Into the Hall 鈥� Ron Fudala
Submitted photo
Ron Fudala and Harold “Horse” Taylor are two names that go hand in hand when talking about the inception and quick ascension of Laurel Highlands boys basketball.
Taylor was the first head coach of the Mustangs and guided them to a 320-129 record from 1966 to 1982, winning WPIAL and PIAA championships in the program’s inaugural season.
Fudala was Taylor’s valuable and highly regarded assistant coach.
The two will be connected again when Fudala will be inducted posthumously into the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2026 on June 19, joining Taylor who was enshrined in 2013.
“It is great news,” said Fudala’s son Ronnie Fudala, who spoke about his father’s impending induction on Hall of Fame co-founder George Von Benko’s Sports Line Talk Show on WMBS Radio on Saturday. “Our whole family appreciates the Sports Hall of Fame for the recognition and those who have helped make this possible.
“It is wonderful.”
Taylor died in 1984 and Fudala passed away in 1992. While he’s known mainly as Taylor’s assistant coach, Fudala’s resume is much broader than just Laurel Highlands basketball.
Fudala coached many other sports also and before that was an outstanding athlete at South Union High School, which joined with North Union to form Laurel Highlands in 1966. Fudala, who graduated from South Union in 1950, is fourth on the South Union boys basketball team career scoring list.
Fudala went on to letter in basketball, baseball and football at Salem College but made his biggest impact on the hardwood. He was the leading scorer on the men’s basketball team his junior and senior seasons and was a two-time member of the WVIAC All-Conference Team. Fudala was selected to the WVIAC all-time basketball team in 1974 and was inducted into the Salem College Hall of Fame in 2004.
“I never knew a lot about it, he never talked a lot about it,” Ronnie Fudala said. “But his athletic accomplishments are pretty incredible on their own.”
Fudala earned basketball and baseball scholarships to Salem, and added football after he got there in an unusual way.
“He was just playing around on the football field, punting footballs,” Ronnie Fudala said.
The coach apparently saw potential in Fudala and insisted he play on the football team, too.
“The football coach said, look, we need you as a punter on our football team and if you don’t join the football team then I’m going to make sure your basketball and baseball scholarships are taken away,” Ronnie Fudual said with a laugh. “It’s funny, I can recall back in our backyard, our triangular yard back in South Union Township, when he would punt and he was kind of teaching me how to punt and how to kick a spiral.”
Fudala also played in the Fayette County Baseball League where he was a two-time all-star as a shortstop.
After his graduation from Salem College, Fudala started a long and successful career as a coach. He began as an assistant to German Township baseball coach Hoot Savanick before eventually making his way back to South Union.
“He was fortunate in coaching to work with a lot of people who no doubt influenced him, from Marty Fagler who was his original coach, to John Pringle who he was assistant football coach to, Harold ‘Horse’ Taylor who gave him the opportunity to be a part of the Laurel Highlands program,” Ronnie Fudala pointed out. “There were a lot of good things that happened to him in his life and a lot of good people who were there and helped to guide him.
“Also Ringy Stefancin. Ringy Stefancin to this day when I watch professional basketball especially, I think to myself Ringy would be going nuts with respect to the pivot foot.”
When he made his return to South Union in 1959, Fudala was an assistant coach in football, basketball and baseball.
“He even coached cross country I believe,” Ronnie Fudala said. “He was one of the swim coaches at Forest Park Aquatics and also ran the basketball program they did there in the summer.”
Fudala was hired as the first head coach of Laurel Highlands’ newly formed baseball team in 1966. He later became athletic director at LH.
Von Benko noted the many former players who contacted him lauding Fudala’s selection for induction, including Gus Gerard, Jack Buehner, Taylor’s son Barry Taylor and Rick Hauger.
“They are incredible luminaries,” Ronnie Fudala said. “Fayette County has such a strong tradition. Without a doubt it does (mean a lot).
“The neat thing about how my dad went about his business, it wasn’t just the superstar athletes who he reached out to but he was always there for anyone who needed any time of help, athletically or personally. It didn’t matter what part of the bench you sat on.”
Von Benko could attest to that.
“I wasn’t a great athlete and he befriended me and really helped me with advice throughout my high school career and after I went into my chosen field of broadcasting, he was very proud of me,” Von Benko said of Fudala. “He was a great mentor for me.”
“He was always proud of the other individuals that he had the opportunity to work with and see them advance throughout their careers,” Ronnie Fudala said. “The one thing I know, even though he did stand up and benefit other people, he felt privileged to also be able to work with those people.
“I know that he was always proud of what he did. You learn lessons from your parents but he never failed to give 100 percent of himself to whatever he was doing. Even if he was occupied with things, he was always accessible to anyone who might have needed him for a particular moment regardless of his role.”
Ronnie Fudala gave kudos to South Union Township.
“In reading through some of the articles, it’s amazing how many great athletes there were, not just from Fayette County in general, but from that small township of South Union,” he said.
“This is a very important and proud moment for our family.”
To purchase tickets for the Fayette County Sports Hall of Fame luncheon/social or to register for the annual golf outing, both of which will take place on June 19 at Pleasant Valley Golf Club, contact Katie Propes by phone (724-460-9231) or email (katie.propes@bldr.com).