An All-County quarterback at Sharpsville (Pa.) High School, it is as a basketball player that Mike Magula will enter the YSU Athletics Hall of Fame tonight. Yet he wasn't too bad on the baseball diamond and commanded quite a bit of attention as a golfer.
One of the best all-around athletes to play for the red and white, his unselfish play made him one of the most respected athletes participating for any Penguin team.
As a scholastic athlete, he helped S.H.S. to the County District 10 title and helped quarterback the football team to the county championship. He was named to both the football and basketball county teams and earned Honorable Mention All-State laurels in basketball.
After a stint in the United States Army, he played with the Donnegan Raiders, a semi-pro basketball team that won every independent title in the tri-state area.
In 1949, he enrolled at Westminster College, but transferred a semester later to then Youngstown College and with only a few games left in the term, earned a starting position on Head Coach Dom Rosselli's cage squad.
During the 1950-51 and 1951-52 seasons, the Penguins posted back-to-back 16-7 campaigns, the most wins and the second best winning percentage for a season until that time (the 1927-28 team was 7-3 overall for a .700 winning ledger).
He averaged nearly 19 points per outing during the 1950-51 season, then followed that up by scoring at a 20.8 clip the following year and was the first person to go over the 400 point mark in a single season at that time.
A hook shot artist who was equally adept at shooting with either hand, he was second in the nation in field goal percentage and by shooting nearly 91 percent from the free throw line, he became one of the first players nationally to lead both categories for a single season.
A highlight of his cage career came when the Penguins defeated the famed Tom Gola and LaSalle University with Mike being named to the Tri-State squad which featured Duquesne All-Americans Sihugo Green and dick Ricketts. Named to the All-Ohio Third Team, he was also named to several all-oponent teams and was named by Marietta College as its opponent "Player of the Year."
As a golfer, he never lost a match and as a pitcher/first baseman helped the Penguins to a combined 14-9 overall mark during the 1949 and 1950 season.
Upon graduation, he was drafted by the Baltimore Bullets but a foot injury hampered his performance and he was put on waivers.
He later played for the Detroit Vegabonds, a touring team that included University of Kentucky, All-American Bill Spivey and the University of Tennessee's Doug Atkins who would later play in the National Football League for nine seasons and is a member of the Pro Football's Hall of Fame. They posted a 225-8 mark in two seasons with one of those losses at the hands of the Minneapolis Lakers who were led by Hall of Famer George Mikan.
In 1983, he was inducted into the Mercer County Hall of Fame, and now as he is in the "twilight" of his athletic career, he continues to be an avid sportsman, having won two Sate Super Senior golf titles in recent years, and placing second in another. He has authored several articles on fly fishing and is considered an expert salmon and trout fisherman.
He and his wife of 42 years, Natalie, make their home in Hermitage, Pa., and they are the proud parents of three daughters and five grandchildren.
