Vince Boryla Recalls
1948 London Olympics
By Chris May
C
all Vince Boryla out of the blue and ask him about his
experience as a member of the Olympic gold medal
1948 U.S. men’s basketball team and he’ll tell you
that was 64 years ago and he doesn’t remember much. But
he’ll give it a try.
Mention teammates such as Ralph Beard, Alex Groza,
fellow Indiana native Cliff Barker, Bob Kurland, Don Barksdale, Ray Lumpp and coach Adoph Rupp - and don’t forget
to ask about that gold medal - and 25 minutes later, spilling
over with stories and recollections, it becomes clear that some
of the details may have escaped him. But Boryla really hasn’t
forgotten much.
Starting with the trip abroad and conditions in a warPhoto Courtesy of
torn London just emerging from World War II.
Erich Bacher/University of Denver
“We spent almost six days on the U.S.S. America,”
the 1944 East Chicago Washington graduate and 1986 Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame inductee
recalls.
Throughout preparations for the London
games, Boryla had befriended University of
Kentucky standout Alex Groza and they set
out for their own comfortable cruise.
“When we sat down to our first meal on
the ship, there was a corner table with only
room for two so Alex and I took it,” he explains. “When the waiter came over I gave
him $20 and I said ‘feed us like you would
like to be fed if you had a free ticket. Don’t
overstuff us but don’t let us miss anything.’
So the guy took real good care of us.”
Five days later, and without today’s 1948 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team: Front Row Left to right:
Coach Omar Browning, Ralph Beard, Jackie Robinson, Clifford
training staff and nutritionists looking over Barker, Ray Lumpp, Kenneth Rollins, Lewis Beck, Coach Adolph
their every calorie, “I gained about nine Rupp. Back Row: Wallace Jones, R.C. Pitts, Don Barskdale, Bob
pounds and Groza gained about 12 or 13 Kurland, Manager Louis Wilke, Alex Groza, Gordon Carpenter,
Vincent Boryla, Jesse Renick.
. . . but we eventually lost that weight.”
Following a tour of Ireland and Scotland, the 1948 team arrived in London without great fanfare, surroundings or expectations.
“You have to understand there was almost no publicity about the Olympics prior to us going
over. The War had just ended and no one had anything from the past to hang on to, so to speak.”
“These were the first games since 1936 and London, naturally, was bomb scarred like you
couldn’t believe.”
The U.S. squad, assembled by taking the five starters from the national champion University
of Kentucky (Beard, Groza, Yorktown, IN native Cliff Barker, Wallace Jones and Kenny Rollins),
five starters from the champion Phillips 66 AAU squad (Kurland, Lewis Beck,
Gordon Carpenter, R.C. Pitts and Jesse Renick), and four other outstanding
players (Boryla, then of the AAU Denver Nuggets, Don Barksdale from the
Oakland Bittners, Ray Lumpp of NYU, and Baylor’s Jack Robinson), began
the games not knowing what to expect.
“We had zero expectations because we had nothing to compare it
to,” Beard says, alluding to the 12 year gap from the previous Olympic
games. They soon found out that they would barely be tested.
“The competition wasn’t much, although we barely beat Argentina,”
Boryla recalls.
The Americans opened with a 65-point victory over Switzerland and
25-point win against Czechoslovakia leading into the Argentina contest.
“First of all, the two referees we had couldn’t understand each other, they
Photo Courtesy of
were foreign referees,” Boryla relays of what would be their closest conErich Bacher/University
test. “They couldn’t conceive of anybody dribbling the ball as fast as
of Denver
Ralph Beard did, because he could dribble and go with that ball just
as fast as most guys running. They must have called 11 or 12 travels and some fouls that we just
couldn’t conceive.”
Regardless, the Red, White and Blue trumped Argentina 59-57. Lopsided wins over Egypt, Peru,
Uruguay, and Mexico followed and set up a gold medal game against France.
Again, the Americans faced little challenge in recording a
65-21 win over France to keep the U.S. undefeated in Olympic
basketball play since the sport had been introduced in the 1936
games.
With a minimal amount of pomp and circumstance, Boryla
and teammates received the crowning prize of the Olympic
games. “The medal was in a small leather box that opened up
and had felt in it. Our medal was placed in the box and we lined
up and they handed us the box that had a gold medal in it,” he
shares.
And the medal’s location now? “A while back I had a golden
piece that had a hook on it and we made it so my wife could
wear (the medal) on a chain (as jewelry). So that’s what she
wears.”
Photo Courtesy of
Perhaps as memorable for Boryla was a venture across the
The Times of Northwest Indiana
English Channel following the games.
“After our final game, a subsidiary of Phillips 66 took the basketball team on a flight to Paris,
where we spent three or four days. Everything that we weren’t able to get in London, we got in Paris
in spades. It was the first time in my life I tasted champagne . . . we ate like pigs!”
Having transferred from Notre Dame to the University of Denver, where he was a first team
NCAA All-American, Boryla’s career included a nod as AAU All-American with the Denver Nuggets.
He played five seasons for the New York Knicks and was an NBA All-Star, had a three-year stint
as head coach of the Knicks, and front office positions with the NBA and ABA Denver Nuggets and
ABA’s Utah Stars, including the titles of president and general manager.
Also successful in business and real estate ventures, he was asked how he would most like to be
remembered.
“(As) a dumb Polack who came from East Chicago, Indiana whose mother and dad came from
Europe. My dad was a bricklayer by trade and I think he’d be very proud to know the amount of
success that I’ve had.”
One of just eight Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame inductees to have played for the U.S. in Olympic men’s basketball competition, Boryla and Cliff Barker were the first Indiana natives to suit up for
the U.S. in mens basketball on that 1948 team.
And if you’re interested, he is watching the Olympics this year although not as much basketball.
“I’ve been watching the swimming more,” Boryla confesses.
“The first couple of (basketball) games I know have been garbage by comparison. I don’t see
how anyone can come close to beating our team,” he said one day after the U.S. had thrashed Nigeria 156-73.
Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame
Inductees to Play for U.S. Men’s
Olympic Teams
1948
Cliff Barker (Yorktown High School and University of Kentucky)
Vince Boryla (East Chicago Washington High School, Notre Dame and
the University of Denver)
1952
Clyde Lovellette (Terre Haute Garfield High School and
Kansas University
Howard Williams (New Ross High School and Purdue University)
1960
Terry Dischinger (Terre Haute Garfield High School and
Purdue University)
Oscar Robertson (Crispus Attucks High School and University
of Cincinnati)
1984
Steve Alford (New Castle High School and Indiana University)
1992
Larry Bird (Springs Valley High School and Indiana State University)