Wabash College Athletics Hall of Fame
Tom, you were nominated for the Hall of Fame by your late classmate, Mike Dill, who I’m told used to wax on for hours about how good you were: “A man among boys,” Mike would say.
Tom, because you played before Division III existed, we easily forget the level of competition you faced every night on the basketball court. You weren’t blocking out short forwards from Kenyon or Oberlin. You were going head-to-head with scholarship athletes from Butler, Indiana Central, and Valparaiso, to name a few.
And yet you more than held your own as a scorer, defender, and rebounder. As a 6-foot, 6-inch center, you twice did something that only three other players in the entire history of Wabash basketball have ever managed to do over a full season: you averaged a double-double in points and rebounds in both the 1970 and 1971 seasons.
More than a half-century later, your career numbers still hold up against anyone—before or after your time at Wabash. Your career scoring average of 16.4 points-per-game still ranks 15th all-time, and your average of 9.5 rebounds-per-game is second all-time. And in that latter category, you stand behind only the great Pete Metzelaars ’82.
Today, there are many All-America teams across Division III, but Tom, you were named a Second Team All-American in an era when those selections were far scarcer than they are today, and you earned that honor playing against scholarship players.
All of us who play basketball today are proud of your bruising efforts as a rebounder and scorer, and are happy to join with the NAWM to—finally –induct you in the Wabash Athletics Hall of Fame. Tom Martella, you are Some Little Giant!
