Former Penn coach leads Big 5 Hall inductees

The Big 5 inducted its 2002 Hall of Fame class on Saturday, and if there's one thing that the weekend's festivities can tell us, it's that this vaunted Philadelphia tradition -- once on life support -- is alive and well.

You could see it Saturday when 8,722 fans turned out to watch Penn nip St. Joe's 62-60 in a classic Big 5 finish.

You could see it on Friday when 1997 La Salle alum Chrissie Donahue Doogan, the youngest inductee, nearly broke into tears during her acceptance speech.

You could hear it when long-time Associated Press correspondent Jack Scheuer, the oldest inductee, concluded his speech by asking that his ashes be placed under the Palestra hardwood.

Six people were inducted at halftime of Saturday's game, four of them accepted in person and gave speeches at the official luncheon held at the Palestra the day before.

The highest-profile honorees were the only two not in attendance. Current NBA players Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie, teammates together at Temple in the early '90s, were on the road with the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers, respectively.

Former Penn coach Bob Weinhauer was inducted just one year after his predecessor, Chuck Daly. Weinhauer coached at Penn for five years, and he was at the helm of Penn's Final Four team in 1978-79.

"It's more than I could imagine," Weinhauer said of his induction. "It knocked me for a loop when they called and said this was going to happen."

In his acceptance speech, Weinhauer joked that Big 5 executive director Paul Rubincam "called me up and said, 'Well, we ran out of candidates, so I guess it's your turn.'"

At halftime Saturday, Weinhauer was escorted by Tim Smith, who wasn't the only former Quaker in attendance. No fewer than eight of Weinhauer's former players showed up in support of their coach this weekend.

"All of the guys kind of got together and said, 'we definitely have to come down,'" said James "Booney" Salters, a member of the '78-'79 squad. "We changed our schedules around, we did everything."

The two women honored were La Salle's Doogan and St. Joseph's Amy Mallon. Mallon played just one year in the Big 5 -- 1993 -- but she led the city in scoring and was Big 5 Player of the Year.

The media honoree was Scheuer, who's been covering at the Palestra since 1973 -- good for an estimated 2,000 Big 5 games.

Scheuer thanked La Salle sports information director Bob Vetrone, who's known as "the Godfather of the Big 5." Scheuer told of his early days in the sportswriting dodge, as an assistant to Vetrone at the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.

"I helped him out during games," Scheuer said. "I think I got paid five bucks a night, but I really couldn't tell you. All I knew is that I was sitting courtside at the Palestra, learning about sportswriting. A kid couldn't ask for much more."

Scheuer concluded his remarks -- and the afternoon -- on a stirring note.

"Vetrone always said that he wants his ashes spread over South Philadelphia. Well, you can put mine under this floor right here, in the greatest basketball arena in the world."

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.