Rec Hall doubleheader provides historic experience for Penns Valley, Bellefonte basketball teams

What a beautiful juxtaposition, the squeaking of dozens of new sneakers, the sweating of fresh, young faces and the pounding of a leather ball echoing through an 87-year-old building.

Penns Valley and Bellefonte’s high school boys and girls basketball teams took part in an historic doubleheader on Friday night, both of which were Rams wins, in Penn State and State College landmark, Rec Hall.

Rams athletic director Nate Althouse roamed the creaky, polished hardwood as the programs sparred, camera in hand, grin glued to his face.

“This place is a magical place for basketball,” he said. “And even though these kids were not alive when they used to play basketball in here religiously, it’s part of the great tradition, the athletic tradition here in Centre County and here at Penn State.”

By his own calculations, Althouse, who “came up to everyone’s elbow” as a Penn State basketball player himself in the early 1980s, joked he’d left blood, sweat and even some teeth on that shiny, slatted wood floor.

“Anytime I get to come back to Penn State, it’s a homecoming, but this building...” He was silent a moment.

“A lot of memories. Beautiful memories, painful memories. But all cherished memories.”

For Mackenzie Ironside, who led the Lady Rams to a win with 18 points, the win was a chance to be a part of a program her family has long celebrated. Many of her relatives and friends have attended Penn State, and she’s been a fan since birth.

“(Our coaches) told us it was going to be really loud (here),” she laughed, after the game. “I think we all kind of knew...It was a really cool experience, when we first got off the bus we took a picture with the Lion (statue), and just walking on the court and seeing all the Penn State stuff, where we’re big Penn State fans, it was just a great opportunity.”

Her sentiment was echoed on up the basketball food chain, to coaches well-aware of the legacy of Rec Hall.

“When I first got into coaching, Coach (Bruce) Parkhill was having practices, I mean this place was open and anybody was free to come in,” said Penns Valley boys basketball coach Terry Glunt.

He’d sit and watch Parkhill, during a time in which the Penn State head coach revitalized basketball as the school knew it and voyaged into the Big Ten, and took notes. Those practices were his coaching clinics, he said. From those nights, he learned how to lead a team.

“The Penn State coaches were always nice to me,” he said. “(They) would always ask me if I needed anything. Those early days at Rec Hall, they were fun and very beneficial to me as a coach.”

When Glunt attended Penn State, he used to spend his lunchtimes playing basketball in Rec Hall.

Friday night, he shared his old court with his current team.

“This is a great place,” he said. “But more than that, it’s a great chance for my kids to play a great rival in Bellefonte, and it’s special.

“People are calling it a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I agree with that.”

Glunt also shared the importance of the legacy of Rec Hall with his players.

“Oh, I told them exactly my history here,” he grinned, straightening his striped tie. “I sort of wanted them to understand that it was special for me to come in here and learn from a really, really great coach (in Parkhill), whether he knew he was teaching me or not.”

Althouse said he knew each coach did “a very good job” in sharing their reverence for the building, and for how big and honor it is to play a game at Rec Hall, as a high school student.

And as for the athletic director himself, he was happy to snap photos, to provide new memories for the students who got a glimpse of what Rec Hall means to him, and to so many others in Centre County.

“I think we’re really excited for the kids,” he said. “They’re not going to play Madison Square Garden, this is big time...It makes them feel good, because they’re being treated like they’re Division I athletes.

“Penn State has such a great heritage of class, of doing things the right way. And it permeates throughout every program. And if you ever get a chance to be a part of something like that, it’s probably the most special feeling in the world. And I’m forever grateful, because I know that’s molded so much of my life past college, to have that opportunity. Anytime I come in here, I just feel really thankful, humbled and grateful. This place means a lot.”

This story was originally published December 11, 2015 at 10:59 PM with the headline "Rec Hall doubleheader provides historic experience for Penns Valley, Bellefonte basketball teams."