Wes Bialosuknia passing?

[iam76]

Was texted by my sister in law saying that she heard that Wes passed from a battle with cancer. Haven't been able to see anything online or anywhere so if anyone can confirm that would be nice. But either way here are my thoughts on Wes.


I have seen plenty of jokes in passing about him through the years and it always bothered me. I grew up playing baseball with his son and through my baseball career from little league to summer leagues Wes helped coach along with my own father. At the time all I knew was he was some former Uconn great for years far before my time. What I do remember of Wes was that he instilled a confidence in me that not every coach in my sports playing career gave me. I have trouble remembering if it was one moment or many. But as I get older I still can see him sitting on the ball bucket keeping score. I remember a man who saw a kid with talent and a kid who was unsure how to reach his potential. Wes gave me that little bit of confidence a young kid needs to get that hit and be the best he can be. Nobody is perfect and as I became a little older I heard how he had his battles with his own demons. But for every negative comment or story I have heard I still see that coach/man who told me me that I could do it and that he believes in me.

 

[Uconnfanatic]

Sorry to hear of Wes' passing. He was one of my all-time favorite players in the program. As a 12 year old kid, he was the star player who got me hooked on UConn basketball. I spent many an hour out at my bb hoop pretending to be the Poughkeepsie Popper taking shots from all over the court. That team of Bialosuknia, Penders, Holowaty, Ritter and Kimball (Corley after Toby graduated) was great. Many great memories of Wes. May he rest in peace.

 

[arnie3]

I checked his hometown newspaper- Poughkeepsie, but couldn't find anything about him dying. He was an incredible shooter, just electric to watch. I really enjoyed watching him and Toby on the court!

 

[mcs333]

Best pure shooter ever at UCONN. Still holds season scoring record of 28 PPG, and career record of 23.6 PPG. Saw him play many times at the old field house. If there was a 3 point line half his baskets would have been 3 pointers. He had unlimited range.

 

[FASTEDDY]

FYI

Bialasuknia means White Dress in Polish.

 

[rs2905]

Tweeted by Joe D, FWIW: https://twitter.com/JoeDSports/status/393464935294205952

 

[Dove]

No wonder he had demons...they called him the Poughkeepsie Popper.

RIP, Wes.

 

[cohenzone]

He was a classmate of mine and I knew him slightly because at one time we dated girls from the same dorm. He had to play frosh ball in those days or he would have had a lot more total points. He was Kimball's teammate his soph year, when they lost just 2 games. On the frosh team he was something silly like 99/101 foul shots. His senior year, I was lucky enough to see the game when he and the excellent shooting Bobby Lloyd of Rutgers put on a show in the old field house, with Wes outscoring him something like 40 to 39 and UConn upsetting Rutgers. I'll always remember going to what was part of the fund-raising week at school to a mid-way at the old field house. They had a female (we used to called them coeds) sitting on a dunking stool over a big water tank. Above her was a basketball hoop set at 11' and for her to get dunked, you had to hit 2 of 3. She was high and dry, cuz nobody could conquer the 11' height. Along comes Wes, one of the best foul shooters in the country. Suffice to say, he didn't need his 3rd shot and the girl got a cold bath. It isn't easy to do that without practice. Whether or not having a 3 pint line would have made his totals crazy is hard to say because I think he would have been defended differently. Nobody defended hard where he could shoot from, which was easily today's pro line. He played for Oakland in the old ABA, led the league (team?) I think in 3 point goals, but the team acquired Rick Barry and that put the kebash on Wes as the primary shooter.

 

[UConn Hoops1]

I have to say. as a , then, young Connecticut hoops junkie, Wes Bialosuknia lighting it up in the Field House, no matter how tough the opponent, was as good as it got for me. To put him in context for younger fans( and I really don't feel it was a stretch) he was the Stephen Curry of UConn basketball. There were times when I really felt he couldn't miss a shot. I hope The Horde and the University do something special to recognize his life. It's a sad day.

"Wes among the trees! IT'S TWO MORE!!!"

GO HUSKIES!!!

 

[art4life]

May he R.I.P.

Link to Hartford Courant: Former UConn Basketball Great Wes Bialosuknia, 68, Dies

 

[bertieboy]

Wes was heavily defended on the perimeter. I remember teams using the 2-3 zone and the two players out front were outside the top of the key. To get open he had to go down low and have defenders picked off so he could get a shot off.
I also saw the Rutgers game. Wes and Bobby Lloyd both scored 42 points. Wes had 28 in the first half and 14 in the second. Bobby had 14 in the first and 28 in the second. What a show it was!
I also saw Wes score 50 against Maine. Boy was he on that night. The shot I remember most is him coming down the center of the court on a fast break but the defense forced him into the right corner and he dribbled there at full speed and put up a jumper before sailing out of bounds. Nothing but net. Super wow!
In the 1964-65 season we played Manhattan in the Garden and my wife and I went there by train. I think M was undefeated but either way, they had the highest shooting percentage in the country. At the end we were down two and Wes put up a jumper from the foul line. It hit the back of the rim and came right back to him and he shot it again to tie the game and send it into overtime. In that OT we prevailed and we did not miss a shot.
This is a sad day for me.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Wes was heavily defended on the perimeter. I remember teams using the 2-3 zone and the two players out front were outside the top of the key. To get open he had to go down low and have defenders picked off so he could get a shot off.
I also saw the Rutgers game. Wes and Bobby Lloyd both scored 42 points. Wes had 28 in the first half and 14 in the second. Bobby had 14 in the first and 28 in the second. What a show it was!
I also saw Wes score 50 against Maine. Boy was he on that night. The shot I remember most is him coming down the center of the court on a fast break but the defense forced him into the right corner and he dribbled there at full speed and put up a jumper before sailing out of bounds. Nothing but net. Super wow!
In the 1964-65 season we played Manhattan in the Garden and my wife and I went there by train. I think M was undefeated but either way, they had the highest shooting percentage in the country. At the end we were down two and Wes put up a jumper from the foul line. It hit the back of the rim and came right back to him and he shot it again to tie the game and send it into overtime. In that OT we prevailed and we did not miss a shot.
This is a sad day for me.

Lottsa great memories. My father is 69 and my mother 67. Wes was the same age. Wes is one of my father's favorites. He and my mother have shared similar stories. It truly is a sad day.

 

[Hugo]

Lots of great memories of Wes. I remember first watching him on that great Freshman team that had Penders, Holowatty, Curran, Ritter and Thompson. Just a great shooter and as a couple of posters mentioned, you never expected him to miss. As good as he was as a Frosh, he kept getting better each year. Imagine averaging 28 ppg without the 3 point line. RIP, Wes.

 

[hthusky74]

He was a sports idol for me in my early teens. What a great shooter. When I first moved to Bristol, CT he was living there and his daughter won the city wide foul shooting contest several years in a row. Her percentage was even superior to the boys in her age group. How sad Wes is gone at a relatively young age. I hope he can be honored in some way by the university and the alumni.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Wes was heavily defended on the perimeter. I remember teams using the 2-3 zone and the two players out front were outside the top of the key. To get open he had to go down low and have defenders picked off so he could get a shot off.
I also saw the Rutgers game. Wes and Bobby Lloyd both scored 42 points. Wes had 28 in the first half and 14 in the second. Bobby had 14 in the first and 28 in the second. What a show it was!
I also saw Wes score 50 against Maine. Boy was he on that night. The shot I remember most is him coming down the center of the court on a fast break but the defense forced him into the right corner and he dribbled there at full speed and put up a jumper before sailing out of bounds. Nothing but net. Super wow!
In the 1964-65 season we played Manhattan in the Garden and my wife and I went there by train. I think M was undefeated but either way, they had the highest shooting percentage in the country. At the end we were down two and Wes put up a jumper from the foul line. It hit the back of the rim and came right back to him and he shot it again to tie the game and send it into overtime. In that OT we prevailed and we did not miss a shot.
This is a sad day for me.

Saw both the Rutgers and Maine games, and many more. Very moving to read that others share these memories. I can still picture how he'd pulled up beyond the top of the key and let fly and swish as players were still running upcourt.

 

[arnie3]

So sad! He used to play at the "Y" in Waterbury with a friend of mine. My friend said that he was always a great person.RIP

 

[Ts5034]

Sad news. He was way before my time but I know he was a huge piece of UConn basketball history. Even though we didnt have much national success before Calhoun, we still had alot of great players.

 

[mauconnfan]

Sad day in Husky history........great shooter, first Husky hero for me as a kid........unbelievable shooter!!

RIP Wes B

 

[UConnLen]

He was a year ahead of me at UConn and remember seeing his first varsity game vs AIC [JC] in the fieldhouse in 1964. GREAT shooter anywhere past the midcourt line. UConnfanatic-yes remember those guys as well as SPIDER Ursery played on that team. Corley [6'7"] was in my class, couldn't play varsity as a frosh and held the single game scoring record after Wes [50 pts?] for a while. Saw many games in the old dirt floored fieldhouse-remember the dust rising as the fans got into the game. Great memories of Wes et al.

 

[Uconnfanatic]

UConnLen you have the wrong Spider. The Spider on Wes' team was Dan "Spider" Hesford. Ursry played in the mid '80's.

 

[JWILLDADDY101]

I remember Bob Steele and also Arnold Dean calling him "Wonderful Wes". I remember he was our go to guy and could really shoot it. RIP Wonderful Wes.

 

[hthusky74]

UConnLen you have the wrong Spider. The Spider on Wes' team was Dan "Spider" Hesford. Ursry played in the mid '80's.

Spider Ursery passed away in 2008 from cancer.

 

[MTHusky]

RIP Wes! He was a super player and was a year ahead of me. To this day I always see that head tilt to the side as he shot.

 

[mcs333]

RIP Wes! He was a super player and was a year ahead of me. To this day I always see that head rooster to the side as he shot.

Great reminder. He always tilted his head to the right on his shots. Very odd. Thanks for the reminder. I also was at the RU games when he and Lloyd put on a show. I believe the other guard for RU was Jimmy Valvano.

 

[Fishy]

He was a nice man and a great Husky.

I'm glad he 'came back' to the UConn fold over the past decade or so. He was very private and I think a little self-conscious about some things, but he came back in the 2000's and received the honors he deserved via the Husky Legends and All-Century team.