Bob Pettit

Robert Lee Pettit, Jr.


Born:
December 12, 1932
Baton Rouge, LA

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Career
1948-49 Baton Rouge High School - Louisiana (High School)
1949-50 Baton Rouge High School - Louisiana (High School)
1950-51 Louisiana State University (College) Freshmen
1951-52 Louisiana State University (College)
1952-53 Louisiana State University (College)
1953-54 Louisiana State University (College)
1954-55 Milwaukee Hawks (NBA)
1955-56 St. Louis Hawks (NBA)
1956-57 St. Louis Hawks (NBA)
1957-58 St. Louis Hawks (NBA)
1958-59 St. Louis Hawks (NBA)
1959-60 St. Louis Hawks (NBA)
1960-61 St. Louis Hawks (NBA)
1961-62 St. Louis Hawks (NBA)
1962-63 St. Louis Hawks (NBA)
1963-64 St. Louis Hawks (NBA)
1964-65 St. Louis Hawks (NBA)

NATIONAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME, 1971

With a slim 6'9 frame, Bob Pettit went from LSU star to an 11-year career that saw him as one of the most effective scoring threats the NBA has ever seen.

Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to Robert and Mary Pettit, young Bob didn't take to the sport right away, failing to make the high school team at first. Before his junior year, his dad, formerly the Sheriff of the East Baton Rouge Parish, pushed him to keep working at it. His work ethic, coupled with a growth spurt of five inches, got him on the school team in his junior year and he was named all-City. In his senior year, he lead the school to their first state championship.

Pettit received many scholarship offers, but chose to stay in state and go to LSU. A starter for all three years of varsity basketball, Pettit was twice named All-American as he average just under 28 points per game.  As a senior, he was the second play in major college history to average over 30 points in a season.

Pettit was selected second overall in the 1954 NBA draft by the Milwaukee Hawks. He moved from center to forward, and the hapless Hawks would see their fortunes improve as Pettit would win Rookie of the Year honors. The team moved to St. Louis the following season, and the team kept improving and in 1957 would win their first NBA championship. Pettit was in his prime, finishing regularly near the top of the league in scoring and rebounding and being a thorn in the side of the men he defended against.

Pettit would play 11 seasons with the Hawks, retiring in 1965. He had been named to the All-Star team every season he played, being selected as the All-Star Game MVP four times as well as being named the league's MVP twice. He lead the league in scoring twice, and at his retirement held the career points record with 20,880 (at the time I write this, he is in 43rd place in career points now, but his average of 26.4 points per game for his career is good for 8th place all-time).

After retiring from basketball, Pettit went to work in banking and later as a financial advisor as a co-founder of Equitas Capitol Investors. He was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1971 and was one of the NBA's 50 greatest players selected for the NBA's 50 Anniversary celebration.

Pettit married Carol Crowell in 1965 (d. 2010) and they had three children.

Source:


Stats:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/pettibo01.html
https://www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=pettibo01

Johnny "Red" Kerr

John Graham "Red" Kerr


Born:
July 17, 1932
Chicago, IL

Died:
February 26, 2009
Chicago, IL


Career
1949-50 Tilden High School - Chicago (High School)
1951-52 University of Illinois (College)
1952-53 University of Illinois (College)
1953-54 University of Illinois (College)
1954-55 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1955-56 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1956-57 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1957-58 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1958-59 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1959-60 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1960-61 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1961-62 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1962-63 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1963-64 Philadelphia 76ers (NBA)
1964-65 Philadelphia 76ers (NBA)
1965-66 Baltimore Bullets (NBA)
1966-67 Chicago Bulls (NBA) Head coach
1967-68 Chicago Bulls (NBA) Head coach
1968-69 Phoenix Suns (NBA) Head coach
1969-70 Phoenix Suns (NBA) Head coach

Born to Matthew and Florence Kerr on the South Side of Chicago, Kerr was a gifted soccer player at Tilden High School until a late growth spurt put him at 6'9 and allowed him to gravitate to basketball. He received a scholarship at Illinois and helped the team to the Big Ten title and Final Four appearance in 1952. He graduated from Illinois with 1299 career points and was drafted by the Syracuse Nationals in the 1954 NBA Draft.

As a rookie, Kerr helped the Nationals to the NBA title in 1955. A three-time All-Star, Kerr would play 12 seasons in the NBA and had set the record 844 complete games played. After the 1965-66 season with the Baltimore Bullets, Kerr was selected by the Chicago Bulls in the expansion draft, but became their head coach instead of a player. His playing days behind him, he finished with over 12,000 points and 10,000 rebounds. Kerr would coach the Chicago Bulls for two seasons and then the Phoenix Suns for two. He was lured to the Virginia Squires of the ABA where he served as the team's GM, signing players like Julius Irving. He returned to the Bulls in 1973 as the team's business manager and later worked as a broadcaster.

Kerr married Betsy Nemecek in 1954 and they had five sons and one daughter. One son, John Jr., died at the age of 3. He also took in the three daughters of his sister-in-law, Drusella, when she and her husband Evan died within months of each other in late 1971 and early 1972. Drusella and Evan's daughter Laurel Jean Ellis would be murdered in 1974 while attending Grand Valley College in Michigan. Her murder would go unsolved for many years until DNA tests linked a man named Lamont Marshall who had been found to have commit other murders and violent acts in the area.

Source:
MLive, April 2010
Obituary, Chicago Tribune, February 27, 2009

Stats:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/kerrre01.html
https://www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=kerrjo01

Larry Costello

Lawrence Ronald Costello


Born:
July 2, 1931
Syracuse, NY

Died:
December 11, 2001
Fort Myers Beach, FL


Career
1948-49 Minoa High School - New York (High School)
1949-50 Minoa High School - New York (High School)
1950-51 Niagara University (College)
1951-52 Niagara University (College)
1952-53 Niagara University (College)
1953-54 Niagara University (College)
1954-55 Philadelphia Warriors (NBA)
1956-57 Philadelphia Warriors (NBA)
1957-58 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1958-59 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1959-60 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1960-61 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1961-62 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1962-63 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1963-64 Philadelphia 76ers (NBA)
1964-65 Philadelphia 76ers (NBA)
1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers (NBA)
1967-68 Philadelphia 76ers (NBA)
1968-69 Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) Head coach
1969-70 Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) Head coach
1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) Head coach
1971-72 Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) Head coach
1972-73 Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) Head coach
1973-74 Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) Head coach
1974-75 Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) Head coach
1975-76 Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) Head coach
1976-77 Milwaukee Bucks (NBA) Head coach
1978-79 Chicago Bulls (NBA) Head coach

Costello hit the ground running at Niagara, helping the freshmen team to an undefeated season in 1950-51. He would lead the varsity team in scoring as a sophomore, and his three years on varsity lead the Eagles to the NIT twice. A tough and physical player, he would play 12 seasons in the NBA with the Philadelphia Warriors and the Syracuse Nationals / Philadelphia 76ers. He retired as a player in 1968 and immediately moved to the bench, being named the head coach for the Milwaukee Bucks. He coached the Bucks to the NBA title in 1971 with players such as Lew Alcindor and Oscar Robertson. He would coach the Bucks for eight full seasons and was fired 16 games into a ninth. Costello was one of the first head coaches to employ a full-time assistant on the bench. He returned to coaching in 1978 with the Chicago Bulls but was replaced by Scotty Robertson after a 20-36 start.

Costello died of cancer in 2001.

Source:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/42777375
https://www.buffalosportshallfame.com/member/larry-costello/
NY Times, December 14, 2001

Stats:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/costela01.html
https://www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=costela01