Angelo Musi, standout athlete, dies at 91

JOE FULKS was a revelation to Angelo Musi.

"Angelo couldn't believe Joe Fulks," said veteran sportscaster Bill Campbell. "Angelo was a master of the two-hand set shot, and Joe Fulks was the first player to shoot the jump shot."

Angelo Musi was something of a basketball anomaly in another way. He was only 5 feet 9 and 145 pounds in a sport now dominated by giants.

Back in '81, he and the late Tom Fox, former Daily News and Inquirer columnist, were watching a Sixers-Celtics game and Angelo was awed by the way the players soared through the air.

"If I suited up to try out for the 76ers today, Darrell Dawkins would die laughing," Fox quoted him as saying in a column for the Inquirer.

"Today they're all supermen," Angelo said. "I watch Dr. J do things with a basketball and I don't believe my eyes. If it wasn't for the instant replay, I'd think I was going out of my head."

Angelo Musi, who starred in more than one sport at Overbrook High School, Brown Prep and Temple University, died Monday after a fall. He was 91 and lived in Bryn Mawr. He played with the Warriors in the old Basketball Association of America, leading the team to a championship in 1947.

Angelo averaged 8.4 points per game in his career, while Fulks, his towering teammate at 6 feet 5, could pour in 63 points in one game (1949 against the Indianapolis Jets) with that jumper.

Nevertheless, Angelo was highly regarded among teammates and opponents for his hard work and swiftness on the court.

After his playing days, Angelo became an executive with the Macke Co. food and vending firm, rising to vice president before his retirement in 1983.

Unlike today's highly paid players, Angelo never made much money from the game. He told Fox he made $5,000 in 1946, and earned $2,300 as his share of the Warriors' 1947 championship win over Chicago.

"But you know what I did with that $2,300?" he asked Tom. "I bought a brand new eight-cylinder Pontiac for $1,600, and still had change."

There were other unusual problems in the old days. At the Arena, at 46th and Market streets, where the Warriors played, the basketball floor often covered the ice-skating rink and moisture would leak through.

"Occasionally, you'd dribble the ball and the ball wouldn't bounce back to you," he once said.

Angelo was the son of Italian immigrants, Charles and Concetta Musi. He was a standout basketball, baseball and soccer player at Overbrook High, the school that spawned so many professional athletes in all sports.

He wanted to go on to Temple, but lacked the necessary credits. So he enrolled at the old Brown Preparatory School at 15th and Race streets, where he continued to play basketball and baseball.

As a hustling second-baseman in high school, Angelo had a chance to sign with an Athletics farm team, but he wanted a college education.

At Temple, he was captain of the baseball and basketball teams. In basketball, he earned All-City laurels three times, All-Pennsylvania twice and honorable mention All-American and All-East in his senior year.

Angelo entered the Army in 1942 and served 14 months in Manila during World War II. He played baseball and basketball while in the service.

In 1945, the Army staged an Olympic Games in Tokyo. Angelo captained his unit. Coincidentally, another Warriors alumnus, George Senesky, a former St. Joseph's star, played on another team in the games.

Angelo was discharged a first lieutenant.

He and his wife, Lydia, were married in 1941. She died 2 1/2 years ago.

Angelo's professional career started with the old Wilmington Bombers where he led the team to what was then the American League title. When Eddie Gottlieb started the BAA, later the NBA, Angelo was captain of the Warriors. He played three years with the team.

A devoted golfer, he was a member of the Bala Golf Club and would spend two or three months in Boca Raton, Fla., playing golf. He played into his 80s.

He was former president of Temple's Baseball, Basketball and Varsity Clubs. He was a member of the Temple Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame. He was a trustee of the Pop Warner Little Scholars, and a member of the Peale Club and Sons of Italy.

"He was a terrific guy," Bill Campbell said. "Very low-key. He loved all sports. I broadcast professional basketball when he was playing and we remained friends.

"He was my daughter's godfather. I called him often and he told me how excited he was about the Phillies in the playoff games."

Angelo is survived by a son, Thomas; four grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

Services: Funeral Mass 10 a.m. tomorrow at St. Thomas Chapel in Rosemont.

Friends may call at 9 a.m. Burial will be in Ss. Peter & Paul Cemetery, Marple.