July 26, 2024

Pollock: Remembering the Bonnies’ Paul Hoffman and his legacy on and off the court

Cutline: In this graphic from St. Bonaventure (gobonnies.com) Paul Hoffman gets ready to shoot. He played two years of professional basketball, but as Chuck Pollock points out, came to Bona to win a national title with Bob Lanier. He was second to Wilt Chamberlain in high school for points.

A column by CHUCK POLLOCK, Sun Senior Sports Columnist

It’s always fascinated me how there can be a single moment in otherwise successful careers that can define an athlete beyond all else. Think Bill Buckner of the Red Sox, the Vikings Jim Marshall or the University of Michigan’s Chris Webber.

What recalled that for me was the unexpected passing of former St. Bonaventure guard Paul Hoffman, at age 74, last Saturday in Myrtle Beach, S.C. where the father of seven children had moved only recently.

My mind went back to March 25, 1971. Back then I was a sportscaster for Bradford’s WESB, which carried the Bona games and earned me two free season tickets. I’d go to the Reilly Center when not doing my own broadcasts.

The significance of that date is Bona was playing a third-round NIT game against Georgia Tech. At that time, the National Invitation Tournament was a 16-team double-elimination event with all games at Madison Square Garden.

After beating Purdue and Hawaii, the Bonnies would get to the final with a win over the Yellowjackets. The game was tied at 67 when Hoffman was fouled at the buzzer ending the first overtime. Two free throws … make even one and St. Bonaventure is in the NIT championship game.

Hoffman, a career 65% free-throw shooter, missed both and the Georgia Tech pulled away in the second overtime. Bona went on to beat Duke in OT to finish third.

I remember feeling horribly for Hoffman as I watched his worst moment as a collegian before a crowd of 19,000 and a regional telecast.

A FEW YEARS back, after Bona’s Kyle Lofton missed a pair of free throws in the final 1.1 seconds of an Atlantic 10 quarterfinal handing Saint Louis a 57-56 advance.

Hoffman offered a thought after the game, telling Erik Brady of the Buffalo News: “I would tell (Kyle) I know exactly how you feel (and) not to let it get him down. Kyle has had a great career at Bona. I worry that people will remember those missed free throws.”

TO ME, Hoffman stood out because he never looked the part … a 6-foot-1-or-2 (depending on the source) skinny white guard with distinctive horn-rimmed glasses.

But he could play … an 1,103-point scorer over three varsity seasons, he averaged 14 points per game in the 79 he played while shooting 47% from the field.

It’s odd, the native of Hazelton, Pa. stayed in the Southern Tier teaching social studies at Genesee Valley (formerly Belmont and Angelica) for 30 years and coaching both boys and girls basketball and girls volleyball for 25 of them. I’d see him over the years, and while he kept the glasses, I never did get used to the full beard.

Paul Hoffman with his signature beard when he coached at Belmont and Genesee Valley

WITH HIS passing, I realized his early history was a mystery to me.

To the rescue came Dave Seamon, sports editor of the Hazelton Standard-Speaker who wrote a lengthy feature on Hoffman’s life.

He quoted Bruce Ellis, a 60-year basketball guru in the area, as saying of the St. Gabriel’s legend, “He’s the best I’ve ever seen in the Hazleton area. He was just a tremendous, pure athlete. … he could do everything. … To me, he remains the greatest high school player that I’ve ever seen in this area. His career proved that … he was so far ahead of his time in everything that he did back then.”

Ellis added, “(Hoffman) could simply jump out of the building. He was 6-2, very strong, not thick, muscular strong … but he just had a natural strength to him. He could handle the ball … pass … natural instincts for the game. He was a good mid-range shooter (with) quick hands. You couldn’t dribble around him, he was so quick that he’d take the ball from you.”

Then, the veteran observer recalled the Phoenix Suns’ Larry Nance dunking two basketballs at once in the NBA’s first slam dunk contest in 1984.

“Paul did that at Pine Street Playground – (dunking with) one ball in each hand back in 1967,” Ellis said. “Larry Nance was 6-10; Paul Hoffman was 6-2.”

Hoffman’s sophomore year he was coached by Digger Phelps, en route to an impressive career at Notre Dame. In his one season at St. Gabriel’s, it won the Pennsylvania Catholic title as it went 24-1 (14-0 league) and Paul averaged 21 points. As a junior, he led St. Gabriel’s to a second straight state crown, averaging 23 points for a 23-3 team.

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Hoffman was averaging over 30 points per game as a senior but an injury ended his scholastic career and St. Gabriel’s bid for a third straight title.

Despite the season-shortening injury, Hoffman scored a regional record 2,209 points, second only to Wilt Chamberlain in the state at the time. He was named to the Associated Press All-State first team and UPI Little School All-State first team as a senior. His season highlight was a still-local single-game record of 57 points.

When Hoffman was inducted into the St. Bonaventure Athletics Hall of Fame, he recalled a message for the priest accompanying him on his visit to the school’s campus.

“Being a cocky high school senior when I was coming out, I told (him) that I wanted to come to St. Bonaventure,” Hoffman said. “And in my sophomore year, I was going to start and we were going to win the national championship because of Bob Lanier. I thought we could do it … and we almost did it.”

(Chuck Pollock, a Wellsville Sun senior sports columnist, can be reached at cpollock@wnynet.net.)

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