WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — Sam Verdini of Loyalsock Township is in possession of history. He owns a ticket stub from the 1962 NBA game that was played in Hershey — otherwise known as the game when Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points, the most by a single player in one game.
"Wilt was never a good foul shooter but he scored 31 points from the foul line that game and ended up scoring his 100 points," said Verdini.
Verdini remembers going to the game with his two friends. Just over 4,000 people attended the game.
"The only other thing I remember is Paul Harrison, who also played for Philadelphia, kept trying to shoot and not pass the ball to Wilt and people were booing him," added Verdini.
Verdini says the ticket has been sitting in a junk drawer for the past 60 years.
"I was talking to my buddy that I was at the game with and we were talking about the game. I said I still have my ticket stub and he said it might be worth some money, but I didn't know," he said.
Just recently, he took it to Shawn Vuocolo in South WIlliamsport to find out how much its worth. Vuocolo owns Finding Nostalgia, a business that deals with vintage sports memorabilia and appraisals.
"This is a valuable ticket. It is probably one of the most sought-after NBA collectibles, if not the most sought after," said Vuocolo.
The ticket was sent off to Professional Sports Authenticators to be authenticated and graded. The ticket stub will soon be auctioned off. It has the potential to sell for six figures.
"We are sending it off to Robert Edwards Auctions and we are actually sending it off today. It will be auctioned off in the November auction," added Vuocolo.
"It is fantastic. It couldn't have cost me more than a couple of dollars back in 1962," said Verdini.
There are currently only 23 authenticated tickets from this game in existence.
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