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Left: Testimonial letter to Joe
Bassett recognizing his athletic accomplishments as basketball
and football coach, signed by the 1965 Niles McKinley High School
faculty.
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Two
Undefeated Teams in the Same Year–1954.
Niles Daily Times January 18, 1975
Joseph Bassett, 75, who carved a niche
in the Niles City Schools as a multi–sports coach and educator
died January 17, 1975.
Joining the Niles City Schools in 1947, Bassett gained recognition
as one of the best multi–sports coaches Niles McKinley ever
had.
He served as head football coach for five seasons from 1953–1957
and had the first undefeated team in the history of the school
in 1954. The team held the title of Steel Valley Champions for
three years.
As head basketball coach for 18 seasons, he compiled
225 victories and 126 losses. In 1954 he coached the first undefeated
team in the school’s history recording five wins in NEO
Sectional tournaments, one win in the Ohio State High School Regional
tournament, three wins in the NEO District Tournament and the
Ohio State semi–finals in 1949.
He was one of only three coaches to go undefeated
in two sports in one year, 1954.
In Niles, Joe Bassett Rules as Mr. Basketball.
Niles Daily Times March 31, 1954
The soft-spoken mentor has built McKinley from an average quintet
in 1945 to a power-house of the district at the present time.
In his seven years at the head of the coaching
helm, Bassett has compiled 154 wins and 34 losses. Two years the
Bassettmen have come within shooting range of the High School
Championship crown only to be knocked off in the final tournament
contests.
First Hamilton, Ohio, which went on to win the
state title, turned the trick in 1949 with a 49-39 score. This
year (1954), Canton South was the spoiler by handing the red and
blue the short end of a 60-54 count.
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Football coaches of the undefeated 1954 team.
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Undefeated 1954 football team.
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1922 Niles football team with
Joe Bassett. |
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Front: Bob DeMont, Dick Trimbur,
Don Mohn, Coach Bassett, Paul Collins, Bill Quilty and Paul
Mandras. Back: Hewitt, Bruce Boron, Dick Grainger, Ronald Filipan,
Tom LaPolla, Albert Penska, Tom Gonella, M. Bono, Phil Guiliano,
D. Quilty and M. Naples
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1954 Unbeaten
Varsity Basketball Team.
Not only was this a championship team but Dick
Trimbur made the first team All-Ohio. He set a school scoring
record of 421 points and his season total was 547 points.
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1953-54 undefeated basketball
team. |
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1953-54 Niles McKinley Basketball
squad
1954 Undefeated Niles Football
Team |
1949 Basketball team - district and regional
champions that made it to State semi-finals. |
1949
Basketball Team
Row 1: John Altobelli, Reginald Giancola,
John Pela, Paul Lewis, Lawrence Lobaugh, John Weber, John Merrill,
Bob Brooks, Mgr. Bob Murphy.
Row 2: Mgr. John Blakely, Mgr. Ronald Scarnecchia,
Joe B. Williams, David Jenkins, James Capuzzi, Carmen Cicero.
Row 3: Jack Williams, Joe Mordent, Palmer
Calderone, Bud Burlingham, Dick Bullock. |
1949 Regional Basketball Championship
blanket with Joe Bassett monogram. |
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Joe Bassett with Jefferson
School playground team. |
Of his
31 years with the Niles School System, Joe Bassett spent 21 years
in the guidance Department and had previously taught science and
physical education.
He retired from the school system in 1978 citing,
“I have reached the apex of a career in education and I
feel I can’t go any higher in the field. I can’t stand
still. I feel I have eight more years of activity ahead of me.”
He also served as Recreation Director for Niles,
Girard, and the City of Warren under the Federal Works Agency.
He was also a field representative and supervisor for Trumbull
and Portage Counties.
Born March 30, 1906 in Niles, Ohio, he was the
son of Nicola and Maria Angela Mango Bassett
and spent his life in the city. Surviving are his wife, Lucille
Altiero Bassett, also a retired teacher from the Niles School
Schools to whom he was married October 31, 1942, one brother,
James, and one sister, Mrs. Theresa DeMatthews, both
of Niles. One brother and three sisters preceded him in death. |
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Cinderella
Teams of the Past-Move over.
Niles Daily Times March 3, 1962
Niles Cinderella teams of the past-move over,
looking over your shoulders are the 1962-62 McKinley High Red
Dragons who Friday night bumped off number 1 seeded Poland, 59-53,
to win a Class A Sectional title.
The team includes Managers Larry Verhosek
and Ray Venetti, team: John Knight, Bo Rein, Rick Sygar, Carmen
Vivolo, Dave ‘Pinky’ Altiero, Dick Leonard, Tom Grainger,
Tom James, Jim Hutchings, Jim Berline, Dave Nestor with head
coach Joe Bassett and assistant coach Bill Swift.
The Dragons now make tracks for the District
playoffs in the footsteps of two other unheralded McKinley quints,
the teams of 1949 and 1960. (The 1954 team was undefeated in regular
season competition).
All three teams, under the guidance of Joe Bassett,
have followed the identical pattern, suffering through a miserable
regular season only to suddenly catch fire and burn up the tournament
trail.
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Niles
McKinley Individual Scoring Records
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Niles
McKinley 1962 Basketball Team
The 1962-63 edition of the Niles McKinley basketball
Red Dragons, including the junior varsity.
L-R: Front row: Dick Leonard, Jim Jennings, Bill
Gales, Bob LaRicca, Henry Kover, Dave Allen and Jim Berline.
Second row: Tom Moore, Richard Corea, Ron Miller,
John Sawyer, Dick Swindler, Bob Penska, Bill Yuhasz, George Infant
and Nick Chieffo.
Back row: Tommy James, Bo Rein, John Knight, Jim
Hutchings, Dave Nestor, Carl Hendry and captain Don Andres. |
Don
Andres, No. 33, fights for basketball.
Coach Joe Bassett enters his 17th season at Niles.
He's being assisted by JV mentor, Bill Swift, for the second straight
year. |
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