From the same high school that produced All-American John Mahnken in 1943, Charles Schmidli starred on the Memorial HS team that won the 1939 New Jersey state title, and joined the Georgetown varsity after his freshman season in 1940.

Schmidli's size and agility made him a consistent performer for the next two years of Georgetown teams. he scored in 39 of 40 games over two seasons, finishing third in scoring in 1940-41 and leading the team in scoring in 1941-42. An 18 point game against temple on Feb. 10, 1941 was a career high.

As the team's leading scorer in 1941-42, Schmidli would have been a valuable addition to the 1942-43 team but as a result of the school's accelerated class schedule during World War II, Schmidli graduated in January 1943. After two games with a pro team in Harrisburg, Schmidli entered military service, and returned to pro basketball in 1946 with the Jersey City Atoms of the American Basketball League, averaging 6.6 points per game over 36 games.