Goin' to Kansas City!
Waynesburg a Basketball Juggernaut in 1980's
Waynesburg College was a slam-dunk for the local basketball fans in the 1980’s. From the standing-room only crowds to the exciting trips to Kansas City, Waynesburg became a college basketball landmark as the region’s roundball juggernaut. And the 1987-88 team was proof.
Waynesburg burst onto the national spotlight by reaching the NAIA Final Four at Kansas City's Kemper Arena with a record of 32-1. The road to the NAIA tournament pitted wins over Franklin Pierce, Minnesota-Duluth and Dordt, to set up a clash with Grand Canyon in the national semifinal game. The game was nationally televised on ESPN, as announcer Dick Vitale made the call.
First team All-American Darrin Walls led the attack, with a supporting cast of the likes of First Team All-District center Rob Montgomery, point guard Shawn McCallister, forward Harold Hamlin, and guard Vance Walker. Walls remains the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,442 points, while Montgomery, Hamlin and Walker are members of the 1,000-point club.
The Jackets suffered defeat against Grand Canyon, 108-106, on a last-second field goal to end the game. But the loss did not take anything away from the most decorated Waynesburg College team of the decade.
Waynesburg sported the second-best winning percentage of all NAIA teams in the 1980s, as the Jackets finished the decade winning 82 percent of their games, second only to St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.). The Jackets spent 15-straight seasons in the District 18 playoffs and had six consecutive berths in the NAIA tournament as district champs.
The standard of excellence maintained by head coach Rudy Marisa had the Jackets winning 70 of 71 home games leading up to 1988, and a five-year record of 131-21 from 1983-1988. .
The 2002-2003 season marked Marisa's 34th and final season with the team, before he announced his retirement in September of 2003. With 565 career wins, Marisa was ranked 17th among all active NCAA coaches and ranked in the top 10 in Division III coaching wins when he retired. He is the namesake for Waynesburg's home gym, after the institution dedicated its field house in his honor in 2000.
