Wally Sadosty - MCSHOF Inductee - 2008

Wally Sadosty’s athletic career began at the age of seven under the wing of basketball standout Pete Tillotson, who was a member of the first Mason County Sports Hall of Fame class in 2005. Sadosty played baseball in the spring and summer, football in the fall and basketball outside in the winter. In high school, he was the starting quarterback for Ludington High for three straight years. As a senior, he made the All-North Central Conference team and received All-State consideration. He also started as a sophomore on the varsity basketball team and led the team in scoring his junior and senior years, all under the tutelage of Mason County Sports Hall of Fame member Joe Kowatch. He finished his prep basketball career with 893 points, second only to Tillotson at that time. He was on the all-conference team his junior and senior years and was a member of two conference championship teams. Midway through his senior year, the Orioles were the top-ranked Class B team in the state and Sadosty earned first-team All-State honors. He also lettered in tennis his freshman and junior years and participated in track and field as a senior. His senior year, he played summer baseball, pitching and hitting his team to the league championship. Sadosty attended Michigan State University on a football scholarship but left after one year because of the NCAA’s endorsing of single-platoon football. “I was a dropback, passing quarterback in high school, having played very little defense,” said Sadosty. “I felt that I would not be able to play at that level and withdrew from MSU two weeks into my spring term.” Enrolling at Central Michigan University, he went out for football and basketball during the 1960-61 season and made both teams. He was the nation’s 10th-ranked passer among small college quarterbacks and in basketball his shooting percentage was among the leaders in the old Interstate Conference. Because athletes could not compete after eight semesters in college, he was ruled ineligible after that one banner season. Sadosty succeeded Kowatch as Ludington High’s boys’ basketball coach in 1966 and coached the Mike Larsen-led Orioles to three straight Seaway Conference titles. His 1971 team was 19-4 and reached the Class B state semifinals. In 1973, he became Ludington’s athletic director and helped implement the girls’ athletic program. He also coached basketball for three years at Mason County Central, winning the West Michigan Conference championship in 1993.