As one of only 24 cagers that have worn a Penguin basketball uniform to score 1,000-plus points (he was the second player to turn the trick when he hit his 1,000th point at the end of his senior campaign in 1949-50), Steve Gergely had the privilege of playing for head coach Dom Rosselli during his coaching formative years, and was one of the main reason's that Rosselli's program became as feared as they were for the next five decades.
Born in Daisytown, Pa., in 1923 he moved to Sharpsville at the age of five and has been in and around that area ever since. A graduate of Sharpsville high school where he played football, basketball and ran track and field, he was all county in football at three different positions during his scholastic career- at tackle as a sophomore, at end as a junior and at fullback as a senior.
As a scholastic athlete in the western Pennsylvania area, he gained all-state honorable-mention honors in basketball as he won the Mercer county scoring title as a senior, once held the county record for the discus and while the school didn't field a baseball team, he played in the old pymatuning league during the summer sandlot season.
He didn't opt for college upon graduation, instead he served in the US air force as an aviation engineer in the south pacific for three years during the war, spurning offers from such basketball notables as Ohio State, Notre Dame, Duquesne, Westminster and West Virginia.
Upon returning from military service, he accepted a football scholarship to the University of Georgia and head coach Wally Butts in 1946. He transferred to then Youngstown College to play football for head coach Dike Beede and basketball for Dom Rosselli, but decided to concentrate on basketball.
While a member of Rosselli's scrappy squads of the late 1940's, he was a member of the school's first NAIA national tournament team during the 1946-47 season, the Penguins losing a hard fought 49-45 to decision to Northern Arizona in the first round of the tournament.
As a junior during the 1948-49 season, he scored 308 markers and was named to the tri state all star squad. His 1,016 career points still ranks 23rd on the all time list but when he turned the trick during the 1949-50 season, he was just the second player to ever hit the 1,000-plus point plateau (the first was Leo Mogus who scored 1,400 from 1939-1943).
A well rounded athlete, he was also one of the best fast pitch twirlers in the area, pitching several intramural squads while at YSU and sandlot teams in the summer to respective league titles.
Upon graduation, he began his teaching/coaching/administrative career at Newton Falls High School, moving to Shenango High School until 1952. In 1952 he moved to Sharpsville High School as junior high football and basketball coach, taking over as head basketball coach in 1956.
During the next 10 seasons, he led his team to four county titles and reached the district 10 finals on three separate occasions. In 1967 he gave up the basketball reigns, serving as assistant football coach and head baseball coach. In 1974 he relinquished all coaching duties to concentrate on administration, serving as the school's director of athletics until retiring in 1984.
A member of the Mercer County Hall of Fame (1982), he still resides in Sharpsville with his wife, the former Margaret Bellas. They are the proud parents of a son, Jeff, and a daughter, Lori (Davis).
