Dave Wortman's Falcon Hall of Fame page (HTML)
        Kitsap Sun column by Chuck Stark (HTML)
  
COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho – Dave Wortman, who led the Seattle Pacific men's basketball team in scoring for three straight seasons, died last week in Idaho.
 
He was 77.
 
A graduate of now-closed West Bremerton High School across Puget Sound from Seattle, Wortman played 92 games for Seattle Pacific from 1958-59 through 1961-62. During those four years, he poured in 1,328 points, an average of 14.4 that is still among the top 10 in school history.
 
Wortman was inducted into the Falcons Hall of Fame in 2009.
 
Les Habegger, the legendary coach who was at the helm during Wortman's playing days and himself is a Falcon Hall of Famer, called Wortman "one of my first real outstanding players."
 
"If the NBA would have had an enlarged number of teams like now, Dave would have played in the NBA," Habegger said during a phone interview. "It's hard to quantify after 20 years who was your best player, but he still ranks as one of the best."
 
As a freshman, Wortman played in just 10 games, and scored a total of 10 points. But after that, he played in every game as a sophomore (27, averaging 13.9), junior (28, averaging 17.6), and senior (27, averaging 16.7).
 
"He was a great shooter, and he was quick," Habegger said. "I played a high-post offense. He could score from jump shots, but he was so quick, he would fake a shot and drive around and lay it up."
 
Wortman also grabbed 200 or more rebounds in each of his final three years, topping Seattle Pacific with 217 (8.0 average) as a senior. His total of 655 boards (7.1 average) still ranks No. 10 all-time..
 
During his senior season in 1961-62, Wortman was named a United Press International honorable mention All-American. He helped the Falcons go 20-7 that year, which at the time was the best record in program history.
 
That team made it to the NCAA Far West Regionals, splitting two games to finish third.
 
Wortman's younger brother, Gary, came to Seattle Pacific when Dave was a sophomore, and the two of them got to play three years together. Gary went on to lead the team in scoring the year after Dave graduated, and died in 2000 at the age of 59.
 
Dave Wortman went on to play professionally in Europe. He later taught at Kennedy High School in the Seattle suburb of Burien.