 |
 Fans in Aliquippa and Midland may not agree,
but basketball addicts in Ambridge believe that the 1967 Ambridge
High School basketball team led by
Chuck
DeVenzio was the best ever produced in Beaver
County. The unbeaten Bridgers romped to the state title and one of
the team’s stars was Denny Wuycik, a 6'-6" 200 pound senior. Denny
joined forces with such talented players as
Dick DeVenzio,
Frank
Kaufman, and
Walt
Ostrowski Jr to give the Bridgers one of the best balanced
basketball teams ever to appear in the state playoffs. Denny was an All Section 3
pick for three years, was named to the first team All State as a
junior, and became a high school All American his senior season. In
high school he had games of 43 points against New Castle, 50
against Butler, and 35 against Beaver Falls when he broke
George
Zatezalo’s Beaver County scoring record of 1711 points. Denny ended
his scholastic career with 1854 points and was picked to play for
Pennsylvania in the annual Roundball Classic. He played his
college basketball at the University of North Carolina under Coach
Dean Smith, and in three years of varsity action racked up 1469
points for an average of 18 points per game and a field goal
shooting percentage of 61 percent. In 1971 he helped North Carolina
win the NIT title, and his field goal average of 63 percent led the
nation. In 1972 the Tarheels reached the Final Four of the NCAA
Tournament before losing to champion UCLA. After college Denny
played two seasons with the Carolina Cougars of the ABA. After
retiring from pro basketball, he published a periodic sports
report on Atlantic Coast Conference football and basketball. |
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