Richard "Dick" Mugg

Richard “Dick” Mugg is unquestionably one of Howard County’s most successful multi-sport athletes ever. Yet, it was four days in late February of 1956 that made his a household name in Greentown.

Mugg starred in three seasons of basketball, but it was in his senior year that he led the Eastern Comets to their first and only IHSAA boys sectional basketball championship. Before sellout crowds of 7,000-plus in Kokomo’s Memorial Gymnasium, Mugg led the Comets to four sectional wins in as many days. Eastern beat Deer Creek (67-37), Western (72-63) and the state’s 4th-ranked, North Central Conference champion Kokomo Wildkats (70-64) to earn a berth in the finals against Delphi.

Mugg shouldered the load in sectional play. The 6-foot forward was Eastern’s leading scorer, averaging 21 points in the four games. It was his three-point play with 11 seconds remaining in the championship that completed the Comets’ come-from-behind 49-48 victory over Delphi.

The Comets closed their season with what remains the school’s best won-lost record ever, 22-4, and Mugg became Howard County’s first 1,000-point career (1,070), averaging 18.8 points per game over his career.

Mugg excelled in track and field and was an outstanding pitcher on the baseball squad. He accepted a scholarship at Memphis State University (now Memphis University) to play basketball and baseball. After playing basketball for two seasons, he gave up hoops for fulltime duty as a pitcher.

The left-hander lettered all four seasons as a member of the starting rotation and pitched against some of the NCAA’s top Division I squads. He was the Tigers’ premier pitcher as a senior, leading the team in wins while turning in an impressive 2.02 earned run average.