Harold “Hal” McClary, center, poses with the Johnson Paint City League basketball team. McClary was a three-time first-team All-Pacific Coast Conference North selection at the University of Washington, where his length earned him the nickname “Stork” and he is remembered as the program’s first “big man.” Playing for program patriarch Clarence S. “Hed” Edmundson, McClary led the Huskies to three successive Pacific Coast Conference titles in 1928, 1929 and 1930 and he was named to Knute Rockne’s “mythical” All-American team in 1930. Upon his graduation from Washington, the West Seattle product by way of Minnesota married Roberta Anne Bellazzi and moved to Tacoma where he had a long career in the wood products industry. During his time in Tacoma he played for the Tacoma Semi-Pros, a high-level amateur team usually sponsored by a local business. Teams like these were common settings for former college stars like McClary to play at the time but eventually gave way to the emergence of professional leagues, most notable the National Basketball Association. The McClary’s sons — Douglas and David — would also go on to attend and compete for the University of Washington. Hal McClary died at the age of 87 on Dec. 15, 1994.
