Sports Information Office, Athletics Department (RcG. 100)

Biographical/Historical Note

When the athletics program was in its first stages of development there was no specific administrative structure for what was to become the Athletic Department or as far as the records tell an official publicity department for athletics. During 1930s William G. Mokray, a clerk in the Physical Education Department and an avid sports historian and statistician began publishing game statistics and handling athletic publicity. He is credited as being the first Director of Athletic Publicity. Tom Doherty took over the post sometime after Mokray left to take a public relations post with the Boston Celtics organization in 1942. The Department of Publicity officially became Sports Publicity Office (1951-1969) and was subsequently renamed the Sports Publicity and Information (1970-1976), Sports Communication (1977- 1992), Sports Information (1993-1997), Athletic Media Relations (1998- present). The director's position title changed over the years as well to Sports Publicity Officer (1951-1969) and then Assistant Director, Sports Publicity and Information (1970-1972). When Doherty retired, Jim Norman became Assistant Director of Sports Publicity and Information in 1972 and Assistant Director, Sports Communication in 1977. He held the position until his retirement in 1992. Charles J. Lamendola held the position of Assistant Director, Sports Information for the year 1993. It is unclear who held the position for the year 1994. Michael Ballweg became the Assistant Director, Sports Information in 1995 and currently holds the position.

The promotion of an athletics program was begun at the Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts in 1892 by a group of students. At the time, the College did not have a gymnasium nor an athletics instructor. These students formed a club known as the Athletic Association. The purpose of the association was to help raise money for equipment by implementing a tax on all players. Baseball was the first sport started under the Association. It would play high school teams and the Brown freshman squad. Football was added in 1894. The football team did not play a collegiate team until 1903, losing 3 of the 4 games played. Neither baseball nor football teams were very successful in winning games due to the lack of organization, sporadic interest by the student population, and inadequate funding by the College Administration.

Men's basketball was recognized by the Association during 1904 and was coached by P.H. Wessells. In 1905 Marshall Tyler a chemistry teacher became the faculty advisor to the athletic program and was subsequently appointed as football and baseball coach. Due primarily to Tyler's efforts, the Association expanded it's game scheduling by adding some college freshman teams Ounior varsity) as well. Prior to this, the only competition came from local high school teams.

Women's sports was not recognized by the Athletic Association. Aside from basketball practice, the women at the College had no official athletic program. (It wasn't until 1907 that there were even enough women to form any kind of team. Coach Wessells would give them pointers and acted as coach and referee. (See Grist, 1907) This changed in 1910 when Miss Nellie A. Harral became the women's physical education instructor. Women were then required to take physical training for one laboratory credit unless "excused by a physician's certificate." This was subsequently changed to include a freshman and sophomore year requirement. In 1911, two years after the school was renamed Rhode Island State College, the Women's Athletic Association was formed by a group of women to promote athletics among women of the College and help provide financial assistance for women's athletics (see RG#40 Women's Athletic Association Scrapbooks). The women had a series of dedicated instructors. One of which was the wife of Frank Keaney. Winifred Keaney was appointed instructor from 1921- 1934. The first competitive sport organized under this Association was basketball. Field hockey was added as a varsity sport in 1931. It was under the Bressler administration (1931- 1940) and the direction of Josephine Lees as the Director for Women's Athletics (1938-1942) that women's athletics began to flourish. For a sketch of women's athletics during the formative 30's, see Rammettes, call number LD4706 P49 R4.

In 1909, George R. Cobb, a former athlete from the University of Massachusetts, was appointed as Physical Instructor and assumed Marshal Tyler's responsibilities as advisor and coach with Tyler becoming his assistant. Also during this year, tennis and track were recognized by the Athletic Association. As Instructor. Cobb made an impact on the association by increasing student and alumni interests through the creation of a more competitive schedule for all sports. The schedule for basketball included varsity teams of colleges and universities such as Brown University, Worcester Polytechnic institute, Boston College, and Connecticut College (University of Connecticut). But scheduling difficulties and the continuing lack of money lead to dropping the sport for the years 1913 to 1915. Cobb left in 1916 and was replaced by James Baldwin. Appointed as Director of Athletics, Baldwin stayed for two years. The position of Director of Athletics changed leadership frequently until 1920, when Frank Keaney was hired.

As Director, Frank Keaney restructured the athletic program and took most of the responsibilities out of the hands of the students for both the men's and women's athletic associations. He assumed responsibility for coaching baseball, football and basketball. He then hired Fred Tootell, a former Olympic gold medal winner in the hammer throw in the 1924 Olympics, as an assistant. Keaney made many contributions to the program. The building of a field house and a football stadium with capacity of 1,500 people occurred during his tenure. The stadium was built in 1924 and was located where the present football stadium stands. Keaney served as coach of baseball, football, and basketball but it was in basketball in which he made his national reputation. In basketball, the Rams won 402 games and lost 124 during Keaney's 28 years. His most successful season was in 1946 when the basketball team went to the National Invitational Tournament finals in Madison Square Garden as an underdog and lost by one point to the University of Kentucky Wild Cats. For more about Keaney's basketball years see Keaney, If You Don't Love to Play, Pivot and Go Home by William Woodward. An historic event in URl's basketball history occurred when in 1946 the Rams played the then undefeated Holy Cross College in Boston Garden where 13, 900 fans cheered the Rams victory, 65 to 58 (see Woodward, p. 221). It was also during this time that Ernie Calverly shot from back court tied the game and lead to an overtime victory against Bowling Green (see Woodward, p. 226). Keaney was coach until 1948. It was under his leadership that "fast break" basketball was first introduced into the sport (see Woodward, p. 126). Frank Keaney retired as the Director of Athletics in 1956 on his seventieth birthday. After Keaney's retirement, Fred Tootell took over the position.

Although the fame of the Rams basketball team peaked during the Keaney era, mention must be made of track star Bob Black. He won many national championships in cross country in the late forties. Among his many accomplishments was winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship for two years straight in 1948 and 1949, braking the national record in 1948. Inducted into the first annual University Hall of Fame in 1972, he was honored as being "the finest distance runner in Rhode Island history". As track coach, Tootell brought the same success as Keaney brought to basketball. Under his coaching, several conference titles were won and two of his athletes, Michael Dyer and William Rowe, competed in the Olympics. He relinquished his coaching duties in 1956 after the retirement of Keaney and his own appointment as Director. With the growing population of the school, more sports were being sponsored by the athletic program, the Director was no longer required to coach a sport.

In 1950 Harold Kopp was named as head coach of the football team. Kopp had the same rebuilding spirit as Keaney and brought many successful seasons to the University Rhode Island football team. During Kopp's career, the football team won 42 and tied 4 out of 80 contests. In 1955 Kopp brought the football team to its first bowl game, the 'Refrigerator Bowl", in Evansville against Jacksonville State College of Alabama. (See also the Harold Kopp Memorabilia Collection MSG#134).

Maurice Zarchen replaced Frederick Tootell as Director of Athletics in 1962. During the nineteen years that Zarchen held the position as Athletic Director, many of the teams experienced successful seasons including golf, tennis, wrestling, football, and basketball. During the late 1960's and throughout the 1970's many teams won Yankee Conference titles. In 197 4 the football team shared the Yankee Conference title with University of Connecticut. Wrestling also won the Yankee Conference title in 197 4. The basketball team experienced successful seasons by entering the NCAA Tournament during the 1975-76 and 1977-78 seasons. Women's sports also experienced successful seasons in the 1977-78 season as the gymnastics team posted a 11-1 record. The women's softball team won consecutive championship titles in 1978 and 1979 and in 1983 went to the NCAA Softball Championships. losing to UCLA.

Maurice Zarchen retired in 1981 and John Chuckran succeeded him as Director. Chuckran stayed until 1989, when McKinley Boston was appointed as his successor. During Chuckran's eight years as director, the football baseball and basketball teams experienced some notable successes. In 1981, the football team shared the Yankee Conference title with the University of Massachusetts. The Yankee Conference was the regional conference in which New England colleges and universities competed. Also in 1985, the football team shared the Yankee Conference title with Boston University and went to the Division 1-AA playoffs. Some players from those teams were signed to play in the National Football League (NFL). including Tom Ehrhardt who played for the New York Jets in 1986 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 1987. He was also the only player in University of Rhode Island football history to have his number retired. Others include Rick Moser who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jeff Williams who played for the Los Angeles Rams. In 1987-88 season, under the coaching of Tom Pender, the basketball team went to the Eastern Regional Finals in the NCAA Tournament by defeating Syracuse 97 to 94. The Rams lost the Eastern Regional title to Duke 73 to 72. In 1983 and 1985 the women's soccer t􀂁am won conference titles as a club sport.

The current Director, Ronald Petro became Director of Athletics in 1991, succeeding Mckinley Boston.