Portage’s Len Chappell was not only a great basketball player, he was also a gentleman

Len Chappell in the Final Four

 … passed away on Thursday at 77

Great athletes abound in the United States. Those who were great athletes but also great people are not as common.

Yet, Len Chappell was both, and a few stories will explain why that is the case. I was fortunate to have interviewed Len on three occasions, and I came away with a portrait of the man, not just the athlete.

Born in the Martindale area of Portage Township, Chappell was blessed with physical skills, growing to 6-feet, 8-inches and about 240 pounds when he finally took the floor as a Demon Deacon at Wake Forest in 1958.

Chappell left his mark at Portage, scoring an incredible 977 points in his senior season, 2,240 in three years for Coach Jim Hess. He led the Mustangs into the nationally-known War Memorial Invitational Tournament in his senior season, matching up against one of the most powerful schools in Pennsylvania, Overbrook, in the opening game. Overbrook featured its own big star, Wayne Hightower, and the two big men battled in the opening night at the War Memorial.

To understand how tremendous an accomplishment it was making that tournament, Overbrook is the high school from which one of the greatest big men in history played, Wilt (the Stilt) Chamberlain played. On the bench for Overbrook against Portage was future star Walt Hazard. The Mustangs fell, 60-47, because of Overbrook’s tremendous athleticism and bench, but it was a great effort.

That was arguably the best Portage team in history, and Chappell was arguably the best basketball player to ever come out of Cambria County. Here is why.

Wake Forest

When Chappell left Portage High School for the Atlantic Coast Conference, many naysayers were saying that he would be lost there. He was great at a small school in the mountains of Pa., but who did they play? The one person who believed in him was Horace (Bones) McKinney, the irrepressible, loquacious coach of the Demon Deacons.

Wake Forest was not the center of the ACC basketball universe at that time. In fact, prior to Chappell’s years, the Deacons had never reached a Final Four. Len led them to the promised land, though they could not win that elusive national title. They lost to Ohio State in the national semifinals in 1962, but defeated John Wooden’s UCLA Bruins for third place, 82-80.

In his junior and senior seasons, in 1961 and 62, Chappell was the ACC Player of the Year and was also the MVP of the ACC Tournament in those seasons. He became the first consensus First-Team All-American in Wake Forest history in 1962, according to a release sent out this week after Chappell’s passing. He also established the single-game scoring record when he scored 50 points in a game against Virginia. He was also named Athlete of the Year in the ACC that season.

The Portage, Pa. star also set a record in the ACC in his senior season that has never been eclipsed. He scored 931 points that year, which is not a record, but his average of 30.1 points per game still stands today, despite great players like Michael Jordan playing in the league.

His records for points in his career — 2,165 -- and rebounds — 1,213 — are now third in Wake Forest history, but he played just three years of varsity ball, per NCAA rules at that time.

Billy Packer

McKinney also lured another good player to Wake Forest who complemented him very well. That was guard Billy Packer, who later became famous as an NCAA basketball analyst for CBS Sports. Here is what he said about his teammate: "Incredible speed, incredible hands, ability to score inside, ability to punish people, ability to shoot outside, ability to rebound in traffic. Not only do I think he’s the greatest player at Wake, he’s also one of the greatest to ever play intercollegiate basketball."

Professional career

Chappell was the fourth overall pick in the 1962 NBA draft, by the Syracuse Nationals. He played for ten different teams over 11 years, scoring 5,621 points in his career.

His marquee year was 1968-69 when he averaged 26.8 points and 5.7 rebounds for the Milwaukee Bucks. He loved Milwaukee so much that he settled in that area, raised his two sons there, and established a sporting goods business. He averaged 17.9 points in his professional career, nine of which were in the NBA.

The gentleman

However great Len Chappell was as a player, he was an even better person. The one aspect of his that was so impressive when I talked with him in my first interview almost 20 years ago was his humility. That is one of the characteristics of athletes that is missing today. They can tell you how great they are or were, but not thank everyone who aided them along the way.

Chappell was impressive in that way. After being one of the top players in the best college basketball conferences in the country, and earning player of the year and all-American at that level, then playing in the Final Four, and then playing ten years of professional basketball, Len Chappell was a down-to-earth guy. He talked about how this was not his doing, that God made him 6-foot-8 and gave him all of those physical skills. He thanked all of the people who helped him when he was young, never criticizing anyone along the way. Humility is a virtue, but it was evident throughout our first interview how grateful he was to all of the people who had helped an tutored him along the way.

He also relayed an anecdote about his time playing at Wake Forest. When he first had to come home, his family did not have the money for him to fly home. So he managed to find a ride that got him partway to Portage. How did he find his way home?

He had to “thumb” a ride, pick up a ride alongside the road hoping that someone would stop. I am not certain how long a trip that was, but he was realistic about it. He did not have the money, so you do whatever you have to so that you can survive.

He laughed when asked if his boys, boy of whom played Div. I ball at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, had to do that. He understood that the times were different, and the 1950s were not the 21st Century.

Honor in Portage

When I interviewed him about having the gymnasium in Portage named after him in 2004, his voice cracked. He was tremendously moved by their gesture. This was not an affectation. He was sincerely grateful for the gesture.

In short, while he was a great player, he may have been a better man. My sympathy to his wife and children and family who may still be in Pa. Len Chappell was a class act, and I wish that more athletes today emulated his example.