Joseph Louis Capua (February 26, 1934 – February 15, 1988) was an American college basketball player who was an All-American at the University of Wyoming known for his small stature and prolific scoring ability. Capua played high school basketball for Lew Wallace High School in Gary, Indiana. Though he was named all-state in his senior year, he was not recruited by nearby Big Ten Conference schools due to his size – only at the time (he would later grow to ). Lew Wallace and Wyoming alum

Milo Komenich Milan Melvin "Milo" Komenich (June 22, 1920 – May 25, 1977) was an American professional basketball player. His brother was fellow professional basketball player Bill Komenich. Collegiate career Born in Gary, Indiana, he was the son of Serbian ...

facilitated suggested his move to his college alma mater to play for his former coach

Everett Shelton Everett F. Shelton (May 12, 1898 – April 16, 1974) was an American basketball coach in the 1940s and 1950s. Shelton played quarterback for the Phillips University football team. The Cunningham, Kansas native coached 46 years at the high school ...

. As the team's

point guard The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the five Basketball positions, positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position. Point guards are expected to run t ...

, Capua led the Cowboys' fast break and as a junior he came into his own as a scorer, ending the season averaging 14.2 points per game and making the All-

Skyline Conference The Skyline Conference is a college athletic conference based in the New York City area that competes in the NCAA's Division III. The league was originally chartered on May 16, 1989, as a men's basketball conference and now sponsors 17 sports (ni ...

first team. As a senior in the 1955–56 season, Capua became one of the top scorers in the Skyline Conference and the nation at 24.5 points per game. Despite a disappointing 7–19 overall season for the Cowboys, Capua set several school and conference records, including a then-records for most points in a game (51) and season (637). At the close of the season, Capua was again named first-team all-conference and was additionally named the Skyline Conference Player of the Year. Nationally, he was named a third-team All-American by the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) and was named to the national "Small-America" team by the United Press International (UPI) for the top players or shorter. Coach Shelton would describe Capua one of his best all-time players and compared him favorably to

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

guard

Ken Sailors Kenneth Lloyd Sailors (January 14, 1921 – January 30, 2016) was an American professional basketball player active in the 1940s and early 1950s. A guard (basketball), guard, he is notable for inventing the Jump shot (basketball), jump shot as an ...

. In 2001 he was inducted into the University of Wyoming Athletic Hall of Fame. Following the close of his college career, Capua was not drafted in the

1956 NBA draft The 1956 NBA draft was the tenth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 30, 1956, before the 1956–57 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball pla ...

. He instead went on to play in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) for the Denver-Chicago Truckers.

References

External links

Wyoming Cowboys Athletic Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capua, Joe 1934 births 1988 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Gary, Indiana Point guards Wyoming Cowboys basketball players