He Led USC to Its Last Title : After That, Rudometkin Won Bigger Struggle

As people grow older, they often wonder where the time has gone. The years seem shorter in proportion to age.

John Rudometkin is no exception in that sense. He says it is difficult to believe that USC hasn’t won a conference basketball championship since 1961, his junior season at the school.

“Has it really been that long?” he asked.

He is also surprised, for a different reason, to learn that forward Wayne Carlander is on the verge of breaking his USC career scoring record of 1,484 points.

“That should have been broken a long time ago,” he said by phone from his home in Newcastle, a community 30 miles east of Sacramento. “Why, 1,400 points are not a lot of points.”

Rudometkin, though, has a different conception of time. He is 44 now and he savors each day. He is grateful that he is alive.

It has been nearly 20 years since Rudometkin learned that he had a rare malignancy, reticulum cell sarcoma.

A tumor completely surrounded his heart and doctors told his wife, Carolyn, that they didn’t believe he would survive.

He spent 40 days in a Fresno hospital where he had exploratory surgery. He left the hospital only once, returning to his Santa Maria home on Christmas day of 1965.

“I wanted to get out,” Rudometkin said at the time. “I wasn’t sure that that it wouldn’t be the last Christmas I’d ever have.”

After he was released from the hospital, Rudometkin underwent cobalt and mustard nitrogen treatments, but they didn’t significantly reduce the size of the tumor.

Doctors were doing all they could for him and it was also suggested that he should get help from someone else, too.

Rudometkin said he put his trust in God and was baptized in the Church of the Seventh-day Adventist, embracing the faith of his wife, Carolyn.

He was also told that there was a new drug that might help him but that it had a paralyzing side effect.

So Rudometkin continued his fight against cancer. He also became paralyzed. He recalled that he had difficulty speaking and could pick up a piece of bread, but couldn’t break it.

“I’d be sitting in one place and when I tried to get up, I would fall down,” he said. “If I wanted to move, Carolyn would have to help me.”

Gradually, though, he began to regain the use of his arms and legs and, miraculously, X-rays showed that the tumor was decreasing in size.

And, one day, the tumor was not evident.

“It has never come back and I believe that the thing is down and it’s going to stay down,” Rudometkin said. “But there have been some lingering side effects from the medication they gave me and the actual illness.

“My lung capacity has always been kind of a problem because the tumor was centered in the chest around the heart. And I still have a little problem with my feet and legs.

“The last drug I took had a paralyzing effect and destroyed a lot of nerves. The nerves really haven’t come back so there is a slight foot drop.

“But I do some stretching and walk a couple of miles a day. I’m not an invalid. I can do just about anything, but not quite as long or as hard.”

Then, Rudometkin paused and said, “But no more slam dunks.”

Rudometkin was joking. Slams weren’t part of his game in the early 60s, but his offensive repertoire wasn’t limited.

He came to USC from Santa Maria High School and Hancock College with the reputation as a fluid, exciting player.

He established a Southern California high school record by scoring 966 points in 32 games his senior season. He was an All-American in high school and junior college and would go on to become only the second two-time All-American in USC’s history.

A son of Russian immigrants, Rudometkin became known as the “Reckless Russian”, or “Reckless Rudo,” so named by Chick Hearn, who broadcast USC games at the time.

He was accurate from the 12 to 15-foot range, could drive and drop in a hook shot with either hand. He is still the only USC player ever to average 20 or more points a game for two seasons.

Rudo was a forward type at 6 feet, 6 inches, who played center. He often made shots that defied description.

“There was almost a ballet-liked quality to his game,” said USC Coach Stan Morrison, who, as a Cal center in the 60s, opposed Rudometkin. “He was fast and quick for his size and made unorthodox, off balance shots.”

Rudometkin played for the late Forrest Twogood, who coached a deliberate, controled type of game.

“It took me about a year to break in and do the things I wanted to do,” Rudometkin said. “But Twogie gave me my freedom after a while.”

John Rudometkin, Chris Appel, Ken Stanley, Verne Ashby, Neil Edwards, Gordon Martin, Wells Sloninger, Pete Hillman, Bob Parsons and Bob Benedetti. They’re now distinguished as members of USC’s last championship team.

USC is now closing in another championship after a long drought. The Trojans are 12-4 in the Pacific 10, one game ahead of Arizona and Washington with two games remaining.

In 1960-61, USC was 21-8 overall and 9-3 in the league, finishing two games ahead of UCLA.

The third meeting with the Bruins at the Sports Arena--the teams split the first two games--was the pivotal game in USC’s season.

USC trailed by 13 points with less than four minutes remaining before it made a stirring comeback. Sloninger, a sophomore, sent the game into overtime with a 25-foot shot with two seconds left. The Trojans went on to win, 86-85.

USC faltered, however, in the NCAA tournament. The Trojans beat Oregon in a first-round game before losing to Arizona State in Portland.

Oregonians, supposedly neutral, cheered for Arizona State and booed the Trojans, prompting Twogood to say: “If we played Red China in Portland, they’d be cheering for the communists.”

But the good news for USC was that the entire team would be returning for the 1961-62 season.

USC started fast, beating Missouri, Kentucky (at Lexington), Kansas and Wyoming before gaining the finals of the L.A. Basketball Classic against Ohio State, an NCAA tournament finalist the previous season.

The Buckeyes, with Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek, beat the Trojans, 76-66, and then USC began to slide in conference play. USC finished third with a 5-7 record behind UCLA and Stanford.

“I don’t know what happened that season,” Rudometkin said. “All the guys were back and we were supposed to be a better team. I don’t think we were complacent. But after we lost to Ohio State in the tournament things began snowballing in the wrong direction.”

Rudometkin went on to play for the New York Knicks and San Francisco Warriors. But he had trouble breathing, couldn’t hold onto passes and his face and neck began to swell.

The cancer was growing in his chest but he didn’t became aware of his condition until he blacked out in a shower at a YMCA in Fresno where he had gone to shoot a few baskets with his brother-in-law.

X-rays then revealed a big spot on his chest and on Thanksgiving Day, 1965, he entered a Fresno hospital and began his formal fight against cancer.

Rudometkin has reason to be puzzled that his career scoring record has endured for 24 years. His 1,484 points would place him only seventh on UCLA’s all-time list, a commentary on USC’s style over the years that seldom featured (or had) an outstanding scorer.

Carlander, with 1,469 points, has played in 112 straight games through four seasons. Rudo established his record in 81 games in three seasons.

Rudometkin now lives on 11 acres of California countryside with Carolyn and his three sons, Ronald, 20; David, 14, and Nathan, 10. He has profited in real estate and represents his church by speaking regardless of the distance.

“I share my experience with others by weekend talks and serve as a first elder in the church,” he said. “My illness led to my relationship with The Lord. There are health principles that I follow that changed my life style. They’re the eight natural remedies--nutrition, exercise, use of water, sunshine, temperances, oxygen, rest and relaxation and trust in God.”

And, once in a while, Rudometkin, will play a half-court game with some youngsters.

“The legs don’t want to cooperate, but you don’t lose your touch,” he said. “I just growl and make faces at the young kids and that gives me a little bit of an advantage.

“We were playing three-on-three recently and my son Ronald, who is 6-5, said he was going to shut me out. I took the ball, drove to my left, threw my right elbow up in his face and flipped in a 15-foot hook shot off the backboard.

“My son said that I couldn’t do that again in 100 years. He was getting a little cocky, so I had to put him in his place.”

Rudometkin doesn’t overexert himself but, occasionally, there will be just a glimpse of the old “Reckless Rudo.”

He says he doesn’t think much about the illness that almost claimed his life when he was 25. His philosophy: “I’ll be around as long as I’m supposed to be.”

All-Time USC Scorers

Player, Year Points John Rudometkin, 1960-62 1,484 Wayne Carlander, 1982-85 1,469 John Block, 1964-66 1,423 Gus Williams, 1973-75 1,318 Purvis Miller, 1978-81 1,247 Maurice Williams, 1979-82 1,204 Allen Young, 1963-65 1,168 Ron Holmes, 1981, ‘83-85 1,151 Don Carfino, 1977-80 1,127 Bill Sharman, 1947-50 1,107 Ron Riley, 1970-72 1,107