1953–54 Volume 78 No 1–5 - Phi Delta Theta Scroll Archive

Twogood and Gill
Put Phi Stamp on
Coast Basketball
By GEORGE K. SHAFFER, Chicago '16
Photo by H. LEE HANSEN, Oregon State '30
FRIENDLY PHI RIVALS
FORREST TWOCOOD, Iowa 'ap, of U.S.C., and AMORY
(Slats) GILL, Oregon State '24, of Oregon State, join
in a brotherly handshake during playoff between
their Southern and Northern Division cage champions
in the P.C.C. Twogood's team won two out of
three and went on to represent the Coast in the
N.C.A.A. finals in Kansas City.
PACIFIC COAST intercollegiate championship
basketball bore the stamp of
A© this year, and Coaches Forrest F.
Twogood, Iowa '29, of University of Southern
California, and Amory T. ("Slats") Gill,
Oregon State '24, who has been mentor at
his Alma Mater since 1928, are the factors
who made it a Phi Delt championship
climax.
Gill's Oregon Staters captured the northern
end of the Coast intercollegiate title
race, it being Slats' seventh such triumph.
"Twogie" with an "upstart" team that never
reckoned in the early season title predictions,
won the Southern Division title. In
the playoff at the Long Beach, California,
State College gymnasium. Brother Twogood's
Trojans beat Brother Gill's Beavers
two games out of three. Twogood then went
on with the Trojans to the climactic series
of the National Collegiate A.A. at Kansas
City, where his Coast regional champs
placed fourth.
The year 1954 has been Forrest Twogood's
fourth season as basketball coach at
U.S.C. Twogood entered the University of
Iowa in 1925 and became a varsity man in
[386]
football, basketball, and baseball. As a
senior he won the Big Ten Medal for excellence
in athletics and scholarship. He
was signed by the St. Louis National League
baseball club as a left hand pitching prospect
after he graduated, and Twogie spent
seven seasons in the Cardinal and Cleveland
American League chains before he retired
from organized baseball in 1935 because of
a sore arm.
During the off seasons from 1929 to 1936
Twogood had assisted the late Sam Barry
as freshman basketball and baseball coach
at U.S.C, and then he moved up to head
coach status at University of Idaho, where
he coached basketball and baseball until
1941, and then moved to the University of
San Francisco in the same capacity. During
the war he served as a Navy officer and was
discharged from service in 1945 as a full
commander. He went into the real estate
business in California until the death of
Sam Barry resulted in Coach Twogood taking
over the varsity reins at U.S.C. and
starting the buildup of the Trojans' hoop
fortunes which carried the slick and underrated
Trojan quintet to victory over Oregon
State in the Pacific Coast conference, and
over Idaho and Santa Clara in the regional
title play, to qualify for the "big four"
finals with LaSalle Institute of Philadelphia,
national champion; Bradley Tech of Peoria,
and Penn State at Kansas City.
Slats Gill is a basketball wizard who is
a "coaches' coach," a "players' coach," and
just about as popular a personality as the
winter basket sport is able to present. When
his team played the Trojans at Long Beach.
Brother H. Lee Hansen, Oregon State '30,
(Continued on page jp8)