The Big Boys

Even before Indiana University's national basketball champions traveled west for a pair of games with Oregon State, they had heard tall stories about a sophomore named Wade ("Swede") Halbrook --that he wears size 14 shoes, sleeps in specially built 8-ft. beds, and at 7 ft. 3 in. (and 245 Ibs.), is probably the biggest man in college basketball. The stories were all true, but Indiana's basketballers, ranked No. 1 in the country, were not overawed. They had some tall tales to tell about their own Don Schlundt, a 6-ft. 10-in. center who had already proved himself as an All-America last season.

Last week Indiana got a royal welcome at Corvallis. Bustling businessmen had built five other 8-ft. beds so that visiting basketballers would "feel right at home." Oregon Governor Paul Patterson and Interior Secretary Douglas McKay were among the crowd that jammed the aisles for the first game.

Indiana Night. The battle was a standoff for the first three quarters. In the fourth, Underdog Oregon State took the lead for the first time, 46-45. But Oregon's Halbrook, overeager, guarded Indiana's Schlundt too closely, and went out on personal fouls (after scoring 23 points) five minutes before the end of the quarter. Indiana won the game in overtime, 76-72, for their sixth straight of the season, thanks in good part to Don Schlundt's 34 points.

Next night Coach "Slats" Gill of Oregon State gave Sophomore Halbrook some special instructions: forget about Schlundt and concentrate on not fouling out. Gill assigned a more experienced player to guard Schlundt and crossed his fingers.

Oregon Night. By the end of the first quarter, Oregon State's busy Beavers had built up a 20-10 lead; at halftime, by ball-hawking, ball-stealing and hard-driving offensive play, Oregon led 38-24. In the last period, Indiana's national champions managed to draw up to within seven points, then collapsed as Schlundt himself went out on fouls. Big Swede Halbrook dashed halfway across the floor to wring Schlundt's hand--partly in tribute, partly in pure high spirits at the upset in the making. Final score: Oregon State 67, Indiana 51. Scoring by the two centers: Halbrook 21, Schlundt 19.

Halbrook's arrival at Corvallis was no accident. As a 7-ft. 1-in. Portland high-school senior in 1952, Halbrook scored 1,035 points. During the N.C.A.A. championship tournament at Seattle that year, Halbrook was a conversation stopper as he strolled past gaping coaches in the lobby of Seattle's Olympic Hotel. Turning down "dozens" of offers. Halbrook chose to go to college in his home state. As an Oregon State freshman--by then 7 ft. 2 in.--Halbrook scored a record 450 points. As a sophomore, and grown one more inch, 20-year-old Swede Halbrook has averaged 25.2 points a game. Oregonians happily regard him as still just a growing boy.

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