Lou Skurcenski helped close out amazing Phillips 66ers legacy
World War I had just ended.
Returning veterans — eager to divert their minds from the blood and mud of combat — hungered for battles of a different kind.
Battles with no tragic casualties, battles with no nights of gut-chewing fear inside a crowded trench, battles with no assurance when they might be won.
A MATTER OF DESTINY, Part 3: Even in greatest trial, Skurcenski spirit triumphed
In other words, they wanted to play sports.
In Bartlesville, Phillips Petroleum helped meet that need for its restless male employees.
Less than a year after the Armistice had been signed officially ending the “War to End All Wars” — Phillips in 2019 formed the genesis of what would become the Phillips 66ers basketball team.
Starting out as a makeshift town team that played against other town teams, the Phillips team would metamorphose into one of the greatest — and most powerful — amateur men’s teams in America.
Some of the players on that first organized team — according to “The History of Phillips 66 Basketball,” written by Elmer Sark — included K.S. “Boots” Adams, Melvin Heine, Kenneth Beall, William Feist, E.G. Slater, V.T. Broaddus and Horace Allen.
Simply called “Phillips” at first, the team name later would be expanded to “Phillips 66ers.”To recount its specific history would require too much space.
The 66ers became an elite power in the American Amateur Union (AAU) and the National Industrial Basketball League (NIBL). This was back in a time when AAU teams boasted as much talent as the fledgling NBA. The company-sponsored teams that comprised theAAU, NIBL and other leagues developed a tremendous following — both in their hometowns and the hometowns of their opponents, and also in the national media.
And, Phillips was considered one of the most powerful.
During their history, the 66ers captured 11 AAU national titles, 11 NIBL national titles, three ABL national titles and won the U.S. Olympic basketball trial playoffs twice.
Twelve 66ers played on U.S. Olympic basketball teams.In their nearly half-century of existence, the 66ers won 1,543 games and lost only 271.
Some of those associated with the Phillips 66ers inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame include Clyde Lovellette (1988), Louis Wilkie (1983), Paul Endacott (1972) and Bob Kurland (1961).
As the NBA grew in popularity in the latter 1950s and 1960s, it was able to increase its salaries and attract much of the top-tier college talent that had opted before to play AAU ball, with the guarantee of a promising career with the company.
The creation of the ABA in the mid-1960s expanded the number of pro teams and therefore greater competition for college players and even higher salaries.
As a result, most of the prime college talent turned pro, which diluted the quality of play for AAU teams.
But, the 66ers continued to push on until being disbanded in 1968.
Lou Skurcenski was one of those who helped close out the program.
Midway through the 1967-68 season, he joined the 66ers — at the request of head coach Gary Cunningham — even though Skurcenski didn’t know the company had already decided this would be final season.
Skurcenski played from 1964-67 before leaving Phillips for a few months to explore a job elsewhere. But, in December 1967, he moved his family back to Bartlesville, went back to work for Phillips and rejoined the 66ers for their final three months.Thus, Skurcenski helped end an era of glory.
But, 54 years after the final game in the Adams Gym, the memories of the 66ers remain bright in the hearts of many Bartlesville residents and surviving 66ers players or their wives still continue the tradition of lifelong friendship and love.
Read the series:
A matter of destiny: Former Bartlesville Phillips 66er player forged calm courage
A matter of destiny, Part 2: Bartlesville becomes home for Lou Skurcenski
This article originally appeared on Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise: SIDEBAR: Lou Skurcenski helped close out 66ers tradition
