COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. - There are times a head coach might try to bring a freshman along slowly, expecting it could take a bit of time to adjust to the demands of the college game.

December 1975 wasn't one of those times and Frank Wachlarowicz '79 certainly wasn't one of those freshmen.

"We knew he'd be ready immediately," legendary former SJU head coach Jim Smith said of the 6-foot-5 All-State freshman center from Little Falls High School who made his Johnnies' debut 50 years ago this month.

"He was that good. There's no doubt he could have been playing at a much higher level. But he had brothers who had gone to Saint John's and he was an outdoors kind of guy. He loved to hunt and fish. So — very fortunately for us — we were a good fit for him."

Indeed, Wachlarowicz had around 60 different recruiting offers and seriously considered playing at either Division I Duquesne (Pa.) or then-Division II North Dakota. He chose the Johnnies instead and became the first Minnesota player to break the SJU starting lineup as a freshman in 12 years his first season.

The Johnnies had finished 8-19 the year before while lacking a dominant post presence. Wachlarowicz, though, served notice times had changed in his first collegiate game, finishing with 13 points and eight rebounds in a 70-61 non-conference win over Minnesota-Morris on Dec. 1 in Collegeville. 

He then scored 14 in a win over crosstown rival St. Cloud State and added 22 when his team opened MIAC play with a victory over St. Olaf.

But it was the Saint John's Invitational — played Dec. 12 and 13 in the Warner Palaestra — that was his true breakout moment.

Wachlarowicz scored 52 points and went 22-for-26 from the field in his team's two tournament wins over Jamestown (N.D.) and Bemidji State, earning tournament MVP honors.

"I think I put up 35 points (including seven in overtime in an 84-79 victory over Jamestown), and I knew from that point on that I could handle playing at this level," he recalled upon his induction into the SJU J-Club Hall of Honor in 2019. 

"That was kind of the boost I needed."

Wachlarowicz went on to average a team-best 19.4 points per game his first season and earned the first of four-consecutive berths on the All-MIAC first team. 

By the time he finished his career at SJU in 1979, he'd set school records for most points (2,357) and rebounds (1,093) — marks that still stand today. His scoring total remains an MIAC career record and was a record at any level of college basketball in Minnesota until it was broken by St. Cloud State's Gage Davis in 2018.

"He was so well coached in high school by Al Bauman," said Smith of Wachlarowicz's time at Little Falls where he led the Flyers to the Class AA state title (and a victory over Class A champion Chisholm) his senior season.

"We didn't really have to do too much with him at all. We made sure we got him the ball and he did the rest. He could score, he could rebound. He could really do everything."

Wachlarowicz, meanwhile, said he loved being in Collegeville. 

"What made playing at Saint John's so special was that my mom and dad were able to be there all the time," he recalled in 2019. "I think they only missed a handful of games in those four years.

"The community atmosphere out there was so great. And everybody was very into athletics. The gym was packed almost every game we played."

10 years ago (2015)
Alex Schmitt finished with 27 points as the Johnnie basketball team — led by first-year head coach Pat McKenzie '04 — improved to 8-1 and handed Bethel its first loss of the season with an 89-78 overtime victory on Dec. 12 in Sexton Arena.

40 years ago (1985)
Jerry Kaehler had two goals and Dave Boeser finished with 35 saves in his final game before departing to study abroad in London as the SJU hockey team downed Bethel 5-3 at the Municipal Athletic Complex in St. Cloud.
Kaehler, a sophomore from Edina, tied for the team lead in scoring that season with 29 points (12 goals/17 assists).

100 years ago (1925)
The SJU basketball team kicked off the "practice portion" of their schedule with a 38-23 victory over the Rockville Night Hawks – a club team from just down the road.
Leading the way were a trio of players The Record dubbed "the Three Basketeers" — Gordon Tierney, George Clifford and Norbert Schoenecker.