One of the most unselfish players to ever play for the Penguins, Roy Kroll’s first year was also the first for a then untested collegiate head cage mentor, Dom Rosselli.
The coach legacy of Rosselli lives on and it was partially due in part to Ron Kroll who teamed with one of the greatest Penguin hoopsters of all time, the late Leo Mogus (and a Penguin Hall of Famer as well) to lead the Penguins to a 43-25 mark in the three seasons prior to the program being discontinued due to World War II.
If accurate records were kept at that time, then he might very easily have led the nation in assists as Mogus was the do-all man inside, and Kroll the outside set up man for his teammate.
He played three seasons for the Penguins, 1940-41 to 1942-42 with the 1940-41 and the 1942-43 teams posting the second and third best winning percentages for a season up until that time (the best mark was the 1928-29 team that was 8-2 while under Kroll’s floor leadership, the 1942-43 team was 11-5 for a .688 winning ledger and the 1940-41 team rolled to seven straight victories under Kroll which, at the time, tied the mark for the most consecutive victories.
He’ll be remembered as the man who did anything on the court within the rules of the game in order to help his team to a win. In the process, he helped his teammates rise above their athletic capabilities so that the Penguins could realize victory.
With the addition of Kroll and Will Teague to the Hall of Fame this year, they become the 11th and 12th basketball players of the more than 1,000 all time cagers to be honored for their achievements on the Penguin hardwood. He is married ot the former Mary Louise Piper and they have four children, Marjorie, Eileen, Roy, and Bill.
