Ted Sarpola

If athletes of the 1930's had catchy nicknames like players of today, Ted Sarpola would surely have been tagged with the moniker "Magic". His fancy, on target passes and jump shot (the two-handed set shot was still used widely) was the talk of Oregon's prep circles.Playing in the era of the center jump after each basket and the six foot lane, not to mention no three point field goals, Sarpola is beliveved to be the state of Oregon's first high schooler to score over 1,000 points in a career. In fact, at the time of his induction in 1997, Sarpola's 1,223 career points still stood as the AHS all-time career leader.

His 473 points during his junior year was also thought to be an Oregon record for one season at the time.

Sarpola led the Fishermen in scoring three consecutive seasons. His three straight 1st team all-state tournament selections put him on a very exclusive list.

Arthur Daley of the New York times wrote, after Clair Bee's Long Island University team had defeated the Ducks 56-55 in overtime at New York City's Madison Square Garden on December 16, 1940 "One reason Oregon lost is because it had to part with Ted Sarpola, its most talented performer, seven seconds before the first half ended. He had scored 13 points in the half: the slickest basketball artist seen around these parts since Hank Luisetti".

Sarpola would spend 34 years in the education field, with stops in Baker City, The Dalles and Clatskanie. His final eleven years were as an employee of the Astoria School District.