Villanova Univeristy Athletics

Nick Basca was a native of Phoenixville, Pa. who played one season in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles and died a war hero while serving as a tank commander during World War II. He is a 1940 graduate of Villanova and was posthumously inducted to the Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1980.
 
Basca was born on December 4, 1917 in Phoenixville, Pa. and played for the Wildcats from 1938-40 after attending Pennington Prep (N.J.). He was the captain of the 1940 squad and played for Villanova teams which were 18-7-1 (.712) during his career. That outstanding mark included the Wildcats recording their second straight undefeated campaign with an 8-0-1 record in 1938. Basca played during part of the program’s incredible 22-game unbeaten streak (19-0-3) which lasted from late in the 1936 season until the third game of the 1939 campaign.
 
Villanova’s only tie in 1938 was a 6-6 draw in a road game at South Carolina (played in Orangeburg, S.C.) in the fifth game of the season. The squad bounced back with a 25-12 victory over Auburn at Shibe Park the week later and avenged the South Carolina game with a convincing 40-0 shutout of the Gamecocks the next season in Philadelphia. The unbeaten streak ended with a 33-7 loss to Texas A&M in Tyler, Texas. During Basca’s senior season in 1940 the Wildcats posted wins over the likes of Florida and Kansas at Shibe Park.
 
Basca was listed as a halfback on the Eagles 1941 roster but played all over the field and on both sides of the ball while appearing in all 11 games. He carried the ball 15 times for 44 yards and a touchdown, averaging 2.9 yards per carry and scoring on a two-yard run against Detroit in the ninth game of the season. Basca also had two receptions for 45 yards on the year and finished the season with 146 all-purpose yards. He recorded three interceptions for 27 yards, recorded a 22-yard kickoff return and had an eight-yard punt return.
 
That still wasn’t all for Basca, who was the Eagles second kicker. He punted 10 times for an average of 34.8 yards per punt, made 9-of-9 extra points and went 1-of-2 on field goal attempts. Basca tallied 18 points in all in 1941, including 12 points kicking and six points from his touchdown run against the Lions.
 
The final game of the 1941 season was a 20-14 loss to the Washington Redskins at Griffith Stadium, with Basca kicking extra points on both Eagles touchdowns that day
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The date of the final game, December 7, 1941, of course “will live in infamy” for reasons far more solemn than football. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Basca enlisted in the United States Army and was eventually assigned as a tank commander in the 4^th Armored Division.
 
Basca was killed instantly on November 11, 1944 when his tank was struck by a German 88-millimeter anti tank round after four months in combat during the Western Allied invasion of France. He is currently honored in the Football’s Wartime Heroes display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.