George Yardley

George Harry Yardley III


Born:
November 3, 1928
Hollywood, CA

Died:
August 13. 2004
Newport Beach, CA


Career
1945-46 Newport Harbor High School - Newport Beach, CA (High School)
1947-48 Stanford University (College)
1948-49 Stanford University (College)
1949-50 Stanford University (College)
1950-51 Stewart Chevrolet - San Francisco (Independent)
1951-52 Los Alamitos Naval Base (Military) 
1953-54 Fort Wayne Pistons (NBA)
1954-55 Fort Wayne Pistons (NBA)
1955-56 Fort Wayne Pistons (NBA)
1956-57 Fort Wayne Pistons (NBA)
1957-58 Detroit Pistons (NBA)
1958-59 Detroit Pistons (NBA)
1958-59 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1959-60 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1961-62 Los Angeles Jets (ABL)

NATIONAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME, 1996

Yardley graduated from Stanford in 1950 and was selected by Fort Wayne in the first round of the 1950 NBA Draft. Rather than sign with the Pistons, he wanted to maintain his amateur status in order to play in the 1952 Olympics. He played basketball with the Stewart Chevrolet out of San Francisco who won the 1951 AAU Championship. Yardley entered the U.S. Navy shortly thereafter and played for the Los Alamitos Base team. However, he broke his hand while playing there and was unable to play for the United States in the Helsinki Olympic games.

Out of the navy in 1953, Yardley finally joined the Pistons and five years later when the Pistons moved to Detroit, Yardley became the first NBA player to score 2000 points in a single season.  In the following 1958-59 season, Yardley was traded to the Syracuse Nationals where he played the next season and a half. A six-time all-star, Yardley retired following the 1959-60 season at the age of 31.

In his seven-year career, he finished in the top 16 in scoring in six seasons. He returned to California but was coaxed out of retirement in 1961 by Bill Sharman who was a player and head coach for the New York Jets in the new American Basketball League. When the team failed, he quit playing for good and started up his own engineering company, the George Yardley Company in Santa Ana, California. Yardley was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1996. He died in 2004 from complications of ALS.

George and his wife, Diana, had two daughters and one son.


Source:
NY Times, August 16, 2004

Stats:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/y/yardlge01.html
https://www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=yardlge01

Gene Conley

Donald Eugene "Gene" Conley


Born:
November 10, 1930
Muskogee, OK

Died:
July 4, 2017
Foxboro, MA





Career
Columbia High School - Richland, WA (High School)
1948-49 Washington State University (College)
1949-50 Washington State University (College)
1952-53 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1958-59 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1959-60 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1960-61 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1961-62 Washington / New York Tapers (ABL)
1962-63 New York Knicks (NBA)
1963-64 New York Knicks (NBA)
1968-69 New Haven Elms (EBL) Head coach / player
1969-70 Hartford Capitols (EBL) Head coach

Conley was born in Oklahoma but the family moved to Washington when Gene was 12. While at Columbia High School, Conley participated in baseball, basketball and track. Standing 6-foot-8, Conley went to Washington State on an athletic scholarship, where he continued to shine on the hardwood as well as the pitching mound. He intended to stay in school to finish his education and continue playing both sports, but he signed with the Boston Braves in October of 1950. He was assigned to their Eastern League affiliate in Hartford where he won 20 games with an ERA of 2.15. Late in that season, Hartford was in Wilkes-Barre for a series and the American Basketball League's Wilkes-Barre Barons offered Conley a contract to play basketball in the 1951-52 off-season. The Braves gave Conley $1000 to not consider playing basketball again. Conley passed on the Baron's offer and stuck with baseball... for now.

Conley was brought up by the Braves to start the 1952 season on the pitching staff, but after 4 rough outings, he was sent down to their AAA club in Milwaukee for more seasoning. He went 11-4 with Milwaukee, and Conley decided to accept an offer to play with the Boston Celtics in the NBA. He played in 39 games with the Celtics, averaging 2.3 points. During that time, the Braves moved from Boston to Milwaukee, and Toledo was the new AAA farm team for the Braves. Conley spent 1953 with Toledo, sporting a 23-9 record and assured himself a spot on the Braves roster when the 1954 season kicked off.

With the Braves no longer in Boston, Conley quit the Celtics and basketball for the time being. He was an important piece of the Milwaukee Braves World Series championship in 1957, and although he struggled in 1958, Milwaukee won the National League Pennant again. He was having shoulder problems and it was really effecting his pitching. He wanted to play for the Celtics again in the off-season, against the wishes of the Braves. He would go on to win three NBA championships with the Celtics, but the Braves traded him to the Phillies after the 1958 season. He enjoyed a resurgence on the mound with the Phillies in 1959, being named to the NL All-Star team twice, but struggled some in 1960 before being sent to the Boston Red Sox. He played hard with the Celtics, and in 1960-61 got his third NBA ring in three seasons.
In 1961, the NBA was expanding and the Celtics left Conley unprotected in the expansion draft and he was selected by the Chicago Packers. He thought about taking the season off and did not report to the Packers, but when the Washington / New York Tapers of the brand-new American Basketball League offered him a contract, he took them up on it and spent the season in the upstart league.

He was still a reliable starter for the Red Sox, hurling 240+ innings in 1962, but his baseball days were quickly winding down. He had suffered a broken finger and a severely sprained ankle really hampered him. In basketball, he returned to the NBA in 1962 for two seasons with the New York Knicks, but in the spring of 1964, he was released by the Red Sox and his playing days in both sports were over. He is the only player to win a World Series title and an NBA Championship. He and his wife started the Foxboro Paper Company and were very successful. Conley was 86 when he died of heart failure in 2017.

Gene married Kathryn Dizney in 1951 and they had three children.

Major League Baseball Stats
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/c/conlege01.shtml

Source:
SABR Biography
NY Times obituary, July 5, 2017

Stats:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/conlege01.html
https://www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=conlege01

Neil Johnston

Donald Neil Johnston


Born:
February 4, 1929
Chillicothe, OH

Died:
September 28, 1978
Irving, TX


Career
1944-45 Chillicothe High School - Ohio (High School)
1945-46 Chillicothe High School - Ohio (High School)
1946-47 Ohio State University (College)
1947-48 Ohio State University (College)
1948-49 Columbus Mariners - Ohio (Independent)
1948-49 Gerber's Lustrons - Chillicothe, OH (Independent)
1949-50 Gerling Builders - Chillicothe, OH (Independent)
1949-50 Agonis Club - Newark, OH (Independent)
1950-51 Agonis Club - Newark, OH (Independent)
1951-52 Philadelphia Warriors (NBA)
1951-53 Philadelphia Warriors (NBA)
1951-54 Philadelphia Warriors (NBA)
1951-55 Philadelphia Warriors (NBA)
1951-56 Philadelphia Warriors (NBA)
1951-57 Philadelphia Warriors (NBA)
1951-58 Philadelphia Warriors (NBA)
1958-59 Philadelphia Warriors (NBA)
1959-60 Philadelphia Warriors (NBA) Head coach
1960-61 Philadelphia Warriors (NBA) Head coach
1961-62 Pittsburgh Rens (ABL) Head coach / player
1962-63 Pittsburgh Rens (ABL) Head coach
1964-65 Wilmington Blue Bombers (EBL) Head coach
1965-66 Wilmington Blue Bombers (EBL) Head coach
1966-67 Wake Forest (College) Assistant coach
1967-68 Wake Forest (College) Assistant coach
1968-69 Wake Forest (College) Assistant coach
1969-70 Wake Forest (College) Assistant coach
1970-71 Wake Forest (College) Assistant coach
1971-72 Wake Forest (College) Assistant coach
1972-73 Portland Trailblazers (NBA) Assistant coach
1973-74 Portland Trailblazers (NBA) Assistant coach
1976-77 Chemetka Community College - Salem, OR (College) Head coach

NATIONAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME, 1990

Johnston played both baseball and basketball at Chillicothe HS and then at Ohio State. He left school early to pursue baseball, pitching in the Philles farm system from 1949-1951. After pitching for Wilmington in the Interstate (B) League in 1951, his manager Jim Ward helped him get a tryout with the Philadelphia Warriors. He made the team, and never looked back to the mound. Blessed with a sweet hook shot, Johnston played 8 seasons with the Warriors, leading the league in shooting percentage multiple times and also in rebounded. (He also got a Masters Degree at Temple during this time.) In 1959, he severely injured his knee and moved from the court to the bench, coaching the Warriors for 2 seasons. He moved over the the Pittsburgh Rens of the new ABL in 1961, and was a player / coach. He quite playing but stayed on the bench in the next season, and the ABL folded after the 62-63 season. After a year off, Johnston coached Wilmington in the Eastern League for a couple seasons before Jack McCloskey hired him as his assistant at Wake Forest. Six years later, McCloskey left for the NBA, and Johnston was not hired by Wake to replace him, and instead fired him. McCloskey brought him on board at Portland. They were both fired after two seasons there. Johnston took a job with the BBB in Portland before returning to basketball in 1976 as the head coach at Chemetka CC in Salem, Oregon. After one season there, he was offered the Athletic Director job at North Lake Community College in Irving Texas in the summer of 1977.

On one warm September day in 1978, Johnston was playing basketball with some friends and family when he collapsed. The heart attack he was suffering would prove to be fatal. He was only 49 years old. He was posthumously elected to the National Basketball Hall of Fame in 1990.

Neil married Phyllis Wilson (1931-1980) and they had two sons and three daughters.

Minor League Baseball Stats
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=johnst001don

Source:
News Journal (Wilmington, DE), January 13, 1966
News Journal (Wilmington, DE), April 6, 1972
Obituary, Statesman Journal (Salem, OR), September 29, 1978

Stats:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/j/johnsne01.html
http://www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=johnsne01

Bill Sharman

William Walton Sharman


Born:
May 25, 1926
Abilene, TX

Died:
October 25, 2013
Redondo Beach, CA


Career
1942-43 Central High School - Porterville, CA (High School)
1943-44 Central High School - Porterville, CA (High School)
1946-47 University of Southern California (College)
1947-48 University of Southern California (College)
1948-49 University of Southern California (College)
1949-50 University of Southern California (College)
1950-51 Washington Capitols (NBA)
1951-52 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1952-53 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1953-54 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1954-55 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1955-56 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1956-57 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1957-58 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1958-59 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1959-60 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1960-61 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1961-62 Los Angeles Jets (ABL) Head coach / player
1961-62 Cleveland Pipers (ABL) Head coach / player
1962-63 Los Angeles State (College) Head coach
1963-64 Los Angeles State (College) Head coach 
1966-67 San Francisco Warriors (NBA) Head coach
1967-68 San Francisco Warriors (NBA) Head coach
1968-69 Los Angeles Stars (ABA) Head coach
1969-70 Los Angeles Stars (ABA) Head coach
1970-71 Utah Stars (ABA) Head coach
1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (ABA) Head coach
1972-73 Los Angeles Lakers (ABA) Head coach 
1973-74 Los Angeles Lakers (ABA) Head coach
1974-75 Los Angeles Lakers (ABA) Head coach 
1975-76 Los Angeles Lakers (ABA) Head coach 

NATIONAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME, 1976

Sharman entered the U.S. Navy after graduating from high school, serving during World War 2. He went to USC, playing both baseball and basketball there. After graduating, Sharman played through 1955 in the Brooklyn Dodgers farm system. However, it was basketball where he made his biggest impact. After one season with the Washington Capitols, he played with the Celtics for 10 seasons and was one of the best shooters of all-time. He was a part of four NBA Championship teams and was an 8-time All-Star.

Sharman quit the Celtics in 1961 to become player and head coach for the Los Angeles Jets in the new ABL. However, the team folded in January of 1962, and Sharman moved to take over the Cleveland Pipers when their coach, John McLendon, abruptly quit (he had frequently argued with Pipers owner George Steinbrenner). Longing to return home to California, Sharman took the head coaching job at Los Angeles State, but resigned after a two years to broadcast for the St. Louis Hawks. This lasted until 1966, when he returned to the bench to lead the NBA's San Francisco Warriors. He moved to take over the Los Angeles Stars in the ABA in 1968, and after two years in LA and one year when the franchise moved to Utah (winning the ABA title), he returned one last time to Los Angeles and the NBA. He coached the Lakers for five seasons, leading the club to their first title in L.A. He stepped down from coaching in 1976 to become the Lakers' GM, and in 1983 was named the club's president, retiring in 1990.

Sharman was elected to the Hall of Fame both as a player and a coach.

He and his wife, Joyce, ha two sons and two daughters.

Minor League Baseball Stats:
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=sharma001wil

Source:

L.A. Times, October 22, 1961
Sandusky Register, January 31, 1962 
Obituary, N.Y. Times, October 25, 2013

Stats:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/sharmbi01.html
http://www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=sharmbi01

Nat Clifton

Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton
born Clifton Nathanial


Born:
October 13, 1922
England, AR

Died:
August 31, 1990
Chicago, IL


Career
1940-41 Dusable High School - Chicago (High School)
1941-42 Dusable High School - Chicago (High School)
1942-43 Xavier University - Louisiana (College)
1945-46 Dayton Metropolitans (Independent)
1946-47 Dayton Metropolitans (Independent)
1946-47 New York Rens (Independent)
1947-48 Harlem Globetrtotters (Independent)
1947-48 Dayton Metropolitans (AABL)
1948-49 Harlem Globetrtotters (Independent)
1949-50 Harlem Globetrtotters (Independent)
1950-51 New York Knicks (NBA)
1951-52 New York Knicks (NBA)
1952-53 New York Knicks (NBA)
1953-54 New York Knicks (NBA)
1954-55 New York Knicks (NBA)
1955-56 New York Knicks (NBA)
1956-57 New York Knicks (NBA)
1957-58 Detroit Pistons (NBA)
1958-59 Harlem Stars (Independent)
1959-60 Harlem Stars (Independent)
1960-61 Harlem Stars (Independent)
1961-62 Chicago Majors (ABL)
1961-62 Harlem Globetrtotters (Independent)
1962-63 Harlem Globetrtotters (Independent)
1963-64 Harlem Magicians (Independent)
1964-65 Harlem Magicians (Independent)

NATIONAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME, 2014

Born Clifton Nathaniel, he changed is name to Nathaniel Clifton After playing at Dusable High School where he set the single-game scoring record in the city championship tournament, Sweetwater (so nicknamed because he would put sugar in drinking water for a treat since the family was too poor to afford soft drinks) played one year at Xavier in Louisiana before entering the U.S. Army. After serving in World War 2, Clifton returned to the States and began to play professional basketball for various barnstorming pro teams like the Rens and the Globetrotters. During this time, Clifton was signed by baseball's Cleveland Indians, and played a few years of minor league baseball. He batted .307 over two seasons in the Tribe's farm system before deciding to stay focused on basketball.

He was making $10,000 a season with the Globetrotters in 1950 when the Boston Celtics drafted Chuck Cooper, breaking the NBA's color barrier. Shortly thereafter, Globetrotters' owner Abe Saperstein sold Clifton to the New York Knicks, and Clifton became one of three black players to start the 1950-51 season on NBA teams (Earl Lloyd being the other player besides Clifton and Cooper). Clifton was a solid player for 7 seasons with the Knicks, making the All-Star team in 1956-57. He was traded to the Detroit Pistons, and after a unsatisfied season there, quit the NBA. He played a couple more season of  independent basketball and eventually played with the Chicago Majors of the upstart ABL in 1961-62. He wound up driving a taxi for many years in Chicago, and in 1990, died behind the wheel of his cab, felled by a fatal heart attack.

Clifton was posthumoursly selected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014.

Minor League Baseball Stats
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=clifto001nat

Source:
http://biography.jrank.org/pages/2338/Clifton-Nathaniel-Sweetwater.html
Chicago Tribune, September 2, 1990

Stats:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/c/cliftna01.html
http://www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=cliftna01
http://probasketballencyclopedia.com/player/sweetwater-clifton/