The No. 9 might have hung a little low on Bob “Blackie” Rehm’s baggy basketball jersey and his stature might not have matched up to that of his teammates’, but once he was on the hardwood court, none of that mattered.
Rehm used his 5-foot-10-inch frame and his speed to his advantage by maneuvering his way between taller players, slipping to the basket and scoring, according to his wife Merle Marks Rehm.
Rehm grew up in New Orleans and was a standout basketball player at St. Aloysius High School. After graduation, he joined the military and served in World War II.
After his release from the service, Rehm decided to go back to New Orleans to attend Loyola in the spring of 1947.
He realized that he missed playing basketball and tried out for the team at midseason. He earned a spot as a starter on the varsity team.
Within the first few games with the Wolfpack, Rehm became known for his offensive style of “cat and mouse” playmaking on the court, which was responsible for many of the team’s wins, according to his wife. Merle Rehm said he would “steal the ball away from the towering players on the other team.”
According to the 1948 yearbook, The Wolf, Rehm possessed an “uncanny ability to snatch passes from under the very noses of opposing players.” The article called him a “diminutive cager” and a “master at defense.”
He became co-captain of the team, a title he held for the next three years, and the Wolfpack went 20-10 in his sophomore year. Rehm was the fifth leading scorer with 142 points.
By his junior year, Rehm was the leading scorer with 224 points at the end of the 1948-1949 season, and he was named second team in the All-Gulf States Conference. He was also voted Loyola’s “Best Athlete” by The Wolf in 1949.
Rehm didn’t just stick to basketball. His senior year, he was also one of six founding members of Loyola’s first intercollegiate golf team. He played in the first Gulf States Golf Competition in which a Loyola team competed.
Rehm graduated in 1950 with a degree in Arts and Sciences and began a career as a banker at the Bank of New Orleans. In 1952, he married Merle, who also graduated from Loyola and they had three children. He retired in 1979 as vice-president of the Bank of New Orleans. Rehm passed away in 1994 at the age of 70.
His wife, who still lives in Metairie, will attend the Hall of Fame Induction along with their three children, five grandchildren and one great-grandchild. The ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 19 during the halftime of Loyola’s men’s basketball game against LSU-Shreveport in the Den.
The men will play at 5 p.m., following the women’s game scheduled at 3 p.m.
Rehm will be recognized along with fellow Loyola Athletics Hall of Fame inductees: tennis star Ann Bee Berrigan, athletic trainer Sidney “Tiger” Wade, track runner Frank Newman and the 1957-1958 men’s basketball team.
The Hall of Fame presentation will be followed by a reception in honor of the inductees in the Danna Center Lounge at 7 p.m. and a formal Hall of Fame Induction ceremony, which begins at 8 p.m. in the St. Charles Room.
Nicole Wroten can be reached at [email protected].
