Michigan To Face Wildcat Center Who Likes Defense
Michigan To Face
Wildcat Center
Who Likes Defense
^i^ioi w — ——. blocked shots has been accumu".
EVANSTON, 111. — Not since ^^ at the expense of some of ^
the days of hook-shot specialist ^ nation's most prominent c
(Special to The News)
^.tnwe^ ce^on^ted Pivotmen, among them a couple o
Dig Ten basketbaU games as of seven-footers, Geor ms ^
Jim Pitts has this season, of Purdue and Crais of p
While Ruklick earned All- Tulane, and such standouts a?
America recognition primaray Qy^g Lee of Vanderbilt, Thad g
for the fluid hook shot that Kentucky and Chuck a
made him Northwestern's a 11- Ja Colorado. ?
time top scorer, Pitts only m- \Jaiw '- .,
frequently has wound up as a Gardner last year's aII Big
•me's leading scorer, usually Eight center, was on his way
>king second to the Wildcats' to developing a severe complex t
ti-scoring guard, Jim Burns, as Pitts bloc! ots ^
. ,; in two other important cat- in the first _ _ ai
i „, ..id de- Boulder. Afterv »lorddo e
^ , ,,,;,,; peer officials said the;. ;- ^cow- \
..hp Rip Ten tered a defensive player oft
Gomg Into his last two games Pitts' caliber since they faced
• - against Michigan in Ann Ar- San Francisco's Bill Russell in ^
. bor on Saturday a n d against the 1956 NCAA finals. v
^ ome on Monday - Although his rebounding and ^
,,,r seems certain to defensive play have overshad-^
,i th-e Big Ten rebounding owed his offensive perform, e
" ances, Pitts is far from a slack- v
1 'After 12 conference games er on the attack. He averaged"
this year, Pitts has an aver-14.5 points lnhlshrst^)
•aep of 157 ' far and ference games (12.6 overall)
• atay the ' hi,,K-i m the B i g and has outscored opposing cen- ^
? rpan ters. v
• putts' overall season's total of . He has outrebounded oppos-
• '. for 22 games ing pivotmen. In both of his ^
„ , , . ; well within range encounters a§alnstIowass
1 of Ruklick's school record for a George Peoples, Pitts out-
• season,206. Pitts must average scored and outrebounded the ^
1 just six rebounds in his two Hawkeye standout. _ ^
remaining games to set a new During his prep days at Chi
Sard There's little question cago's ^arsha^^^^^^^
1 but what he would have broken played on thestate^^^^^ g
> the mark a year ago, had not ship team hat ^eluded s^uch ^
'• a late-season injury and early eventual college stars as ^in g
[ season knee trouble kept h i m cmnati's George Wilson and ^
: sidelined for long periods. As it ast year 'sN^thwe stern c a ^ ^
• was he led the Wildcats to a tain, Don Jackson. It' .n
new'team rebounding record for school that Pi Us can. ^ ^
one season, enabling them to the knee ailment that has^ since ^
rank a close second to cham- required him to undergo sur ^
pion Michigan as the Big Ten's gery twice. That he has com^ ^
Itop rebounding club. back in superb style ^s e v i
,11 defense, Pitts is the big-denced not only by thestatls a:
;l "intimidator" to hit Big tics but by the fact that he was ^
Ten baSall in years. He has chosen Most Valua^^^ P
averaged five blocked shots per both the West Coast Cl as s icl
game a figure approached by tournament, in Portland in 19<;
no other conference player. Not and at the Memphis S t a t , ^
only has he demoralized oppos- Classic in 1965
ing centers, but his reputation Pitts was the center on the
for slapping shots into or bit All-Big Ten academic team
Ss caused Wildcat foes to for- last year and has averaged
get about driving the lane for close to straight A the past tv
faviin atfpmnt. years as a political science md
, 1 of 115ljor. _______-————
Article
Subjects
Vanderbilt Commodores
University of Michigan – Students
University of Michigan - Athletics
Purdue Boilermakers
Northwestern Wildcats
Michigan Wolverines
Kentucky Wildcats
Iowa Hawkeyes
Illinois Illini
Big Ten Basketball Championship
Basketball
Awards Honors Prizes
Old News
Ann Arbor News
Thad Jaracz
Joe Ruklick
Jim Pitts
Jim Burns
George Wilson
George Peeples
George Grams
Don Jackson
Craig Spitzer
Clyde Lee
Chuck Gardner
Bill Russell