Hoyle tourney still kicking

We were having lunch at the former Stag and Doe Restaurant on East State St. in downtown Sharon. This story goes back quite a few years when Sharon was a hustling, bustling community.

At the table were: W.U. “Bill” Hoyle, director of the Hoyle Junior Basketball Tournament; Cliff Titus, a long-time friend of Hoyle; and myself.

We were about to discuss the upcoming Hoyle Tournament.

Hoyle often ate at the Stag and Doe.

It was his favorite Sharon restaurant.

It was a short jaunt for Bill, just over the bridge from his place of employment, Bechdol’s Sporting Goods.

I never saw a man so well prepared.

His undertaking of the Hoyle Tournament was a monumental task and he left no stone unturned.

The little man with the white hair was always pleasant, congenial and a tireless worker.

Last month, the Hoyle Tournament celebrated its 70th anniversary, thanks to Sharon High girls basketball coach Gene Sarazen, who has kept the Hoyle Tourney alive.

He has turned in about four years now as tourney director and apparently things haven’t been going too badly.

The event now has 16 teams, which Sarazen says is a must to keep the event running.

The event is staged at Sharon High School’s gymnasium.

Sixteen teams competed in this year’s event, 10 boys and six girls squads.

This is the big difference in the tourney now as only local teams can compete.

In the original Hoyle, players were drawn from a four- or five-state area.

The original featured some of the top players in the nation and a packed house came to watch these standouts perform throughout the week-long event.

In 1973, at age 82, Hoyle turned the tourney over to the Sharon Lions Club.

Four of Hoyle’s friends, Andy Regule, Jim Bestwick, John Thiel and Walt Bedich were cited to keep things rolling.

Hoyle knew this organization, and these men, would do everything in their power to keep the event afloat.

But like everything else, age has a way of slowing things down.

The NCAA delivered the KO punch to the Hoyle, however, with its mandatory ruling of allowing players to compete in only a few postseason tourneys.

The Lions maintained the tourney for a number of years but decided the venture was losing its appeal.

So Sarazen jumped in and kept the Hoyle legacy alive.

Helping Sarazen with the event are about 15 girls (the Sharon players) and about the same number of adults.

Sarazen said he doesn’t know how much longer he will be able to handle the event but as long as he can scrape up 16 teams the event will continue.

“It’s nothing like the original,” Sarazen said, “but it’s keeping Bill Hoyle’s legacy alive and it’s also helping a bunch of kids showcase their talents for next season. With that I’m very happy.”

I happened to be looking through a past Hoyle Tournament program booklet the other day and came across a few paragraphs I had written about Bill Hoyle, who reached the grand old age of 90 before departing from this life.

It went something like this:

“In Sharon, they will always play the game ‘according to Hoyle.’ W. U. “Bill Hoyle,” founder of the famed W.U. Tournament of Champions” is dead at the age of 90.

“Mr. Hoyle,” as he was known to thousands of relatives, friends and associates, passed away at 4:40 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 3, 1981, at Nugent’s Convalescent Home after an extended illness.

The little, white-haired gentleman, who founded the tournament back in 1937, gave basketball a new look in the Shenango Valley.

His was a tournament that had since become one of the hotbeds of Pennsylvania basketball.

Hundreds of players (including myself) have had the opportunity to play in this classic and many have gone on to greater heights.

Players such as Bob Lanier, Chet Walker, Simmy Hill, Jack Marin, Willie Somerset and a host of other NBA greats have, at one time or another, performed in this event.

“One of the best tournament games I’ve witnessed took place at the F.H Buhl Club where a team from Avalon (Class B state champ) had two guys by the names of Ronnie Mayer and Jim Tobin. Those two put on a show and had the stands buzzing throughout. They won the tourney title if I’m not mistaken. I think the game was back in 1951. Ask Sharpsville’s Lou Fortuna for details.

“The Hoyle Tournament was not always a money-making proposition. In the early going, Bill had to reach into his own pockets to meet expenses but he never once faltered.

“Through his untiring efforts the Hoyle Tournament had grown in stature to become one of the finest junior basketball events in the nation. Hundreds of college scouts flocked to the tourney each year hoping to get a line on the top prospects from around the country. They all perform in the Hoyle.

“The Shenango Valley has been blessed in having such a man as Hoyle. His memory, his tournament will long remain as a lasting tribute.

“Bill Hoyle’s life was dedicated to the betterment of youth. He was a guiding light of high moral principle, a tireless worker for making a school-boy basketball tournament, a benefactor to those young men and women desiring a higher education. That was Bill Hoyle, everybody’s friend.”