmate to Mike Rooney, the greek, Bob Barnek. Some were stars others darn good complements to the team.
I remember seeing Llyod "sonny" Dove, who was to be part of the pipeline, eventually choosing St John's. As an outsider watching this, in retrospect, the pipeline got highly damaged with the move of Eddie Donovan to the Knicks, all for a paltry request for a pay increase after the first NCAA appearance, thus Donovan left and with it our fertile pipeline. This is mostly conjecture on my side, but it makes sense.
Tom and Sam played together for the 58/59 and 59/60 season, then Freddie joined Tom on the 60/61 season, and our first NCAA tournament, but alas Tuberculosis hit Tom and Freddie, and Freddie was unable to play the next season, as Miles Aiken and he were to form our next dynamic duo. Freddie had averaged 21.9 his sophomore year and good enough for honorable mention All-American (Tom was 1st team for his 2nd consecutive season). So without Freddie, Miles averaged 23.7 ppg playing in 20 of our 21 games....with a very young and inexperienced Larry Weise coaching the team, they finished 14-7
Fred came back to campus during that season, and looked terrible physically, he was pale, thin, and the goal was to get ready for the following season, TB had devastated his body. As students we were looking forward to Fred and Miles playing together, and on the Freshman team were these 2 studs, Mike Rooney and Bob Barnek (I will never forget watching Rooney score 56 points in a game, and that was before the 3 point shot).
With the 62/63 season looming, with a Miles Aiken, and hopefully healthy Fred Crawford, with Rooney, John Mahonchak, Barry Herbert at center, and Barnek's muscle, we were going to be a formidable team......those of us students were picking them to be top 10, of course personally I thought Top 3 in the nation. We were all wrong. Fred had limitations placed on him by the doctors, all regarding playing time, like 5 minutes on, 5 minutes off, at least to start with. We were looking forward to Fred and Miles playing together, again the Bona hex continued. Miles only played about 25 more games for the Bonnies as knee injuries plagued him. So Fred and Miles never got the chance to really showcase what could have been. Both of them graduated in 1964,and I really feel with them our NY pipeline ended.
Fred's 62/63 season had him average 19.7 ppg, and then his last year again at full strength he scored 26.3 ppg. Miles ended his career with a loss against Army when he scored 30 of our 62 points in the loss to Army in the first round of the NIT, as the team finished 16-8.
Fred went on to be drafted by the Knicks and had a 6 or so year NBA career, not a star, but not too shabby. I remember watching him many times when he played for the Knicks. Fred will always be remembered as a great Bonnie, and will always be on my all-time starting 5, and too bad not many of you ever got a chance to see Fred Crawford wearing the #54 in Brown and White, but look at it hanging in the rafters and picture how great a ballplayer he was.