No more ‘sit down Steve ’
Belko quits coaching career
Il> KTKVK SMITH
Of Ihf Knirrald
"Sit down Steve," the favorite cry of
many an Oregon basketball fan. will no
longer jangle the rafters of McArthur
Court when the going get* rough for the
Fighting Ducks
Steve Belko. Oregon's durable "huggy
I Mints" roach is retiring and there is little
doubt that Duck basketball will ever be the
same
Belko, 55. has served as Oregon coach
for 15 years, longer than any other
basketball coach in the school s history
During his tenure, hr- compiled a 17V
211 record, much of it In Pacific-it con
ference generally regarded as the
• toughest conference in collegiate
basketball
"I want to thank all of my friends that
I have made over the years in tin* State of
Oregon,” Itelko said "I am now looking
forward to another challenge in college
athletic administration and the op
portunity of working with Athletic
Director Norv Hitchey
"I believe that the Oregon basketball
pn>gram is back on solid footing and 1
want to wish the best of luck and good
fortune to my successor ”
Hitchey was lavish in his praise of the
retiring coach
"Steve Kelko has given the University
15 years of dedicated service I have
known of Steve's desire to move out of
active coaching and 1 am very pleased that
he will be in the department through the
next year to assist me in the ad
ministration of our athletic program "
Helko's retirement from coaching did
not come as a surprise Iaist fall he was
named as a finalist in the* search for a new
commissioner for the Big Sky Athletic
Conference, and it has been widely
rumored he was seeking an administrative
position
Betko has received numerous national
honors dunng his tenure at Oregon He
served for six years as a member of the
important basketball rules committee,
and is currently serving as first vice
president of the National Basketball
Coaches Association, and as a board
member of the Basketball Hall of Fame
In the last three years, Belko has
brought Oregon back to basketball
respectability w ith players like Stan l.ove,
Larry Holliday and Bill Drozdiak
In a coaching career highlighted by
two NCAA tourney teams in 1960 and 1961,
perhaps hts biggest win came last year
when Oregon beat number one rated
UCLA in a bam buster at Mac Court.
The Oregon coach began his athletic
career as a prep basketball player in
Cary. Indiana, later playing junior college
bail at Compton, California. Junior College
in 1935-36
He then transferred to the University
of Idaho, where, as a guard, he placed
among the top five scorers in the Northern
Division in both the 1937 and 1938 seasons
He was named to the division all-star team
twice.
Belko served as head high school
coach from 1939-42, then joined the Navy.
Upon discharge he served as an assistant
coach at the University of Idaho until
accepting the head coaching position at
Idaho State in 1950
In six seasons, he transformed the
Staters from an also-ran to a consistent
title contender In his last four seasons his
teams won the Rocky Mountain Con
ference championship and moved into the
NCAA regional tourney
He compiled a six year record of 108-52
with Idaho State before moving to Oregon
in 1956
New head coach boasts
top Ivy League record
My STKVK SMITH
l>l Ihr I- run aid
l( Stevr fieiko* retirement
.is head basket hull couch at
Oregon constitute* t !»«• end of mi
era then the arrival of Duk
Hurter Nhoalit rank ax u begin
rung
Harter is currently ttead
couch .it the l 'diversity of Penn
sylvanlu Ttwit l». lie wax couch
until TUeaday afternoon wtien
both Ik* a rut (hr Penn ad
ininiNtration announced he wax
moving to Oregon to fill itelko'x
pout
I'nivenuty athletic depart
inent officials declined to make
(tie appointment official until late
Tuesday alterniMHi
Hut in making (he an
nouncrnienl athletic director
Nor\ Kltchey said "I trad tliat
mir search tor a head tiuNkethall
coach has produces! the lc^) young
coach in America, not only in
term* of winning, but also his
closeness to hix players his style
of play his moral integrity and
Husky crews
sweep mret
Washington x crews rowed to
wet amt wnuts victory Saturday
at Dexter la»ke winning the
v a no Is junior varsity and fresh
man competition handily
The (wirlisan I to Washington!
crowd rexjuaided each time an
um untested Husky crew rowed
precision like jwist the dock The
l iregiai i rew» n*tk fourth plave in
twrih the varsity amt junior
varsitv competition hut coach
Dave Thomsen is " optimistic"
twsauM* Oregon s varsity gave
Oregon State a real tvattk* lor
third place
Stanford s JV s were upset hy
Oregon Stair b* second (dace
Both oregiai amt Oregon State
could not enter the freshman
competition tor lack of (resh
man
Washington coach Dick
Knciaw was pleased with his
i rew I»ut said hr could not gel a
true evaluation at his progress
toward another national
championship Hr said (hr wind
influenced his times and (hat
tiHween thr J \ and \ arsity races
the wind changed UK> degrees
IW«» K
his tielirf (hut hard work and
Irani discipline provide results ”
All words aside, the ap
poinUnerit of Harter could be the
collegiate sports coup of the year
Harter's I’ennsyl vama
(Quakers are coming off the most
successful season ever recorded
by an Ivy league basketball
squad With a 28 1 record, Penn
reached tin* finals of the Kustern
rrgiouals of the NCAA tourney,
losing to Vlllanovit in (hut final
round
The ai consecutive victories
before that loss, ami the 44
consecutive conference victories
compiled by the Quakers over
two sea son*. are records un
matched in Ivy league history
Harter graduated from Penn
in n*f>:t. sixth man on an NCAA
regional team Following six
yean with the Marine Corps he
returned to his alma mater as an
assistant basketball coach
lirgan al lt)drr
His lirsl head coaching job
was at It>tier College in Trenton.
New Jersey for the ttMiS 6fi
season Hut Harter stayed with
Itvder fur only tlut one season,
telunimg to Penn in HMiti as head
coach
Hr really turned our
program around." sports in
formation director Herb Hartm*t(
soul Tlnwday "He compiled a 30
:tt record his first two years, twit
in tliat third season everything
came logcihcr
Penns tin record was
onl\ IN to t*ot the Quakers were
hy league champs amt Hart
nett (wants to an eight game
wliming sireak at thr etui of the
season as an indication of things
to come
In !**«• Ai the Quakers went
: losing to Niagara and Calvin
Murphy m tie- NCAA regional*
With all tixe starters back.
Harter expected and got. a
tK-tter record l (or HTTP 71
Ptass man to man
Penn was in the tup IS in the
nation defensively Hartnett
said I tarter (day* a tough man
to man defense Hr s only gone to
a .-one once in threr soar* and
that was against Niagara when
we tried to dap Murphy We
lust
Offensively, last year’s
version of tin* Quakers averaged
H2 points a game, best in the
school's history, while holding
opponents to just over 60
“I decided to move to Oregon
for four reasons." Harter told the
Daily Pennsylvanian Tuesday. "I
was looking for a school with an
excellent chance for the NCAA
title year in and year out, and you
can't find such a school in the ivy
league 1 was looking for a good
locale for my family and for
recruiting 1 wanted a school that
was sound academically And I
am convinced the Pacific-8 can
offer the same type of players I
want."
Harter, married and the
father of five children, was
characterized as a tough
disciplinarian in a January
feature in Sports Illustrated
Said si Harter, an ex
Marine officer, believes so
strongly in discipline and pays
such attention to detail that the
legging s on his players' warmup
(•ants must be snapped shut right
down to tile shoe tops No loose
(laps will bo tolerated "
The story continued. "As
might tic expected, lie is a neat
hair man His own is so short it
would md ruffle in a typhoon, but
tie allows his men to have neat
sideburns and mustaches "
Interested in ttse
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will be on campus
April 70 73
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Room to be posted
Steve Belko’s
Oregon Record
YEAR Won Lost PF PA Pet.
1956- 57 4 21 1,485 1,712 .160
1957- 58 13 11 1.544 1,557 542
1958 59 9 16 1,574 1,681 360'
1959- 60 19 10 1,760 1.669 .655
1960- 61 15 12 1,640 1,616 .556
1961- 62 9 17 1,666 1,813 346
1962- 63 11 15 1,636 1,717 423
1963- 64 14 12 1,796 1,760 .538
1964- 65 9 17 1,733 1,899 346
1965- 66 13 13 1,752 1,772 500
1966- 67 9 17 2,083 2,001 654
'■'67 68 7 19 1 665 1758 346
1,,,»-«B 13 13 1,770 1,963 . 500
1969 70 17 9 1,893 1,951 653
1970 71 17 9 2,017 1,874 653
TOTAIJ* 179 211 72,047 68.600 .465
Belkos All-Americans: Chuck Rask. guard, 1960;
Charlie Warren, forward. 1962; Jim Barnett, guard, 1966;
Stan Ixive, center. 1970-71
V 1 I* ' \ "
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