A College Called Panhandle

"Well," said Coach Anderson, "we recruit pretty hard. Coach Williams and I know quite a few high school coaches around the country and we've got some Panhandle graduates bird-dogging for us. We've got a pretty liberal scholarship policy. We're allowed 40 full scholarships—board, room, books and tuition—-by the conference. We're a small school and we can take boys who can't get into some of the overcrowded eastern colleges. I think our name probably has a certain appeal. It's colorful and the country is colorful, too. Eastern boys take to it. They like dressing in western gear and learning to ride quarter horses. I'll give you an idea of how our recruiting works sometimes. You see No. 10 out there?"

"The little fellow? He's not on that team of 6-footers-plus, is he?"

"One of our best men," said Coach Anderson. "Leading scorer so far this season. His name is Lenny Lee. He went to high school in Bridgeport, Conn. Now, here's how I found out about him. I got a telephone call one night from a former Panhandle football player named Roger Petrino. He lives in Bridgeport.

"Roger started out by saying, 'Coach, I've got a great boy for you. I've talked Panhandle up to him and I've got him all pepped up. He's ready to go if you can give him the full treatment on a scholarship.'

"I asked Roger, 'How tall is the boy?' Roger said, 'Why, he's fast as lightning, Coach. Great ball handler, a real playmaker.' I repeated my question.

"Roger came back with, 'Coach, we seem to have a bad connection on this end. Can you hear me out there?' I said, 'I can hear you perfectly. How tall is the boy?'

"Well, Bird Dog Petrino ignored the question again. He went on to say that this boy, Lenny Lee, had attended Bob Cousy's summer camp and had been named most valuable player. Roger asked me if I would like a personal letter from Bob Cousy.

"I said, 'Yes, but first tell me how tall the boy is.' "

Coach Anderson interrupted his story to yell out a criticism across the court. Then he resumed:

"Roger said Lenny Lee would need all the help he could get—books, room, board, tuition and a campus job. I told Roger that could be arranged if the boy measured up. Then I yelled as loud as I could into the phone. 'But tell me this, Roger. How tall is Lenny Lee? Never mind Bob Cousy now. I know how tall he is. How tall is Lenny Lee?'