Last night was the third year that the Capital District Basketball Hall of Fame held their inductions, and current NBA rookie Jimmer Fredette – sorry, Glens Falls native and 2009 Inductee Jimmer Fredette – was on hand for the induction of new members to the Hall. The men and women who were enshrined in the Hall have earned their positions, have earned their designations through their stellar high school and college – and in some cases, professional – hoops careers. There are also several members of the old Wedekind Pros / Schaefer Brewers semiprofessional basketball team (Barry Kramer, Armand Reo, Phil Schoff, etc.) that are enshrined.
But for Capital District hoops fans, I argue that a great section of our local hoops identity has been sadly ignored. And it’s understandable why they’ve been ignored; heck, the Hall was created for those who attended high school in the area and excelled at the high school level, and then went on to bigger and better things.
I’m talking about our professional basketball history. Not just the Albany Patroons, mind you – but also the old Troy Trojans and Albany Senators of nearly a century ago. At one time, Albany was one of the top cities in professional basketball, “professional” in that players got paid for the sport and played in front of crowds.
In 2010, the Hall elected two players with Patroons pedigrees – John Leonard, who played on the team’s first season in 1982-83; and Lucious Jordan, who wore gold and kelly green from 2006 to 2008. But those players were recognized more for their high school careers than their Pats stints – Leonard barely got off the bench, and Jordan was cut once because head coach Micheal Ray Richardson said that Lucious “was too soft.”
So if the Hall really wants to honor the Capital District’s basketball history, please please PLEASE consider adding the following names to the Class of 2012.
ED WACHTER
Ed Wachter was one of the greatest centers of his era. In the 1910’s, his Troy Trojans team toured the country and won almost every game. They dominated the old Hudson River basketball league, and then when that folded, they claimed a championship in the New York State League. Wachter’s Trojans even played in what was then the first national basketball championship series, when in 1913 the Trojans took on the Reading Bears of the Pennsylvania League in a best-of-five series. Wachter coached the UAlbany basketball team in 1916-1917, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1961.
BARNEY SEDRAN
One of the legendary “Heavenly Twins,” Sedran played for the Albany Senators in the early 1920’s. At 5’4″, he is the smallest player to ever be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame (class of 1962), and at one time he held the record for most points in a game – 15 baskets, or as one person might joke, an off-night for LeBron James. Sedran helped the Albany Senators earn titles in the New York State League in 1919-20 and 1920-21.
MARTY FRIEDMAN
The other member of the “Heavenly Twins,” Friedman played for the Senators (the defensive guard was a member of the 1919-20 and 1920-21 championship squads), and in the 1930’s coached the Troy Haymakers pro team. Friedman was also involved with Olympic basketball, and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1972.
DERRICK ROWLAND
He scored over 5,000 points in his CBA career, most of them with the Albany Patroons. He was on the 1983-84 and 1987-88 championship teams, and later coached the 2008-09 Patroons. In 2010, he won an IBL championship as the head coach of the Albany Legends.
LOWES MOORE
Also a member of the Patroons’ two championship squads, it was Lowes Moore’s half-court shot that helped Albany advance to the 1984 CBA finals. It was Lowes Moore’s clutch shooting that helped Albany secure the 1987-88 CBA title. And he stayed in the community, working with youth basketball for many years.
JAMARIO MOON
If you had to pick one player from the second iteration of the Albany Patroons for enshrinement, you couldn’t go wrong with the high-flying Jamario Moon. Let’s face it, he was the main reason anybody went to the Armory during the Patroons’ second run; the man could block shots like a building, and he could dunk like a monster. And some day he’ll tell his grandchildren that he once played in the NBA with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Bosh, and Blake Griffin. Bet you can’t say that…
PHIL JACKSON
Forget the NBA championships with he Bulls and with the Lakers. The man took the Patroons to the 1984 CBA championship. He should get in the Capital District Basketball Hall of Fame for that accomplishment alone.
And if you’re going to induct an entire team for the Hall, as the Hall did this year by honoring the 1965 Troy High School team, then you have to include:
THE 1949-50 SIENA MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM
In that year, the Indians won the National Catholic Invitational Tournament, which at that time was as big as the NCAA and the NIT. Even with all the postseason trips to the NCAA and to the NIT that the Saints have achieved, this is still their only national championship title.
Come on, hoops fans. Do you agree with me on this? Are there other names that haven’t been listed? Help me out here, people…
Chuck The Writer 
When it comes to local Halls of Fame some of the inductees are highly questionable.
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Basketball Hall of Famer Nat Holman considered Jack Inglis to be the greatest player in basketball history. Inglis grew up in Lansingburgh, was a star football and basketball at RPI from 1908-1910, then joined Ed Wachter on the Troy Trojans from 1910-1915. Inglis was the leading scorer in the NYS League nearly every season he played. He also played minor league baseball. From 1915-1917 he played for Carbondale in the Pennsylvania League and was the leading scorer in that league too. While with Carbondale he is credited as being one of the first players to dunk. He coached basketball at RPI and Colgate. He joined the Navy in World War I but contracted Spanish Influenza at Officer Training School and died in October 1918 at the age of 31. Into the 1930s he was considered the greatest basketball player ever in various polls.
Lew Wachter Ed’s older brother and Troy native, played in Ed’s shadow, but was better known as the manager and coach for the championship teams and organizer of the Hudson River and NYS Leagues. He coached Dartmouth for five seasons, and led them to an Eastern Intercollegiate League Title in 1928. Failing eyesight curtailed his coaching career.
Bill Hardman of Schenectady played with the Wachters on the world champion Schenectady and Gloversville teams from 1904-1909 and then a few additional seasons with Troy. He was the second leading scorer on the team next to Ed. He coached Union College’s basketball team from 1918-1933.
To bolster “Big Ed” Wachter’s resume, he coached Williams from 1916-1920, Harvard from 1920-1933, and was involved on the committees that set the rules in basketball. In 1935 he became Troy’s Recreation Director, a position he held for 20 years. In 1959 his community portrayals of Uncle Sam helped gain Troy recognition as the home of Uncle Sam.
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What about Billy Harrell and the Troy High team that he led that went undefeated with Cookie Sherwin, Dick Spiedel, and Harold Vinikoff. Harrell later led Siena. Clem Zotto, as coach led Troy High to more undefeated years. Zig Makofsky, as coach, led Mount Pleasant to MANY huge seasons. R.P.I. with Tony Orlando and Hank O’keefe went to the N.I.T. The Troy Trojans in their day dominated like the Celtics of the Nat Holman/Joe Lapchick era. It’s a DISGRACE you haven’t included them. My Father, Charles Grosberg used to get in to games by carrying the gym bag of one of the players. Ed Wachter, in the Hall of Fame was as dominant as Joe Lapchick was in his day. I suggest that you go to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield for more information about the Troy Trojans.
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