Marshall University Athletics
Marshall Athletics Hall of Fame
- Induction:
- 1987
- Class:
- 1940
A single-wing quarterback for Coach Cam Henderson, Andy D’Antoni was a co-captain on Marshall’s 1940 team that led the nation in scoring as it averaged 33.4 points per game. D’Antoni, a native of McComas, W.Va., became the starting quarterback as a sophomore in 1938 and led the team to a 5-4 record, then helped the team to a 9-2 mark in 1939. In a 20-0 win over Virginia Tech at Fairfield Stadium, D’Antoni threw a 99-yard touchdown pass to Boot Elkins. In his senior season, with Jackie Hunt setting an NCAA record by scoring 27 touchdowns, Marshall went 8-2 and became the nation’s top scoring team when it won its final five games by a combined margin of 258-12.
D’Antoni also played baseball as a sophomore and basketball during his junior year. Following his graduation in 1941, he became a member of the U.S. Army Air Corps, flying missions in 1942 over Tunisia, Sicily and Italy, winning the Air Medal, The Legion of Merit and the Distinguished Flying Cross before returning to the United States to become a P-51 Mustang pilot instructor. After being discharged with the rank of Major, D’Antoni returned to Huntington and established Dan’s Sports Shop, which he ran for more than 30 years before retiring. His brother, Lewis, became a legendary high school basketball coach in Mullens, W.Va., and his nephews Dan and Mike are also Marshall Hall of Famers. D’Antoni was inducted into the Marshall Athletic Hall of Fame in 1987.
