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Longshot: The Story of the Buchan Bakers
Buchan Bakers in the Pros, U.S. Olympics, and Final Fours
NBA
Dwight Morrison, 6-8, forward-center, University of Idaho, added to team for the National AAU Tournament in 1954. Morrison played two seasons for the Boston Celtics and one for the St. Louis Hawks.
Arlen Bockhorn, 6-4, forward, University of Dayton, added to team for the Northwest AAU Tournament in 1955 while serving at nearby Fort Lewis. Bockhorn played for Dayton in the 1951-52 season, went into the Army, and then finished his collegiate career in 1958. Bockhorn was drafted that year by the Cincinnati Royals and played seven seasons with an outstanding team that had the misfortune to be in the same division as the Boston Celtics.
Phil Jordon, 6-10, center, Whitworth College, played the 1955-56 season with Buchans and was on the team that won the National AAU Championship in 1956. Jordon was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers in 1956, but signed with the New York Knicks. Jordon played on several NBA teams New York, Detroit, Cincinnati, and St. Louis -- for seven seasons.
Bob Sims, 6-5, guard, Pepperdine, played the 1960-61 season with Buchans in the National Industrial Basketball League. Sims played for the Los Angeles Lakers and St. Louis Hawks in the 1961-62 season, and for Anaheim in the American Basketball Association in the 1967-68 season.
John Tresvant, 6-7, forward-center, Seattle University, played briefly during the 1960-61 season with Buchans. Tresvant played nine season in the NBA beginning in 1964 for St. Louis, Detroit, Cincinnati, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Baltimore. Tresvant is the only player to suit up for both the Seattle Buchan Bakers in the NIBL and the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA.
ABL
The National Industrial Basketball League folded after the 1961 season, and two of its remaining teams, the Cleveland Pipers and the New York Tuck Tapers, went into the newly formed American Basketball League. Of the remaining four teams, Akron, Bartlesville (Phillips) and Denver retained their amateur teams for several more years, but Buchans dropped out of basketball. Several former Buchan Bakers went on to play in the ABL, which lasted less than two seasons.
Dick Brott, 6-8, center, Denver University, 1959-61 with Buchans, played for the Cleveland Pipers, the Hawaii Chiefs, and the New York-Washington D.C. Tapers during the 1961-62 season. He played in 63 games, scoring 4.6 points per game.
Gene Brown, 6-3, guard, University of San Francisco, 1958-59 with Buchans, was with the San Francisco Saints, playing in 75 games and scoring 9.9 points per game.
Rolland Todd, 6-4, forward, Fresno State, 1958-60 with Buchans, was with the San Francisco Saints, playing in 53 games and scoring 8.2 points per game.
Larry Beck, 6-4, forward, Washington State, 1957-59 with Buchans, was with the Los Angeles Jets, Pittsburgh Rens and San Francisco Saints, playing in 51 games and scoring 4.8 points per game.
Carroll Williams, 5-10, guard, San Jose State, 1958-60 with Buchans, was with the San Francisco Saints for 12 games, scoring 7 points per game.
Jack Allain, 6-9, center, Idaho State University, 1958-59 with Buchans played 17 games for the San Francisco Saints.
R.C. Owens, 6-3, forward, College of Idaho, 1956-57 with Buchans, played 4 games for the San Francisco Saints.
NFL
R.C. Owens, 6-3, forward, College of Idaho, 1956-57 with Buchans, played with the San Francisco 49ers for five years, the Baltimore Colts for two years and the New York Giants for one year. In 1961, he caught 55 passes for 1,032 yards and 5 touchdowns for the 49ers. He is best known for inventing the alley-oop catch, whereby Y.A. Tittle would pass the ball high over his head and he would leap in the air to catch it, well out of the defenders reach.
George Bayer, 6-5, center, University of Washington, 1949-50 with Buchans, was an All-Conference lineman drafted by the Washington Redskins. He played several games before getting into an argument with the owner of the Redskins, thus ending his football career in November 1950. As it turned out, things worked out for Bayer. See below.
PGA
George Bayer, 6-5, center, University of Washington, 1949-50 with Buchans, played on the PGA and Senior PGA Tour for many years, winning four tournaments, including the Canadian Open. Bayer was known as golfs biggest hitter, once hitting a ball 436 yards in a tournament. But the most incredible record he holds came in 1960 when he and Jack Fleck completed an 18-hole round at the Masters in one hour and 52 minutes.
The NBA Draft
More than 20 Bakers were drafted by NBA teams from 1951 to 1960.
1951 -- Sid Ryen, Denver University, seventh round by the New York Knicks. Ryen played for the Bakers from 1952-54.
1952 -- Frank Guisness, University of Washington, by the Baltimore Bullets. Guisness played for the Bakers in 1952 and the 1955-56 season.
1953 -- Chet Noe, University of Oregon, by the Boston Celtics. Noe played for the Bakers during the 1953-54 season.
Joe Cipriano, University of Washington, by the Milwaukee Hawks. Cipriano played for the Bakers from 1953-56.
Hartley Kruger, University of Idaho, by the Minneapolis Lakers. Kruger played for the Bakers from 1954-55.
1954 -- Joe Pehanick, Seattle University, seventh round by the Baltimore Bullets. Pehanick played for the Bakers during the 1955-56 season.
Dwight Morrison, University of Idaho, second round by the Boston Celtics. Morrison played for the Bakers in 1954 National AAU Tournament.
1955 -- Dean Parsons, University of Washington, eighth round by the Boston Celtics. Parsons played for the Bakers from 1955-57.
George Swyers, West Virginia Tech, sixth round by the Philadelphia Warriors. Swyers played for the Bakers during the 1955-56 season.
Stan Glowaski, Seattle University, by the Syracuse Nationals. Glowaski played for the Bakers from 1955-57.
1956 -- Phil Jordon, Whitworth College, by the Minneapolis Lakers. Jordon played for the Bakers during the 1955-56 season.
1957 -- Dick Brott, Denver University, seventh round by the Boston Celtics. Brott played for the Bakers from 1958-61.
Carl Boldt, University of San Francisco, seventh round by the Detroit Pistons. Boldt played for the Bakers from 1957-59.
1958 -- Arlen Bockhorn, University of Dayton, third round by the Cincinnati Royals. Bockhorn played for the Bakers in the 1955 NW tournament.
Gene Brown, University of San Francisco, fifth round by the Boston Celtics. Brown played on the Bakers during the 1958-59 season.
Bruno Boin, University of Washington, eighth round by the St. Louis Hawks. Boin played for the Bakers in the 1956 AAU tournaments, and the 1957-58 and 1959-60 seasons. Boin was also drafted in 1959 in the tenth round by the Detroit Pistons.
Pete Gaudin, Loyola of New Orleans, tenth round by the Detroit Pistons. Gaudin played with the Bakers from 1959-61.
1959 -- Orby Arnold, Memphis State, seventh round by the St. Louis Hawks. Arnold played for the Bakers during the 1959-60 season.
Leon Hill, Texas Tech, eighth round by the Minneapolis Lakers. Hill played for the Bakers during the 1960-61 season.
Charlie Brown, Seattle University, eleventh round by the Cincinnati Royals. Brown played for the Bakers during the 1959-60 season.
1960 -- Bob Sims, Peppardine University, fourth round by the St. Louis Hawks. Sims played for the Bakers during the 1960-61 season.
Bernie Coffman, University of Kentucky, seventh round by the Syracuse Nationals. Coffman played for the Bakers during the 1960-61 season.
Larry Chanay, Montana State, fourteenth round by the Cincinnati Royals. Chaney played for the Bakers during the 1959-60 season.
Frank Potter, Moravian, fifteenth round by the Cincinnati Royals. Potter played for the Bakers during the 1960-61 season.
1961 -- Dave Mills, Seattle University, eighth round by the Syracuse Nationals. Mills played for the Bakers during the 1960 National AAU Tournament.
1964 -- John Tresvant, Seattle University, fifth round by the St. Louis Hawks. Tresvant played briefly for the Bakers during 1961.
U.S. Olympic Basketball Team
After winning the AAU National Championship in 1956, the Buchan Bakers, along with runner-up Phillips 66ers, the College All-Stars and the Armed Forces All-Stars, participated in a round-robin tournament to determine placements on the U.S. Olympic Basketball Team for that years Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia. The Bakers and the 66ers were allowed to pick up four players from other teams for the Olympic Trials. The tournament was won by the Phillips 66ers, thus they received the most placements on the team Chuck Darling, Burdette Haldorson, Bill Hougland, Bob Jeangerard and Jim Walsh. The remaining seven spots were split among the three other teams, and for reasons known only to the selection committee, three of the spots were given to players from the Armed Forces All-Stars, who had finished last in the trials Ron Tomsic, Bill Evans, and Gib Ford. That left the College All-Stars with just three placements Bill Russell, K.C. Jones and Carl Cain. The last spot went to one of the players added to the Buchan Bakers roster just for the Olympic Trials Dick Boushka of the Wichita Vickers.
The alternates, none of whom were added to the team, included Charlie Koon of the Buchan Bakers, who had been named to the All-Tournament Team for the National AAU Tournament. Other alternates were Hal Lear and Willie Naulls of the College All-Stars, whose non-selection puzzled the writers covering the tournament, Joe Dean from Phillips, Ray Warren from the Armed Forces and Terry Rand, an addition to the Buchan Bakers roster just as Boushka had been.
The Buchan Bakers were long gone by the 1964 Olympic Games, but one of their players from the 1960-61 season was chosen for the U.S. Olympic Basketball Team. Pete McCaffrey, a 6-6 forward, came to the Bakers from St. Louis University, where he had been named All-Conference and honorable mention All-American. After the Bakers folded, McCaffrey went to the Akron Goodyears where he was named to the National AAU All-Tournament teams in 1962 and 1963. While he was with the Bakers, McCaffrey worked for the Boeing Company.
A footnote -- Boushka and McCaffrey, the only Olympians to play for the Bakers, were both graduates of St. Louis University.
Final Fours
1953 The University of Washington Huskies finished third in the NCAA, and the team included future Buchan Bakers, Charlie Koon, Joe Cipriano, Dean Parsons, Doug McClary, Mike McCutcheon, Bill Ward, Will Elliott and Don Tripp. The team was led by Bob Houbregs, who went to work at the Buchan Baking Co. with the intention of playing for the Bakers, but signed with the Milwaukee Hawks of the NBA instead.
1956 The University of San Francisco Dons won their second straight NCAA championship with a team led by Bill Russell. Other members of that team included Carl Boldt and Gene Brown, who went on to play for the Bakers.
1957 The University of San Francisco Dons fell short of a third straight NCAA championship, but managed to finish third. This team included future Bakers Carl Boldt and Gene Brown, as well as Art Day, a 6-9 junior college transfer, who had the unenviable task of following Bill Russell at center.
1958 Seattle University, led by Elgin Baylor, finished second, losing to Kentucky in the NCAA championship game. Only seven Chiefs played in that game, including future Bakers Charlie Brown and Jerry Frizzell and former Baker Jim Harney.
