University of San Francisco Athletics

Athlete All-American

Willie Wong

Honors:
Men's Basketball (1949-1952)

USF Career Years: 1948-1952
Birthdate: 1926
Hometown: Chinatown, San Francisco
High School: San Francisco Polytechnic High School, Lowell High School

Willie “Woo-Woo” George Wong was born on January 29, 1927 in San Francisco. In 1939, he received his first basketball from a visiting uncle. Although he was only 5’ 5” tall, 120lbs., he excelled at basketball, playing at the Chinatown Playground, and at Polytechnic High and Lowell High Schools.

"I used to stand and watch, and I was always the last guy picked for teams," he said. "When I got to play, they always yelled at me not to shoot, because I couldn't. That became motivation for me." That, and the rules of the rough-and-tumble playground game. Players tried to ride their opponents into the concrete posts behind the baskets, and Wong, who weighed only 125 pounds, recalled that "If you drove, they'd knock you flat on your butt. But you learned to take it. You just had to keep going, so they'd respect you." Something must have worked. Wong blossomed at Lowell and Poly high schools, scoring 40 points in one game and becoming the only Chinese player to be named to the 1945 All-City Prep Team. He was given the nickname “Woo Woo” by the San Francisco Examiner sportswriter Bob Brachman, because fans would shout Woo! Woo! when he scored (SF Gate). After high school, Wong enlisted in the United States Army.

Prior to being recruited to USF by Head Coach Pete Newell in 1948, Wong played for an all-Chinese American Basketball team sponsored by the H.K and Frank Sports Shop in 1946-1947. The team was also known as the Chinese All-Stars, and played a series of exhibition games against the Santa Cruz City teams. The Santa Cruz Sentinel-News reported that the “Chinese scat cagers were terrific crowd pleasers, but couldn’t beat the backboard control of the Santa Cruz Sportsmen.” In the second series, the All Stars prevailed 50-41, and the Sentinel-News described them as having “smooth passing, fast dribbling” on offense, but had Chinese numerals on their jerseys, which “gave the scorers and announcers a tough time.” He played with fellow Hall of Famers "Cappy" Lavin and Don Lofgran.

Later that year in 1946, the All-Stars, renamed the Chinese Saints and playing for Saint Mary’s Chinese Mission, won two of three games in the Santa Cruz City League title games. They defeated the Hotelmen team 39-34, lost the next match to them, and won the third game 46-39 on March 21, 1947. The Saints went on to win the first Oriental-American Basketball Championship in 1947 by defeating the Hawaiian All Stars 48-43, and won again in 1948. Wong was invited to try out for the Chinese Olympic Basketball team in Shanghai.

At USF he played off the bench for the 1949-1950 varsity team, and Newell praised his success in shooting over 60% of his field goal attempts. When USF reached the NIT in 1950, he became the first Chinese-American to play in Madison Square Garden. In 1948, Pete Newell recruited him to play for USF, saying he was "one of the finest passers and floor men ever to step up to college competition. He had good range, much farther than a smaller person like him should have had. Because he wasn't as big as most players, he had to learn more about the game, too. He always seemed to make the right pass and never seemed to take a bad shot (SF Gate)."

After USF, Wong continued to compete with the Saints in local and national tournaments. He also played for the Oakland Atlas-Pacific Engineers in the National Industrial Basketball League 1951-1952. He retired as a warehouseman in Livermore, CA. He used to play the horses at Bay Area racetracks with friends and former teammates.

Chinese Playground where he played as a child, was renamed as Willie “Woo Woo” Wong Playground to honor Wong’s lasting legacy in Bay Area hoops.

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