Indiana University of Pennsylvania Athletics

Joe DeLise completed his IUP basketball career 40 years ago, in 1958. Within those four decades only a handful of cagers wearing the Crimson and Gray have exceeded his achievements.
Just two men have scored more than his 1510 career points which stand fourth on the all-time chart. The late Jack Crossan had graduated two years before DeLise having tallied 1564 points. No player reached either total again until 1996.
Only two have scored more than the ~ 16 points Denise posted his senior campaign in '57-58. lncluding a then all-time high 182 free throws, this stood as the team record unt1l 1974, when Randy Allen set the current standard of 643 points.
Head coach Peck McKnight and his '57-58 team won 25 and lost three en route to winning the NAJA District 30 (which covered the entire state of Pennsylvania) title and reaching the quarterfinal round of the national championship tournament in Kansas City. Only two IUP teams have ever won more games in a season.
The one-time Farrell High all-stater scored 52 points against Alliance (IUP's second most all-time topped only by Mel Hankinson's 59) and averaged 22 per contest (sixth) to cap career reports of 18.4 PPG (fifth) and 554 field goals. He had averaged 16.5 points per game as a sophomore, 19.2 as a junior. .
Accolades at the time included AP/Associated Press small college and NAJA All-American selections, an NAIA rank of 17th in the nation for scoring, a third-year all-Pennsylvama State Athletic Conference team plaque and a second-team AP all-state (including major colleges) bid.
DeLise came to college in 1950 only to be called after a semester by the U. S. Marine Corps to serve in the Korean Conflict. After six months while the war continued, he was involved in the exchange of prisoners of war before returning to Indiana in 1955 to complete his social studies education degree.
Going from playing court to the coaching box, DeLise assisted for five years at Ellwood City, then became head mentor at West Middlesex (next to hometown Farrell) for 17 seasons.
That tenure resulted in five Mercer County championships, two PIAA District 10 titles and a record in section games of 103 wins and four losses. In 1983 DeLise was inducted to the Mercer County Hall of Fame.
He had also completed a master's degree in administration at Slippery Rock, which enabled him to become a guidance counselor and dean at West Middlesex. Since 1986, he has been assistant principal at Loggers Run Middle School in Florida.
DeLise and his wife of 39 years, Joy, have a son, Joe Jr.,and daughter, Renee. Joe, who graduated from IUP in 1983 after playing football, is in his seventh year as a winning grid coach at Olympic Heights High School in Boca Raton, Florida. Renee, an '82 IUP grad, is a mental health psychotherapist with her own firm, also in Boca Raton.