Inductees

Jake Nevin was the athletic trainer for Villanova University athletic teams for over 50 years until his death in 1985. Nevin, then using a wheelchair and suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease, inspired the 1985 Villanova Wildcats basketball team during their run to the NCAA Championship in 1985. Villanova renamed the Villanova Field House in honor of Nevin. Villanova also retired basketball jersey number1 for Nevin

(October 6, 1898 – March 16, 1984) was an American track and field athlete. He won collegiate championships in the two-mile race in 1921 and 1922, finished fourth in the 1924 Summer Olympics in the 5,000 meter race and competed in the 1928 Olympics in the 10,000 meters.

NCAA champion, two-mile run (1921) 1924 Olympics (5,000 meters) and 1928 Olympics (10,000 meters)
Spalding's All-American Athletic Team, Cross-Country (1921)
USA indoor champion, two-mile run (1922)

Al played football at Monsignor Bonner High School in Drexel Hill, PA and Villanova University. A Linebacker, he was taken in the 3rd round of the AFL draft and traded to the NY Jets. He played for the AFL NY Jets from 1965 to 1969 and then the NFL NY Jets from 1970 to 1974. He was a member of the Jets’ 1968 World Championship team and an American League All-Star in 1968. In his 10- year Pro-Football career he played in 120 games.

Bill is considered by many to be Lehigh’s first basketball star. Although his career was shortened by his military service In World War II, Binder certainly established himself as one of Lehigh’s all-time greats. He set school, season and career records by averaging 16.7 points per game. Captain of the
1942 and 1943 squads, Binder began playing basketball at Lehigh in 1939 He was inducted into the Lehigh Athletics Hall of Fame in 1994.

Joe Diminick graduated from Kulpmon High School and Boston College in 1950. His career as an educator, coach and PIAA Official spanned 55 years. He is best known as the head football coach at Mount Carmel Area from 1962-1992, where he compiled 267 victories making him the winningest coach in Pennsylvania at the time. His Mt. Carmel teams had five perfect seasons, 3 Eastern Conference titles, 5 Eastern Conference Southern Division Championship and three Susquehanna Valley League Championships. He also coached; basketball, track and field, and baseball.

John Gurski was a graduate of Coal Township High School and the Wharton Business School of the University of Pennsylvania. John began his coaching career at Minersville High School with a record of 47-13-2 in 6 seasons. He moved up to the Wilson High School Bulldogs and went 151-44-4 in 19 seasons. His overall coaching record was 198-51-6. Beside being a respected football coach, John was also an assistant principal at Wilson High. The football stadium at Wilson High School was named “John Gurski Stadium” in honor of their long-time successful coach.

Mike Jarmoluk graduated from Frankford High School in Philadelphia where he was an All-State performer in football and All-Scholastic in Basketball, leading the city in scoring. He went to Temple University, starring in wrestling, track, basketball and football (selected for the Blue-Grey All-Star Game as a senior). Mike was drafted in the 7th round of the 1945 NFL draft and played for the Chicago Bears., Boston Yanks, New York Bulldogs and the Philadelphia Eagles as defensive tackle and middle guard in his 10-year pro career. Jarmoluk went to one Pro-Bowl during his 10- year career.

After finishing his service in World War II with the 14th Armored Division in Europe in 1945, Lapata began his professional baseball career in the minor leagues with the Terre Haute Phillies in Class B. The Phillies discovered Stan when he emerged as a star in the sandlots of Detroit, Michigan. He did well in his first season at Terre Haute; posting a .292 batting average with a .540 slugging percentage and 9 home runs in 67 games. After a successful 1947 season, Stan was promoted to the Class A Utica Blue Sox and in 1948 to Class AAA Toronto Maple Leafs. Late in the 1948 season Lapata finally got his call to the big leagues. Despite only 2 hits in 15 at bats, he went into 1949 as the Phillies starting catcher. A position that was pre-eminently his for the next 11 seasons, with stages of great power at the plate offset by injuries. Following a brief stint with the Milwaukee Braves, Stan Lopata retired.His career covered 13 seasons; appearing in 853 games, batted .254 with 116 home runs and 379 RBIs.

Mahaffey was signed as an amateur free agent by the Philadelphia Phillies. After 4 ½ years in the Phillies’ farm system, he received his MLB call-up in mid-season 1960. He finished the 1960 season with a 7-3 record and a 2.31 ERA in 14 games and came in third in the 1960 Rookie of the Year Balloting He finished his second big-league season with a record of 11-19 and a 4.10 ERA. He finished the next three seasons at 44-37 and was traded to the St Louis Cardinals in 1965 and the New York Mets in 1967. He finished with a lifetime record of 59 wins and 64 losses, with a 4.17 ERA.

After a collegiate boxing career, Billy Soose became a professional boxer in 1938. That same year he met Charley Burley and lost a unanimous decision. In 1940, he defeated two future middleweight champions in Ken Overlin and Tony Zale. He began 1941 by defeating future heavyweight and lightweight challenger Tami Mauriello and then, in May of that year, beat old foe Overlin for Overlin’s middleweight title. He never defended the title and retired in 1942 after losing a bout to Jimmy Bivins.
He is a member of the World Boxing Hall of Fame. Soose was posthumously inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2009

Jerry Yeagley was an NCAA Champion in soccer as a player, winning the national championship with West Chester in 1961. After earning a Master’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1963, Yeagley went to Indiana University as a physical education instructor and men’s soccer coach. The team had been a club program since 1947, but Yeagley’s goal was to develop it into a varsity program. The program gained varsity status and the full support of the University in 1973, Yeagley’s teams quickly became a national power. Indiana reached the NCAA final in just its fourth season in 1976. Through his 31-year career, Jerry’s teams made 28 NCAA tournament appearances, 16 College Cup appearances and 12 appearances in the final, while winning 10 Big Ten championships and 6 National Championships. After his retirement in 2003, Indiana named their soccer field “Jerry Yeagley Field”.