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For those of us old enough to remember, Don Penwell who played for the Caterpillar in the National Industrial Basketball League, passed away in Scottsdale on March 7th. His obit said Don attended Oklahoma City University and was drafted by the Baltimore Bullets of the NBA, but he elected to come to Peoria and play for Caterpillar where the competition was better and post playing career opportunities were greater. How things have changed.
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What part of illegal don't you understand? -
I didn't really remember Don Penwell's name, but I know a number of those guys that played for the Caterpillar team in the NIBL (one of the top amateur teams in the country) also played on the Team USA in Olympics and other international games.
Sure enough, Penwell is listed as having played for the US National team in 1954- They won the World Championship in 1954 in Brazil.
In fact the entire US team that year was comprised of the Caterpillar team from Peoria and coached by legendary coach Warren Womble! There were some other names I recognize on that team, though none were from Bradley.
Don Penwell averaged 6.5 ppg as the US team swept easily through the tournament with an average margin of victory of 25 points.-
In this pdf book, the 1954 team is profiled on page 84 & 85-
Don was also inducted, along with the rest of the 1954 team that won the national AAU championship, into the Great Peoria Sports Hall of Fame-
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