Hall of Fame
Double Hall of Famer, two-sport Northern Illinois man, veteran tennis teaching pro, and inventor of "ball hopper" ball retriever. Workhorse right-handed pitcher in baseball and sharp-shooting guard in basketball. Mainstay of Huskie mound staff on Hall of Fame 1950-51 Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title teams with career 1.95 ERA in 166 innings (1950-52). Accounted for over one-third of team diamond triumphs (11 of NIU's 32 wins) during career. Named team and IIAC MVP with 5-0 won-lost record, 2.19 ERA, and 36 strikeouts in 57 1/3 innings for Hall of Fame coach Ralph McKinzie as junior (1951). Went 3-1 in IIAC with phenomenal 0.81 ERA as senior. Voted team MVP and First-Team All-IIAC in two consecutive springs (1951-52). Signed contract with Chicago White Sox. Played Class B ball with Waterloo White Sox and Class AA Memphis Chicks (1952). Produced 375 career points and 99 rebounds in 40 games for coach Gil Hertz (1950-52). Selected team cage captain and averaged 10.0 ppg. as senior (1951-52). Hit career-high 22 points in Northern Illinois' 74-69 success vs. previously unbeaten DePaul (December 12, 1951). "Stap put on an astounding exhibition of set shot shooting," according to The Northern Illinois student newspaper, "(hitting 8-of-14)...all from 30 feet out or better in the torrid second half." Tallied junior-year best 20 points vs. Illinois State (January 4, 1951). Lettered in baseball (3) and basketball (2). May Fete King (1952). Transferred from Kalamazoo College. Went 24-0 as Richland (MI) High pitcher.
