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| | Wednesday, October 13 | |||||
| COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Frank Selvy, who once scored 100 points in
an NCAA game, never got a chance to talk to Wilt Chamberlain about
his 100 points in an NBA game.
Eight years before Chamberlain's feat, Selvy became the first to
finish with 100 points in a basketball box score in Furman's 149-95
victory over Newberry. When Chamberlain hit the century mark on
March 2, 1962, Selvy simply figured it was the first of many for
"Wilt the Stilt" and star players who would follow him.
"With the way the pro game was set up and the longer time, I
just thought someone like Wilt would do it sometime," Selvy said
Wednesday from his home on Hilton Head Island.
Chamberlain died of congestive heart failure Tuesday at his
Bel Air home. He was 63.
Selvy was in the NBA for two years after Chamberlain's 100-point game, but the two never talked about their achievements.
"I just never thought much about it," said Selvy, who played
nine seasons in the NBA and twice was named an All-Star. "People
don't understand this, but the 100 points doesn't mean that much.
I'm much prouder of the victories we had when I was at Furman."
According to an Associated Press story from March 2, 1962 on
Chamberlain's 100-point game, "two over-100 efforts by Paul Arizin
of Villanova and Bevo Francis of Rio Grande (Ohio) College are not
recognized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association because
they were made against junior-college teams."
When Selvy left Furman after the 1954 season, he held 24 major
college records and had scored 50-or-more points eight times.
He said the rest of the NBA wasn't prepared for Chamberlain's
agility.
"I had seen some big guys in college, but he was the biggest I
had ever seen," Selvy said of the 7-foot-1 star called "The Big
Dipper."
But "he was quick and could run like a track athlete," Selvy
said. "That surprised everyone."
Selvy has long been defined by his 100-point game, but he led
the nation in scoring that year with a 41.3-point average. Furman,
3-20 the year before Selvy joined, was 59-21 in his three seasons.
Selvy played with seven NBA teams, including five with the
Lakers, and ended with a 10.8-point a game average in 565 games.
He remembered having pretty good luck against Chamberlain's
Philadelphia Warriors.
"We did pretty well," Selvy said. "He scored a lot of points
against us, but of course, he scored a lot of points against
everybody."
There was one time, though, when the 6-foot-3 Selvy shocked
Chamberlain. The Lakers were playing the Warriors at the L.A. Sports
Arena and the two matched up for a jump ball.
"Wilt didn't think I was going to jump and he didn't," Selvy
said, a hint of pride in his voice. "I did and won the tap." | ALSO SEE Wilt's agent says heart failure claimed NBA legend
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