Butler late-bloomer lands in Hall of Fame
This is the seventh in a series of articles profiling the 2020 Butler County Sports Hall of Fame inductees.
SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — When Ed Hepe came to Butler, Jack Hartung's life changed — for the better.
“There is no question about that,” Hartung said.
The 1962 Butler graduate was on the Golden Tornado basketball team in high school, but never started for the varsity until his senior season. That was the year Hepe arrived in Butler as basketball and cross country coach.
The 6-foot-7 Hartung became a varsity starter at center his senior year and led the section in scoring at 15 points per game. He also led the team in rebounding.
Hartung became the first Butler boys basketball player to receive a Division I scholarship in the sport. He went on to VMI and became a three-year starter there.
Now he's going into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame. Hartung will be inducted during the organization's annual banquet at 6 p.m. Aug. 8 at the Butler Days Inn.
The banquet was originally scheduled for April 25, but was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It's a nice thing,” Hartung said of the induction. “I'm grateful to the committee, to the people who are putting me in.
“I'm trying to get back there for the banquet. I owe it to those people to be there. Honestly, I don't even remember being a junior varsity starter. Everything happened so fast.”
And it all started with cross country.
Hepe started the cross country program at Butler. Hartung and his basketball teammates competed on that program's initial team.
“Coach Hepe wanted us to get in shape for basketball through running,” Hartung said. “That definitely helped us. We stayed after school to do cross country, then played pick-up basketball games in the gym.
“By the time the (basketball) season rolled around, we were in great condition. We won a lot of games in the second half because we were in better shape than the guys we were playing against.”
Hartung produced a number of 20-point scoring efforts in games as the Tornado finished 13-9 and took second place in their section.
Hartung said he opted for VMI “because it was different from other schools, it was interesting. My big thing for them was rebounding and defense. That's what I was used for.”
During his sophomore year, VMI won its first Southern Conference basketball championship. In doing so, it qualified for the then 16-team NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history.
“Davidson was considered one of the favorites to win the national championship that year. They were on the cover of Sports Illustrated as the favorite,” Hartung said. “We upset them in our conference tournament.
“Winning that league was a big deal. We had Davidson, Richmond, George Washington, William & Mary ... That was a good basketball league.”
VMI played Bradley — and All-American and eventual NBA star Bill Bradley — in the NCAA Tournament and was defeated.
Hartung graduated from VMI in 1966 with a degree in civil engineering. He relocated to California, taking a job in bridge and highway construction. He eventually moved into the field of land development and home building.
“High school basketball, cross country, maturing physically, Ed Hepe ... I never would have guessed those things would impact my life the way they did,” Hartung said.
Tickets for the Hall of Fame banquet are $30 in advance, $35 at the door. Tables of eight are $200. Tickets are available at Parker's Appliance in Chicora, Moses Jewelers at the Clearview Mall, The Butler Radio Network in Butler and Saxonburg Drug.
