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The 1961-62 men’s basketball team, led by Hall of Fame coach Frank Pollard, is the first men's basketball team enshrined in the Hall of Fame. The team rode a veteran roster to a 14-3 mark, setting a school record for win percentage (82%) that still stands 59 years later.
The seeds for success were planted a year earlier when Harpur went 8-1 down the stretch to finish 11-6 overall. The same starting five returned in 1961-62 and delighted East Gymnasium fans with a 7-1 home record.
Led by future Hall of Famers Jim Davis (17.2 ppg., 12.5 rpg.) and Mickey Greenberg (17.9 ppg.), Harpur's heavily-taxed starting lineup outscored 16 of 17 opponents. Senior forward Davis and junior point guard Greenberg were joined by senior guard Paul Simandle (9.4 ppg.), senior center Tom Kirk (7.2 ppg.) and junior forward Bob Loomis (12.9 ppg.).
Davis and Simandle served as co-captains of a team that also included sophomores Barry Schneider, Bill Moynihan and Al Israel, freshmen Barry Winkler, Ethan Fishman, Dick Chiacchierini, Mike Freedus, Mike Brazier and Yerachmiel Tilles and team manager Roy Tumpowsky.
Harpur opened with wins over Utica, Hobart and RPI before dropping two tight road games. In-between, it posted a 62-58 home win over an Albany team that finished the season ranked third in the state. Eight straight wins followed, including a 102-61 thumping of Plattsburgh and an 11-point victory over Oneonta, another postseason team. A 77-76 road win at Hamilton and decisive victories over Geneseo, FDU and Utica closed out the record-breaking season.
The team's average margin of victory was 14 points and the only opponent able to stop a likely postseason run was the Harpur administration, which declined a deserving bid to the State University basketball tournament, thereby bringing the exceptional season to an end.
Davis went over the 1,000-point scoring mark (1,092) and tied a school record with a 39-point showing against Plattsbugh. Simandle, meanwhile, converted 39-of-42 free throws to set set his own school record (93%).
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