"It's about time!" said His Excellency Bishop Thomas Costello upon learning of his former high school classmate Rev. Msgr. Francis J. Willenburg's selection for induction into the Greater Utica Sports Hall of Fame. "It was too long in the waiting."

Msgr. Willenburg participated in no less than six sports as a player, two as a coach and countless others as a supporter and promoter throughout his career in the City of Utica. As a player, he excelled at football and basketball at St. Aloysius Academy in Rome, New York. On the gridiron, Msgr. Willenburg was team captain in both 1945 and 1946. The sport, which was six-man football due to World War II, was where Msgr. Willenburg would make his first impression in the world of sports. On November 1, 1945, St. Aloysius Academy defeated S1. John's of Rensselaer in a game in which Msgr. Willenburg threw for three touchdown passes, returned a pair of intercepted passes for two more scores and accounted for an additional two points by throwing one pass and catching another.

In basketball, he scored 173 points in the 1944-1945 season when he was just a junior and 328 points during his senior season. Both totals were at a time when basketball did not have the three-point shot or the 1-1 foul shot. On February 16, 1946, Msgr. Willenburg set the single-game scoring record in Rome High School basketball with 39 points, and when he graduated he was the scoring-average record holder in Rome High School basketball with just over 17 points per game.

When Msgr. Willenburg graduated St. Aloysius Academy in 1946, he graduated as the valedictorian. His academic and athletic ability led him to the Division I Basketball team of Niagara University.

While Msgr. Willenburg was not a starter on the team, but he was on a squad that had beaten the City College of New York City (CCNY), the number one team in Division I basketball. It should also be noted that CCNY was also the National Invitational Tournament and National Collegiate Athletic Association champions during this time period. Two teammates of Msgr. Willenburg went on to become referees in the National Basketball Association, and his coach, John J. "Taps" Gallagher made his players train against the old Rochester Royals of the NBA during the Bobby Davies era. Msgr. Willenburg would leave Niagara University after his junior year to enter the seminary, but before he left, he would earn three varsity letters, one in basketball, one in baseball and one in golf.

After his ordination, Msgr. Willenburg played basketball in the 1950s in the old State Hospital League for the Utica State Hospital team. He played against such high caliber players as Dick Miller and Hubie Brown, both members of the Marcy State Hospital team and tremendous basketball players in their own right.

Msgr. Willenburg also excelled in golf On June 21, 1950, he shot a Hole-in-One at the Teugega Country Club with his father serving as witness. The following year, 1951, Msgr. Willenburg attained the Teugega Country Club "Club Champion" title with play described in the Rome Sentinel as "one of the finest ever seen in championship competition at the Teugega." He defeated the reigning champion, Harry D. (Bud) White by two shots.

Ordained in 1954, Msgr. Willenburg has been inducted into the Rome Sports Hall of Fame in 1989, the SUNY Institute of Techonology Utica/Rome Wildcat Booster Hall of Fame in 1995, and the Central New York Bowling Hall of Fame in 2006.