Hall of Fame
After graduating from Johnstown Catholic High School (currently Bishop McCort High School) in 1953, Robert F. Bulas brought his academic and athletic talents to the Pitt-Johnstown “Concrete Campus” on Cypress Avenue in the Moxham section of town. On the basketball court, Mr. Bulas averaged over 22 points per game from 1954-56 on his way to becoming the first men’s basketball player in school history to score 1,000 points, all without the aid of the three-point line. Mr. Bulas, along with fellow Pitt-Johnstown Hall of Famers Dr. Robert Hartnett and Carl Sax, led the team to the school’s first regular season Junior College Championship in 1956. That season, Mr. Bulas led Head Coach Dave Ed’s Pitt-Johnstown squad in scoring at over 23 points per game and finished the year with 575 points.
Since Pitt-Johnstown was just a two-year school at the time, Mr. Bulas finished in 1956 and transferred to Indiana University (PA) where he joined the starting line-up, averaged 15 points per game, and helped lead IUP to a 25-3 record and a berth in the 1958 NAIA National Tournament in Kansas City.
However, the following year, Mr. Bulas returned to his hometown of Johnstown and took over the reigns of the Pitt-Johnstown basketball program. In three seasons, he posted a 52-23 record and led his team to a championship and a runner-up finish in the Pennsylvania State Junior College Tournament. His 69.3% winning percentage is still a school-record. In addition, Mr. Bulas guided the 1961-62 team to 21 victories, Pitt-Johnstown’s first 20 or more win season.
After earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in secondary education from IUP in 1958, Mr. Bulas spent six months of active duty with the US Army. Following three years of coaching and other duties at Pitt-Johnstown, Mr. Bulas spent the next 30 years employed by the IRS, until his retirement in 1992. Mr. Bulas currently owns and operates a tax consulting business.
Mr. Bulas and his wife of 48 years, the former Carol Pilot, have four children and six grandchildren.
“This is a terrific honor and it means a great deal to me,” Mr. Bulas said. “I’ll cherish this the rest of my life. After playing basketball at the Moxham Campus back in the 1950s, I never would have dreamed an honor like this would ever happen to me.”
