Way beyond a two-sport star at Marquette

Only three freshmen have ever lettered in both football and basketball at Marquette. Sam Sauceda, who died Monday at his home in Whitefish Bay at the age of 89, was one on them. But that was just one achievement during his long tenure at the school.

Sauceda earned an athletic scholarship to Marquette in 1944. Once there, he competed as a halfback for the football team and planned to be part of head coach Bill Chandler's basketball team. However, he had turned 18 in July and was drafted to the U.S. Army following his first trimester. He left to fight in World War II and was stationed in Germany when it ended.

When he returned to Marquette, Sauceda played four years of basketball from 1946-'50,…