Northwestern University men’s basketball can be determined a success the last two seasons with two March Madness NCAA tournament berths. Each season the Wildcats won one game in the tournament and bowed out with a loss in the second game. Success can be relative. Prior to last season Northwestern accomplished no NCAA tournament berths, so the two berths are successful.
The late Joe Ruklick, Northwestern Class of 1960, a 6-9 basketball player, was an All-America selection at Northwestern, however, never played in nor saw his Wildcats qualify for the tournament. He died in September 2020 at the age of 82, prior to the first Northwestern NCAA tournament berth in March 2023. He would have been extremely happy to see the tournament berth. Among his many paths taken he became a sports journalist, mainly in the realm of college basketball. For two seasons in the early 1960s he was back-up center to the legendary Wilt Chamberlain for the Philadelphia Warriors. Professional basketball pay in that day was well below today’s salaries, so when the Warriors moved from Philadelphia to San Francisco, he moved into the business world and made more money than as the back-up center to the legendary Wilt Chamberlain.
Joe Ruklick, who played high school basketball for Princeton High School was set to play for the University of Illinois, however, was sold on the academics at Northwestern. Later, he went back to Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism for a Master’s Degree in journalism. In the last few years he lived in an apartment across the street from Northwestern to maintain his press box seat for home basketball games.
He was looking in with joy from his perch the last two seasons.
If Northwestern can find another Joe Ruklick and another star guard such as Boo Booie from the last two seasons, perhaps Northwestern will find its way back into the tournament. For now, the State of Illinois will have the University of Illinois to be the representative in the NCAA tournament.
•Major League Baseball will begin in earnest March 28 for the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago White Sox. The Cubs offer the most hope for postseason play, however, the162-game schedule offers a long season with many variations. Pitching always is the name of the game and success will ride with the team which has the best pitching and fewest injuries.