Pruyne Inducted to UMass Hall

Dec. 29, 2003

Granville Pruyne will be one of six new inductees to enter the University of Massachusetts Athletic Hall of Fame on January 23, 2004. A member of the graduating class of 1933, Pruyne was a member of the first three soccer teams ever fielded by the school, playing for the then UMass Aggies. Seventy years after his graduation, Pruyne's athletic efforts have reached a pinnacle.

"This is a great honor," said Pruyne. "It is the culmination of an intense interest in athletics over many years. I feel very privileged to have been chosen. I have received other honors in the past, but they are minor in comparison to this."

Pruyne became the program's first All-American in 1932, as he helped the Aggies to a record of 11-5-1 over his three years. Though the game has not changed much fundamentally since he played under coach Lawrence Briggs, Pruyne is quick to point out one major difference.

"Back in those days we played with a leather ball," said Pruyne. "On a rainy day if you tried to head the ball you would feel it all the way down to your heels. Finally they got wise to it and started using a rubber ball. That made the game a little easier all the way around."

Although it is usually the goal-scorers that get most of the glory, Pruyne earned his All-American status by doing the opposite. He shut that type of player down.

"I played center halfback all of the time and my job was to mark the other team's center forward or high scorer," said Pruyne. "We had many, many games when the other team didn't get the ball into the net. I was fortunate to be pretty fast and just went on the supposition that if you could beat them to the ball they couldn't play it."

This simple strategy played a big part in the only undefeated season UMass has ever seen, as the 1931 team posted a perfect record of 6-0. Allowing only three goals the entire season, Massachusetts outscored its opponents by 10 goals over the six-game span. One of Pruyne's most memorable games took place in that season, practically in the team's backyard.

"When I was in school, Amherst College had more men than we had," said Pruyne. "They were a very good team. In 1930 they went undefeated, and when we played them in 1931, they were still on an unbeaten streak. We were undefeated with a record of 2-0 at that point in the season as well. We ended up beating them 2-1 on a rainy day at their own field. I remember that game in particular because they returned the favor the next year, breaking our unbeaten streak on our field in 1932."

Pruyne not only excelled on the soccer field, but lettered in track in 1932 and 1933, captaining the 1933 team.

"I always ran high hurdles believe it or not, even though I'm not very big," said Pruyne. "I also did the broad jump and high jumped. They called it the broad jump in those days instead of the long jump. One time, I jumped 22 feet, 10-1/2 inches. In those days your head could not go over the bar before your body in the high jump. I could get up to about five feet, eight inches, and I was about five feet seven and three-quarters, but I used to lie and say I was five-eight. I could get up to five-eight without getting my head over the bar first with different styles of jumping."

Scoreboard

University of Massachusets Athletics

Related Videos