Ertell, was not only a four-letterman in football as a back, but the school's only five-letterman in basketball due to the eligibility rules of the day, as Detroit JC became Detroit City College.
He won football monograms in 1920-21-22-23 and basketball awards in 1921-22-23-24-25, captaining the 1925 team.
The Detroit-Northern High School product represented a contrast in discussing his career, saying "As an athlete, my only goal was in winning; but as a coach I taught players to lose with dignity and to have respect for their opponents."
In 18 years as head basketball coach at WSU, Ertell took his teams to a 183-135 record, a .576 percentage. He also assisted in football for years and was later golf coach for a time. His basketball teams were famous for playing big-name competition and frequently took between-semester trips to meet top foes. He took WSU to the old NAIA Tournament in the late 1930s and also had his 1936 team invited to the Olympic Trials.
Ertell resigned from basketball at the end of the 1948 season, but stayed on at the University until his 1967 retirement, concluding 35 years of service to the WSU intramural sports area. He received the Willie Heston Award from the Detroit Chapter, National Football Foundation and Hall of Fame in 1970 for athletic leadership.
