By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist
MONROE, La. – Former ULM basketball player Wojciech Myrda, the 7-foot-2 center from Rzeszow, Poland, who ranks second in NCAA history in career blocked shots, died in his sleep on Sept. 19.
Myrda, 39, was living in Siedliska, a village close to the city of Rzeszow. His funeral is scheduled for Tuesday in Rzeszow.
"He was such a great guy, unassuming," said former ULM head coach Mike Vining. "It was no big deal to him. He just listened and (blocking shots) was something he could do. He worked at it and became interested in it."
Myrda played his senior season at Ouachita Parish High School as an exchange student before signing with ULM, where he quickly became a fan favorite for his shot-blocking prowess.
"His story was amazing," Vining said. "He didn't have a lot of clothes when he came here. He was wearing some of his daddy's clothes. He got stuck in an airport in New York. He got in and just adapted. Randall Garvin took him in and made him a part of their family. He didn't want to have to re-adjust is basically how we got him."
Myrda finished his college career with 535 blocked shots in 115 games from 1998-2002. Mississippi State's Jarvis Varnado would eventually become the leader with 564 blocked shots in 141 games from 2006-2010.
"What I remember is the excitement he brought to the campus and community," said ULM head coach
Keith Richard, who was working at another university in the area at the time. "He was a star on campus and a fixture in the community. People gravitated to the coliseum when he was chasing the record."
The blocks piled up until the magical night when he became the NCAA career leader on Saturday, Feb. 16, 2002.
"We had two home games, a Thursday game and a Saturday game," Vining said. "We played Thursday night and had like 6,500, which was a really, really good crowd. He only got two blocks. So now he's two away and we have a Saturday, which was great for the crowd."
Playing before a Fant-Ewing crowd of 6,822, Myrda blocked 11 shots against Nicholls State in a 90-73 win. He came into the game needing two blocked shots to pass Colgate's Adonal Foyle (492).
Myrda broke the record with a block against 6-4 Earnest Porter's shot attempt at the 14:57 mark of the first half.
"Since I'm taller than him, I had a good opportunity," Myrda said that night. "Of course, I used it."
ULM called timeout shortly after and presented Myrda with the ball as the crowd roared. He held the ball high over his head like a trophy.
"What you have to do is time it right," Myrda once said, explaining his talent. "Make your guy take it to the basket but make it look like you aren't looking."
Northeastern Louisiana basketball fans got a sneak preview of Myrda in high school as he averaged 7.2 blocked shots for coach Keith Brown and the Ouachita Lions.
"I will always appreciate his leap of faith to trust me and come to Monroe sight unseen," said Brown, who later served as Vining's assistant coach when Myrda played at ULM. "He was big hearted and loved to laugh and very fun to be around. He truly appreciated the opportunity to be here and get an education. He left a very lasting impression at Ouachita and ULM on many people. I think without question, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for all of us, and especially me. Randall Garvin's family deserves credit for allowing him to live with them while at Ouachita."
Myrda enjoyed his stay in the United States, particularly some of the snack foods he encountered.
"It came out that he loved honeybuns," Vining said. "One of the companies around here gave people in the crowd honeybuns. They threw out souvenir honeybuns."
Said Brown: "He breaks the block-shot record and honeybuns hit the floor. He took full advantage of all our food and culture."
His longtime friend and former ULM teammate Radek Ciszkiewicz followed him from Poland and the two remained close over the years.
"I have been friends with Wojciech since we first started playing basketball together at age 14 or so," Ciszkiewicz said.
Myrda was planning a return visit to Louisiana soon, his friend said.
"He loved the culture at ULM," Ciszkiewick said. "Many great people locally and from around the world.
"He loved the Louisiana food, including honeybuns. When I was going home to visit, we would always meet and talk about the great time at ULM"
In 2001–02, he led the nation with 5.2 blocks per game, and in his final three seasons he finished in the top five for that statistical category. Myrda set a single-game school record when he recorded 13 blocks against Texas-San Antonio on Jan. 17, 2002. Myrda blocked 96 as a freshman, 144 as a sophomore, 123 as a junior and capped it with 172 as a senior, when he averaged 11.2 points and 7.1 rebounds as an All-Southland Conference selection.
After ULM, Myrda spent four years playing basketball professionally in Poland, Russian and Slovakia.
"He recently started his own business," said Ciszkiewicz. "Providing IT solutions for firms and businesses. That included hardware and implementation."
