Horse’s Mustangs
LH players hold basketball reunion from first seasons
Laurel Highlands took the high school boys basketball world by storm in 1966 when it was created from the jointure of North Union and South Union high schools.
Though the students remained separated until Laurel Highlands High School was built several years later, the athletic teams played together as one entity as the Mustangs, and the boys basketball team that was formed and played under head coach Harold “Horse” Taylor was legendary.
Sixty years later, a large group of those former Mustangs who played under the late Taylor decided to hold a reunion and met last Saturday at Bogey’s restaurant at Duck Hollow Golf Club.
The morning before the get-together, arranged by LH graduate George Von Benko, three of those players – Wil Robinson, Jim Hobgood and Gus Gerard – discussed the beginnings of the LH basketball program on Von Benko’s Sportsline Talk Show on WMBS.
The Mustangs went 23-1 in their inaugural season and 27-2 in their second year of 1967-68, which resulted in WPIAL and PIAA championships, for a combined 50-3 record.
Robinson was the top player on the state title team and went on to star at West Virginia and played for Memphis in the ABA. Hobgood was his top teammate and went on to start for Virginia in college.
Gerard came the year after the PIAA championship and went on to also play at Virginia – he was teammates with Hobgood there – and then played seven seasons in the ABA and NBA.
Gerard, who would grow to be 6-foot-7, recalled looking up to Robinson and Hobgood.
“He was an iconic figure to someone like myself growing up,” Gerard said of Robinson. “Wil ‘Web’ as we called him.
“These guys were my heroes. The reason I went to the NBA is because of the passion I got for basketball, besides my father and Horse Taylor and his son Barry, were these two guys on that ’67-68 and then ’68-69 team when I was in eighth and ninth grade. They were rock stars to us that had wanted to play basketball, and they created a passion in me that I never left the court in the summers, winters, anything.
“I could vividly remember, Wil was a few years older than me, but he was like an iconic rock star. Wil Robinson was, like, the name. He blew us away as far as his performances.”
Gerard recalled enjoying just watching Hobgood practice.
“I used to have spies kind of up Hatfield School that lived right there across from the playgrounds, and they would call me and go, ‘Hey, Jim Hobgood is up here shooting on the basketball court,'” Gerard said. “I would go up there, sit on my bike on the side of the court and just watch him work out with his brother who would throw him balls. He was out there at half court … he was shooting left-handed shots like they were layups. I was going, ‘Oh my God this is too good to be true.'”
Gerard’s first game under Taylor came during his sophomore season when he was removed from a junior varsity game at halftime and told he was being moved up to varsity. He wound up scoring 35 points against Donora that night.
“Horse Taylor, without him and Ron Fudala and even Barry, his son, who took me under his wing … the time he spent with me, him and Ron Fudala, was instrumental in my career,” Gerard said.
Hobgood admired Taylor also.
“A lot of times your coaches almost become a second father figure,” Hobgood said. “Horse was that to me and I was always grateful.”
Robinson had enough respect for Taylor to do him a huge favor after he played his first season at WVU.
“He called me one day, I was in West Virginia, and says I need you to go up to South Union and work with Gus Gerard,” Robinson recalled. “I did that for a whole summer. That’s when I first met Gus. When I left there I said this guy is going to be something.”
Hobgood was the lone starter of the first Mustang team from South Union, where he had played under Marty Fagler, but he was instrumental in LH’s success under Taylor. He joined Robinson, Jeff Collier, Jon Kruper and Ray Yauger in the starting lineup.
Laurel Highlands’ remarkable first season ended in a triple overtime playoff loss to Mt. Lebanon, but that game would’ve ended earlier if not for Hobgood, who hit a game-tying halfcourt shot to tie it at the end of the second OT.
Hobgood also had to step up a year later when Robinson got into foul trouble in Laurel Highlands’ first PIAA playoff against Johnstown and delivered an exceptional performance in the 80-62 victory.
“There are sometimes as a shooter that the basket looks as big as the ocean and other times you’d swear the ball was bigger in diameter than the rim,” Hobgood said in remembering the game. “That was one of those nights I was shooting at a big basket.”
After defeating Allegheny, 71-66, the Mustangs defeated Cheltenham in overtime in the state championship game, 63-56. It was the first PIAA final played in the western part of the state and also the first to go into overtime. If it wasn’t for a tremendous defensive play by Robinson, there might not have been an OT. He blocked a potential game-winning shot inside by Craig Littlepage against the backboard.
“I knew we were in trouble if I didn’t get down there and block that shot,” Robinson said. “The whole game depended on that.”
Robinson felt LH’s first team could’ve gone all the way also.
“I believe that we should’ve took the state championship two years in a row,” Robinson said.
While Robinson was the main star, he pointed out the importance of his outstanding supporting cast.
“Everybody had a place on our team,” Robinson said. “Jimmy, I needed him, he was my partner. I couldn’t take the state championship without him.”
Hobgood pointed out the Mustangs had a money player and knew how to use him.
“The late, great Al McGuire always used to say, ‘When the game’s on the line, get the ball to your star.’ So that’s why we gave Wilbur the ball at the end of the game,” said Hobgood, who marveled at the athletic ability of Robinson and Gerard.
“I would say the three guys I encountered who had the best hops were the two of you and David Thompson,” Hobgood said.
With the arrival of another stellar basketball team in Uniontown came the start of one of the best crosstown rivalries in the state.
“This town was hoop crazy,” Von Benko remembered. “There was so much excitement about that first ever game.”
Laurel Highlands won the highly anticipated first meeting, 83-73, with Robinson scoring 29 points and Hobgood contributing 23, The loss snapped an 88-game home winning streak for the Red Raiders and halted their section winning streak at 59.
The Mustangs would win the second meeting that season, 65-57. The following season, LH won the first game, 62-61, Uniontown then took its first win of the series, 83-82, but the Mustangs won a playoff tiebreaker third game handily, 74-46, on its way to the PIAA title.
“The whole town was talking about it,” Hobgood said of the new rivalry. “It was special. I think it’s hard to explain the excitement around high school athletics in Western Pennsylvania back in those days. Uniontown may have been the best team in the state for like four or five years. They won twice, but they probably could have four or five times.”
All three former Mustangs were looking forward to the reunion that took place later.
When asked if there was one person in particular he was anxious to see again, Robinson pondered and said, “I want to see them all.”