January 7, 2011
Roy Stoll
Princeton parishioner to be inducted into Hall of Fame
Roy Stoll was a member of the basketball team at Tulane University. Click for a larger version.
By MARY ANN HUGHES (Message staff writer)
Roy Stoll is a modest man, and there’s a bit of wonder and awe in his voice as he talks about his latest honor.
Stoll, a parishioner at St. Joseph Church in Princeton, will be inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame on March 23. He is one of 15 members elected to the Class of 2011.
His connection to the sport of basketball goes back to his years as a student at St. Joseph School in Princeton. Father Clarence Schlachter was not only the priest there, he was also the boys’ basketball coach.
That was back in 1947 during Roy’s seventh grade year. “He was a great coach. He was a great guy. All the players loved him, and played hard for him.”
Father Schlachter had a car, Roy remembers, and the entire team would pile into his car when they had games in Evansville.
When Roy was in the eighth grade, his team won the diocesan tournament by beating St. Anthony School in Evansville by 32-30. “We lost to them by 32-30 the year before.”
Roy played basketball for Princeton High School, and remembers being in a minor car crash the day of the Evansville regional when he was a junior. “All four of us in that car were starters for Princeton High School.”
The next year, again playing in the Evansville regionals, he received a telegram from Father Schlatcher who advised him “this year, wreck Central.”
Roy was heavily recruited by colleges, and chose Tulane University because he was offered a four-year scholarship there. “It was a tremendous thing,” he says of his college. “I never regretted going there.”
In 1956 he was elected to the Tulane Hall of Fame, a year before graduating with a degree in social work.
As a sophomore in college, he married his high school sweetheart, Nancy Carlisle. When they returned to southern Indiana and began their family, Roy’s first job was as a social worker with Catholic Charities.
He received many awards and honors during his career as a basketball player, but says this Hall of Fame award is “the ultimate award you can get as a basketball player in the state of Indiana.”
“It’s the ultimate. It’s something I’ve dreamed about when I was playing in grade school, in high school and in college.”