Are Vermillion's Rebound numbers legit?

[Zag 77]

Elias Harris moved up to #4 on the career rebound list. I might be off by a few for him, but here is what I think his current career numbers look like compared to the others:

Jerry Vermillion (1952-55): 1670
Gary Lechman (1965-67): 910
Cory Violette (2001-04): 880
Elias Harris (2009-12): 870
Ronny Turiaf (2002-05) 859



Vermillion played 4 seasons, Lechman played 3. The others all played 4. Vermillion played 27 games a season and his career was before GU became Division 1.

If my math is right, that means that Vermillion must have averaged a robust 15.46 rebounds per game. (1670 divided by 4 seasons of 27 games).

I have already confessed I went to law school, not math school. That being said, it seems to me that Vermillion must have played in an era of a flat ball causing a lot of bricks, or his mom was keeping the stat book.

Anybody else think that Vermillion's rebound numbers are a bit suspect?


For point of comparison, Bill Russell is the WCC career rebound leader at 1606 from 1953-56.

[ZagsBaby]

Meh. Just a different time.

He probably just had an advantage over the opposition in one way or another that you just don't see anymore.

[hondo]

make you wonder what the shooting percentages were in those days.

[MDABE80]

Lechman did very well for being 6 ft 5 in and only two seasons. Ex Military as I recall but he was a tough cookie.

[maynard g krebs]

Couple of things come to mind. Lots of shots going up, and more misses to be had. Lower shooting %'s too. Also, fewer big strong guys competing for the ball. In the pros, Wilt and Russell used to average like 25 boards. Thurmond was probably over twenty also. Oscar averaged a triple double for a season playing guard.

Rebounding stats then and now is apples and oranges.

[Oregonzagnut]

Lechman was 6' 5" but Vermillion was only 6' 4".

Jerry played center for all the opening tip jump balls. He won over 90% of the jump balls too. Apparently his rebounds were a result of his extraordinary skill at jumping. He had almost a 3' vertical leap and could touch the 11' 1" mark.

[mgadfly]

I don't know, but I came across the Division 1 stats for team freethrows from the 50s one time, and if I remember correctly GU (which was considered to be a horrible FT shooting team in 2010 or whenever it was) would have been #1 in the nation in the 1950s. It might not have been that bad, but I remember being pretty shocked about how poor the FT shooting percentages were for every team. So there may have been a lot more opportunities for players to get rebounds.

[rijman]

I know someone who played with Jerry and he says Jerry was the real deal. He says Jerry was a great rebounder who could also score. If not for a childhood injury he may have been an even better player.

[TheZagPhish]

I know someone who played with Jerry and he says Jerry was the real deal. He says Jerry was a great rebounder who could also score. If not for a childhood injury he may have been an even better player.

Some time ago there was a segment on The Mark Few Show featuring Jerry and specifically addressing his record. Though a number of factors had to line up for such a record to be made, no doubt Jerry was the real deal. Humble fellow and a joyful Zag.

[caduceus]

His numbers are astounding when you consider the fact that there was no shot clock back then.

[Birddog]

Lechman came out of the Navy. He was not very athletic (by the current definition) and didn't have much in the way of hops but he was a wide body, strong as hell and could box out. It was incredible to watch him outplay all the longer leapers that he was up against.

[bartruff1]

His numbers are astounding when you consider the fact that there was no shot clock back then.

...different time, different game...I won't look it up...but I think Charlie Jordan averaged around 14 rebounds per game one year and Gonzaga was in D1 then... I think Elgin led the nation one year with 20 or more...

[RenoZag]

Lechman 's 66-67 Numbers. . .

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/gonzaga/1967.html

FWIW: The link above is to a pretty neat searchable site with a ton of data on college hoops along with other major team sports.

[sittingon50]

Thanks for the stats

Reno.

That shows team totals of 57.7 & 43.1.

This year: GU 36.3 OPP 29.0.

It appears the game has changed.

[Zag Man]

Lechman was a BEAST!

Lechman did very well for being 6 ft 5 in and only two seasons. Ex Military as I recall but he was a tough cookie.

I got to see Gary Lechman play at Gonzaga and he was a great technician on the basketball court. A lot of guys could out-jump Lechman, but he blocked out extremely well and had great hands that really controlled the ball. The fact that Elias Harris is going to end his career with more rebounds than Gary Lechman is a real testimony to what a great rebounder he is!