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Schooled the great Kevin McHale
Frank “Frankie Alphabet” Wachlarowicz, the man with too many letters in his name, also had too many points to his name, and was recently honored at a St. John’s basketball game.
Wachlarowicz, of Le Center, was recently honored at the halftime of a St. John’s basketball game, as he was one of the five St. John’s players that won MVP of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC).
“It was a great honor, and I was able to see all of my old teammates there,” said Wachlarowicz.
The man they call “Frankie Alphabet” is no stranger to awards and records. Wachlarowicz was the first person to be inducted into the Little Falls Hall of Fame, and he still holds the record for most career points in any division of men’s college basketball in Minnesota, with 2,357.
Wachlarowicz reached the pinnacle of high school and collegiate basketball as a power forward/center. He was a member of the Little Falls basketball team that won the State AA Championship In 1975,a team that also beat the A State Champions (1975 was the last year that the champions of the A and AA class would face each other to determine an overall champion).
During the tournament, Wachlarowicz faced future NBA player and Hall of Famer Kevin McHale. Wachlarowicz scored 19 points — and held McHale to 10 points.
“I played pretty well against him,” said Wachlarowicz.
Wachlarowicz would then go on to be a college standout at St. John’s University. While there, Wachlarowicz played for Head Coach Jim Smith, who said that Wachlarowicz is the best post player he has coached.
“Without a doubt he is the best post player I have seen, and I’ve seen a lot of them,” said Smith. “I can’t imagine anyone is better than him.”
Wachlarowicz started as freshman, and went on to an illustrious career at St. John’s. He set multiple records, including points in a season, career rebounds, and free throws made. He was not only a great individual player, but a great team player.
The St. John’s teams that he played on were some of the best in the school’s history, setting multiple records that still stand today.
The Johnnies teams that he was a part of not only set records for points in a season and best field goal percentage, but they also still hold the record for most wins. In his senior season, the Johnnies started the season 0-2, but then had a 27 game winning streak — the only undefeated conference season in team history.
One moment in Wachlarowicz’s career that he will never forget happened against St. John’s rival St.Cloud State Huskies. Down one point with seconds left, the inbound pass came to Wachlarowicz, who then passed it to a teammate who was then fouled with two seconds left. The Johnnies would be shooting a one-and-one to tie the game or take the lead.
The Huskies had inside position on Wachlarowicz, but that didn’ stop him. After the Johnnies’ player missed the first free throw, Wachlarowicz was able to get to the ball past the defender and tip it in for the game-winning basket.
“It was pure euphoria, the fans were rushing the court,” said Wachlarowicz. “That is one thing I will go to my grave with.”
Smith said that everyone playing against them knew that they had to stop Wachlarowicz. Smith remembers that during an away game, the opposing fans started to chant “Frank can’t dunk, Frank can’t dunk.”
“The next time down the court, Frank took a power dribble and slammed it down,” said Smith. “Then he just walked back down the court like nothing happened. That was typical Frank.”
After college, Wachlarowicz had a chance to try out for the Boston Celtics at a training camp. The camp was supposed to be a week long, but because of a death of a family member of the Celtic’s organization, it only lasted two days. Wachlarowicz didn’t make the team, but wishes it the camp would have lasted longer, so his fundamentally sound play could have been showcased a bit more.
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