Will Chamberlain with The Harlem Globetrotter, loc.gov
Wilt Chamberlain was a dominant player everywhere he played. In high school, he was a star at the Overbrook school in Philadelphia. Wilt played his college bssketball at the University the Kansas. He quickly moved on to play for the Harlem Globetrotters. In 1960, Wilt just finished his rookie season with the NBA’s Philadelphia Warriors. Wilt led the NBA in scoring and rebounding as a rookie.Wilt stood 7 feet 2 inches tall and was one of the biggest stars of the game. For as little as $1 Scrantonians could see one of the giants of the game. Over 2,000 fans came to the CYC to see Wilt and his stars play a team of All-stars led by Villanova star George Raveling and local Eastern basketball stars and Scranton Miners, Stacey Arceneaux and Marty Farrell. George played his basketball at St. Michael’s School, Hoban Heights, Pa. . Marty Farrell was an All-Regional basketball player at Old Forge high School and played his college ball at Seton Hall.
Hal “King” Lear , like Chamberlain, played at the Overbrook School. Hal played on Wilt’s team in Scranton. King Lear played only 3 games in the NBA but was a star in the Eastern Basketball League. Lear was a dominant scorer in the EBL and was names to its 50th anniversary team. Lear played his college ball at Temple. He was the NCAA’s most outstanding player in the NCAA tournement in 1956. His number 6 is retired by Temple.
The teams put on quite a show. Scranton held the lead after one quarter, 25 to 23 but Chamberlain’s stars won the game 104 – 98. Wilt played the entire game and scored 45 points. He also dominated the rebounding and swatted many shots. Hal Lear scored 20 points to help in the win. George Raveling scored 24 points for the local stars. Marty Farrell and Stacey Areceneaux each chipped in with 18 points.
George Raveling was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors in the 8th round of the 1960 draft. He would not play in the NBA but logged many successful seasons in the EBA for Wilkes-Barre and other franchises. He is better know for his coaching at Washington State, Iowa and USC. He was the first African-Ameican head coach in the Pac-8 conference and Washington State’s most successful head coach.
An interesting side note, Wilt announced he would not return the following season to the NBA’s Philadelphia Warriors. He made this announcement in early April. Wilt had made over $130,000 with the Globetrotters before his rookie season with the Warriors. He took a sizeable pay cut to play with the Warriors at the rookie contract. Wilt returned to the Warriors for an undisclosed amount. He remains the NBA’s most prolific scorer. He still holds the single game scoring record with 100 points against the Knicks in 1962. He also holds the top 4 spots in per game average, including a best of 50.4 ppg in 1961-1962. Wilt led the league in scoring 7 times.
NEPA SPORTS History, Scranton history and some Penn State football 
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