UConn Men's Basketball had some great post play in the 1960's...First it was Toby Kimball, then the guy who replaced him wasn't too shabby either. That would be 6-7 Center Bill Corley from Williston Park, New York, who had an outstanding high school career at Mineola HS...And he'd follow that up with an equally good one in Storrs. As he followed Kimball as one of just six players in UConn History who averaged a career double-double (17p-14r)
Year one was the 1965-66 season, where the Huskies went 16-8 and was Co-Champion in the Yankee Conference where URI won the playoff game 67-62, Wes Balisouknia was the big gun, but in the playoff games scored just 14, while Curley led the Huskies with 17. And over the first weekend of 1966, the Board of Trustees nixed UConn's invite to the NIT. Corley averaged 15p-14r, had 16 double-doubles and shot 53% to earn All Yankee Conference honors.
He'd add more in the 1966-67 season where his numbers fairly identical, averaging 15p-12rpg while shooting 49% in a 17-7 Yankee Conference winning season where the Huskies won 11 of 12, including an 84-77 victory over Rutgers where Corley played his best game of the season with 25p-16r to compliment Balisouknia's 40. However the Huskies would lose their last three, including a low scoring 48-42 defeat at the hands on B.C. in the NCAA Tournament Game at URI where Corley scored only 6. Corley again named a Yankee Conference All Conference selection along with the first of two NABC All District Team Honoree
No more Wes Balisouknia, so Corley with a younger team was the focal point with 22 double-doubles, averaging 21ppg and 15rpg while shooting 47% in a rare losing season in Storrs. Just 11-13. The highlights of the season, a 89-84 win at Syracuse where Corley scored his 1,000th career point. But the night of January 10th, 1968 was a night that won't soon be forgotten. Where against New Hampshire at the Field House, Corley had a record breaking night with 31, first half points and a school record 51 in a 96-70 victory. He added a career high 28 boards in the victory...His last game against URI an win 62-58 where he scored 15 while fighting thru foul trouble....Once again an All Yankee Conference and NABC All District Team Selections.
In his three year run in Storrs, Bill Corley finished with 1219pts and 986 boards in 72 games played . His career rebounding average of 13.7 per game only trail Art Quimby and Toby Kimball in that department. His career averages were 17 points and 14 rebounds per game while shooting 49%...and 7 games where he recorded 7 - 20+ rebound games. Corley was a Draft pick of the ABA San Diego Rockets but by the looks of it, never played. However he did play part time for the Harlem Wizards.
Bill Corley used his degree to work for Mass Mutual, then IBM where he spent 25 years where he was a Senior Program Manager for Global Channel Marketing. He met his wife, Kathleen on a subway in NYC...and fathered three kids. Sadly in late July 1999, Bill Corley passed away unexpectedly at the age of 52. He had been a regular at UConn Games and of course enjoyed UConn's First National Championship in 1999. The third of the great rebounders in UConn History, Art Quimbu, Toby Kimball and Bill Corley....#22, a UConn Legend...