'One not to forget': Davenport basketball star Widseth dies at 73
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By Don Doxsie | Monday, December 31, 2007 |
Davenport High School grad Carl Widseth, who set the all-time scoring record at Tennessee in 1956, died this past week. He was 73. (Quad-City Times file photo) Buy this Photo
There are those who still insist that Carl Widseth was the best basketball player ever produced in the Quad-Cities.
In an era in which the scores were low, Widseth scored at will. In an era when almost no one dunked, Widseth dunked often. He led Davenport High School to three consecutive state titles from 1950 to ’52, then became the career scoring leader at the University of Tennessee.
In later years, he suffered from financial and medical problems and became a veritable recluse in the suburbs of Minneapolis.
But Widseth, who passed away Wednesday at the age of 73, never faded from the memories of those who knew and watched him a half-century ago.
“There are a lot of people who consider him the best basketball player ever to play at Davenport High School,” said Phil Trissel, a boyhood friend and teammate who was one of the few people who stayed in contact with Widseth through the years.
“There’s been nobody like him,” added Dale Buhl, who writes a newsletter for Davenport’s class of 1951. “I haven’t kept up on everyone from the last few years, but I don’t think anybody came close to him ... ever.”
Both Trissel and Buhl said Widseth also was among the most likeable and level-headed people they knew.
“He was a great, fun fellow and he was that way to the last,” Buhl said. “He loved to make people laugh, and they all loved him. He didn’t have an enemy in the world.”
Trissel said Widseth “never had a big head. He was just a super guy.”
Widseth carried that modesty with him for his entire life. When he was inducted into the Quad-City Sports Hall of Fame in 2004, he gave all the credit to his coaches and his teammates.
He was somewhat undersized as a 6-foot-4, 180-pound center, but he used quickness and skill to fluster bigger men in the post.
He was promoted from the sophomore team to the varsity by coach Paul Moon before tournament play began in 1950. The Blue Devils already had a solid team, but the addition of Widseth made them invincible. In four games at the state tournament, they won by scores of 70-28, 78-15, 71-22 and 67-28.
Ken Buckles, another member of that 1950 team, recalled catching a glimpse of Widseth’s potential in the championship game against Ankeny. After taking a routine pass in the post, Widseth whirled and dunked on a much larger defender.
“He was skinny, but he had quickness, the ability to jump and such great timing in going after rebounds,” Buckles said in 2004. “In shooting the ball, he would post up opponents, drive on them and he had a sky hook like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.’’
Widseth developed into a statewide star in helping Davenport to two more titles in 1951 and ’52.
When it came time to choose a college, he never even considered Iowa because freshmen were not allowed to play on the varsity in the Big Ten.
He chose Tennessee over Kentucky and legendary coach Adolph Rupp, and became an immediate star for the Volunteers, averaging 15.3 points and 7.9 rebounds in his first season. In the next three years, he posted scoring averages of 19.2, 19.9 and 21.8 and rebounding marks of 11.1, 11.2 and 12.2.
He rejected the chance to play pro basketball, however, and went to work for IBM. After getting divorced in 1975, he moved back to his native Minnesota.
“His heart was here in Davenport, but he wound up going back to Minnesota because that’s where his mother was,” Trissel said.
As the years passed, Trissel said Widseth lost the poise he’d had as an athlete. He worked a variety of odd jobs and struggled to make ends meet.
“His self-confidence got bent and he wouldn’t let anybody help him,” Trissel said.
After visiting him several years ago, Trissel was convinced his old friend wouldn’t live another six months so he made an appeal to former classmates and acquaintances.
“He got hundreds and hundreds of letters from old admirers,’’ Trissel said. “You have to understand that Carl was the instigator of a lot of school pride. He gave people a sense of pride …
“We helped him get a computer and that opened up his world. He got truckloads of e-mails, but then his vision started going. His body started shutting down in a lot of different ways.”
It finally shut down completely this week.
There will be no public funeral, just a small private service. His family asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made in Widseth’s name to a charity of their own choosing.
“A lot of people are going to miss him,” Buhl said. “Even though most of us hadn’t seen him in many, many years, we still knew his personality. He’s one not to forget.”
Don Doxsie can be contacted at (563) 383-2280 or ddoxsie@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
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