St. Joe’s basketball greats make Philadelphia Hall of Fame

Between the Big 5 and the caliber of high school basketball programs in the area, it is only fitting that numerous basketball stars emerge out of southeastern Pennsylvania.

Basketball players and other athletes were honored at the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame ceremony held at the Hilton Hotel on City Ave. on Nov. 2. Two of the 14 honorees dedicated some of their success to the St. Joe’s basketball program: Mike Bantom ’73 and Rene Portland.

Bantom is a St. Joe’s basketball alumnus who went on to play in the NBA and in the 1972 summer Olympics. He grew up in Philadelphia and attended Roman Catholic High School, where he started playing organized basketball.

Bantom made his mark throughout his time as a Hawk and his number, 44, was retired. He is second on the all-time career rebound list with 1,151 and was selected twice to the All-Big 5 team. Bantom was inducted into the Big 5 Hall of Fame in 1979 while he was playing in the NBA.

Bantom credited much of his basketball success to his time at St. Joe’s when addressing the crowd. He admits that he was not at his peak until attending college.

“I played under a program that was started by the legendary Jack Ramsay, and to be coached by three future NBA coaches in Jack McKinney, Paul Westhead and Jimmy Lynam, I was so blessed to have this kind of tutelage growing up in this game that I couldn’t help but learn it and learn it well,” Bantom said.

Bantam also expressed his awe in playing at the Palestra when “college basketball was at its peak.”

The Phoenix Suns drafted Bantom in the first round of the NBA draft in 1973, and he was selected to the first-team All-Rookie team that season. He went on to play for other teams, including the Philadelphia 76ers when they were Eastern Conference champions during the 1981-82 season.

Bantom was inducted into the St. Joe’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 1981 and the Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000.

Portland was a St. Joe’s representative at the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame ceremony,  though she did not play for St. Joe’s. Like Bantom, Portland grew up in
Philadelphia playing basketball. She played for Villa Maria Academy and went on to play at Immaculata College where she was a three-time national champion. After her stint as an active player, she turned to coaching women’s basketball in 1976.

Portland is most known for her time as head coach of the Penn State women’s basketball program from 1980-2007, but her St. Joe’s career began as head coach of the Hawks from 1976-1978.

Aside from Portland’s numerous Big 10 conference accolades, she was also named Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year and led the Hawks to two regular season championships.

Though her time with the Hawks was short, she told the crowd at the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame ceremony how much St. Joe’s  still meant to her once she was with the Nittany Lions.

“My team was assigned St. Joe’s as the place for us to practice to prepare for the Final Four, the home of my first head coaching job,” Portland said. “I looked in the corner and saw Don DiJulia and Ellen Ryan, the people that hired me and gave me the opportunity for this journey, standing in the corner watching. I hope I made them proud.”