Every basketball season, the Franciscan University athletic department celebrates "Kuzma Community Day" to honor the memory of the late Henry "Hank" Kuzma while taking the time to thank its many generous sponsors. This year, the Barons also welcome Major League Baseball coach Rich Donnelly to the Finnegan Fieldhouse for a special signing of the inspirational book about his life, The Chicken Runs at Midnight.
Kuzma Community Day Sponsors
Kuzma Community Day is also chance for the Franciscan athletic department to thank its many sponsors throughout the year. The department would like to thank Gus's Goodies, the Best Western Inn at Franciscan Square, Naples, Bennigans, Hausers, McBane Insurance, Enterprise, Steve's Fish and Chips, Hollywood Eyecare, Tristate Financial, and Froehlich's Classic Corner for their continued and generous support of Baron Athletics!
The Franciscan Athletic Department is once again partnering with the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce for Kuzma Community Day while the event is sponsored by Valley Hospice, Inc. and Trinity Health System.
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Rich Donnelly - The Chicken Runs at Midnight
In the lobby of the Finnegan Fieldhouse, Rich Donnelly will be signing the book, The Chicken Runs at Midnight, from 1:30 pm until 4:00 pm. Books can be purchased at the door for $20.
From Zondervan.com: "The Chicken Runs at Midnight is the nearly unbelievable---but completely true---story of a Major League Baseball coach whose dying daughter's unusual encouragement changed his heart and his life…and just maybe the outcome of a World Series. ... Weaving baseball history with personal memoir, this book is one that will make you thrill to victory, believe in hope, stand up to cheer for what is good in peoples' lives. It's a powerful story of redemption and faith that reminds us that God can work in our lives even when we think it's too late to change - and sometimes He sends us signs from heaven if we only have eyes to see."
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In Honor of Coach Hank Kuzma
Henry J. Kuzma gathered the College of Steubenville Barons for their first practice as their head coach in 1954.
A pencil-thin, young man, Hank was so enthusiastic he barely recognized the challenge of not having a home gym in which to practice.
Ambitious but humble, Hank couldn't have foreseen how that same school would honor him decades later. Not the championship banner that now hangs in Franciscan University's Finnegan Fieldhouse. Not the bronze relief of Coach Kuzma and his wife, Kay, that overlooks the fieldhouse lobby. And certainly not the name given to the Baron's home gym—Hank Kuzma Court.
"I would never have dreamed of this," Hank said about his most cherished recognition at the 2011 naming ceremony. "I've seen other coaches get the floor, but I never expected it."
In truth, none of the trophies and honors can properly pay tribute to the life of Coach Hank who died September 13 at the age of 86 following a brief illness.
As a legendary coach, dedicated athletic administrator, and tireless Baron supporter, Hank had a bigger influence on Baron athletics than any other single individual. The impact of his personal character on the hundreds of people he touched goes much further.
He is best known as the record-setting Baron's basketball coach. From 1954-59 he had a stunning 95-17 record, including a 47 home-game winning streak.
His 1958-59 team is the stuff of Baron lore. They went 24-1 en route to being named the No. 1 Small College Team in the Nation by the UPI Board of Coaches, becoming the only team in school history to finish a season with a No. 1 ranking. Kuzma was named "Small College Coach of the Year" for his efforts.
During that stretch, Hank put the College of Steubenville on the map, so much so, that decades later his grandson, Thomas J. Kuzma '06, remembers going to the Final Four with his grandfather and seeing coaching greats like Georgetown's John Thompson and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski visit Hank in the stands.
After leaving the College, Kuzma extended his legend with a 152-20 record as the basketball coach at Midland High School in Midland, Pa. His Leopards won five section titles in seven years, including a state title in 1965.
After then serving as principal at Hershey High School in Hershey, Pa., Hank returned to Franciscan in 1979 to take over as director of Athletics and again as coach of the basketball team.