Fuzzy Vandivier
(1903-1983)
Hall of Fame Induction: 1975
Card Shown:
Signed Photo
Position: F
Height: unknown
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Robert “Fuzzy” Vandivier was a star on the Franklin Wonder Five which dominated high school and college basketball in Indiana between 1918 and 1926. At Franklin High School the team won three consecutive state championships from 1920-1922. They continued their winning ways when the entire starting team continued together at Franklin College. Fuzzy was an accomplished shooter and a top passer who is remembered as one of the truly great basketball players of the 1920s.
Awards and Honors
- Fuzzy led Franklin High School to three straight Indiana state championships from 1920-22. In those seasons his team finished with records of 29-1, 30-3, and 30-4.
- Vandivier was selected All-State in each of these three championship seasons at Franklin High School.
- At Franklin College, Fuzzy was selected as an All-Midwest College All-Star in 1926.
- Vandivier was one of five members in the inaugural class of the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame. He was joined by John Wooden, Ward “Piggy” Lambert, “Griz” Wagner, and Homer Stonebraker.
- Tony Hinkle’s All-Dream Team of Indiana high school basketball players, which was selected many years after Fuzzy’s playing days ended, included Vandivier, Oscar Robertson, Wooden, George McGinnis, and Stonebraker.
Points of Interest
- Fuzzy was one of the players that legendary Hall of Fame player and coach John Wooden looked up to when he was a boy. He called Vandivier “one of the best basketball players I have ever seen.”
- After the glory years at Franklin High School, the Wonder Five’s starting team of Vandivier, Carlyle Friddle, James Ross, Ike Ballard, and John Gant traveled less than a mile up the road to star at Franklin College. In their freshman season they went 17-1, including signature victories over Notre Dame, Wisconsin, Marquette, and Purdue. They suffered their only loss of the season against Indiana University. During the following two seasons the Wonder Five finished with records of 19-1 and 15-3.
- Fuzzy’s basketball career effectively ended when he suffered a back injury during his senior year at Franklin College.
- In addition to basketball, Fuzzy also played football at Franklin High School. He later returned to coach basketball at Franklin High School from 1926-1944 and he served as the school’s Athletic Director from 1944-62. Franklin High honored Vandivier by naming the school gym after him.
- Vandivier was also inducted into the Indiana High School Basketball Hall of Fame, the Franklin College Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
Fuzzy Vandivier Signed Index Card
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