Gene Shue

Eugene William Shue


Born:
December 18, 1931
Baltimore, MD

Died:
April 3, 2022
Marina del Rey, CA


Career
Towson Catholic High School - Maryland (High School)
1951-52 University of Maryland (College)
1952-53 University of Maryland (College)
1953-54 University of Maryland (College)
1954-55 Philadelphia Warriors (NBA)
1954-55 New York Knicks (NBA)
1955-56 New York Knicks (NBA)
1956-57 Fort Wayne Pistons (NBA)
1957-58 Detroit Pistons (NBA)
1958-59 Detroit Pistons (NBA)
1959-60 Detroit Pistons (NBA)
1960-61 Detroit Pistons (NBA)
1961-62 Detroit Pistons (NBA)
1962-63 New York Knicks (NBA)
1963-64 Baltimore Bullets (NBA)
1966-67 Baltimore Bullets (NBA) Head coach
1967-68 Baltimore Bullets (NBA) Head coach
1968-69 Baltimore Bullets (NBA) Head coach
1969-70 Baltimore Bullets (NBA) Head coach
1970-71 Baltimore Bullets (NBA) Head coach
1971-72 Baltimore Bullets (NBA) Head coach
1972-73 Baltimore Bullets (NBA) Head coach
1973-74 Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) Head coach
1974-75 Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) Head coach
1975-76 Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) Head coach
1976-77 Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) Head coach
1977-78 Philadelphia 76ers (NBA) Head coach
1978-79 San Diego Clippers (NBA) Head coach
1979-80 San Diego Clippers (NBA) Head coach
1980-81 Washington Bullets (NBA) Head coach
1981-82 Washington Bullets (NBA) Head coach
1982-83 Washington Bullets (NBA) Head coach
1983-84 Washington Bullets (NBA) Head coach
1984-85 Washington Bullets (NBA) Head coach
1985-86 Washington Bullets (NBA) Head coach
1987-88 Los Angeles Clippers (NBA) Head coach
1988-89 Los Angeles Clippers (NBA) Head coach

Not even offered a scholarship at the University of Maryland, Gene Shue worked hard to play for the school and would average over 20 points per game in his junior and senior years. The school had never had a prominent basketball program, but Shue helped push the school into national prominence.

After leaving the University of Maryland, Shue was the 3rd overall pick in 1954 NBA draft, selected by the Philadelphia Warriors. Shue would last less than month with Philly before being sold to the New York Knicks. He would see limited playing time with the Knicks for two seasons and was then traded to the Fort Wayne Pistons in April of 1956 for Ron Sobie. Fort Wayne moved to Detroit the in 1957, and Shue began five straight years as an All-Star, scoring over 22 PPG in 1959-60 and 1960-61. He was traded back o the Knicks in 1962, and a little over a year later was sold to the new Baltimore Bullets.

After the 1963-64 season with the Bullets, he retired as a player but a few years later returned as the team's head coach. Struggling to a 16-40 record in his first season as coach in 1966-67, two years later he lead the Bullets to a divisional title (and unfortunately a quick exit from the playoffs.) In 1971, the Bullets advanced to the NBA Finals but Shue's team was swept by the Milwaukee Bucks. In June of 1973, Shue quit the Bullets with four divisional titles under his belt. He was hired by the Philadelphia 76ers a few weeks after. Shue took a team that had been 9-73 in 1972-73 to the NBA finals four seasons later. He was fired by the Sixers in December of 1977, and a year later would begin his two-season stint coaching the San Diego Clippers. He resigned from the Clippers in May of 1980 to return to the Bullets (now playing in the nation's capitol), but this time the Bullets remained hovering around the .500 mark for all six seasons he was at the helm. After being fired by the Bullets, he returned to the Clippers for a season and a half but didn't fare well, being fired 38 games into the 1988-89 season. He worked for the 76ers in the front office as well as working as a scout in the 90's.

Source:


Stats:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/shuege01.html
https://www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=shuege01

Frank Selvy

Franklin Delano Selvy


Born:
November 9, 1932
Corbin, KY

Died:
August 13, 2024
Simpsonville, SC


Career
1948-49 Corbin High School - Kentucky (High School)
1949-50 Corbin High School - Kentucky (High School)
1950-51 Furman University - South Carolina (College) Freshmen
1951-52 Furman University - South Carolina (College)
1952-53 Furman University - South Carolina (College)
1953-54 Furman University - South Carolina (College)
1954-55 Baltimore Bullets (NBA)
1954-55 Milwaukee Hawks (NBA)
1955-56 St. Louis Hawks (NBA)
1957-58 St. Louis Hawks (NBA)
1957-58 Minneapolis Lakers (NBA)
1958-59 New York Knicks (NBA)
1959-60 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1959-60 Minneapolis Lakers (NBA)
1960-61 Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
1961-62 Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
1962-63 Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
1963-64 Los Angeles Lakers (NBA)
1966-67 Furman University - South Carolina (College) Head coach
1967-68 Furman University - South Carolina (College) Head coach 
1968-69 Furman University - South Carolina (College) Head coach
1969-70 Furman University - South Carolina (College) Head coach  


On February 13, 1954, Furman was celebrating their favorite senior with Frank Selvy night in a game against Newberry College. Selvy was averaging over 40 point per game, highest in the country. With 4000 fans, including many friends and family members from Kentucky, packed in to Textile Hall, Coach Lyles Ally told his team to get the ball to Selvy and let him do the work on his special night. What wound up happening is Selvy hit 41 of 66 field goal attempts and also scored 18 from the line to score a staggering 100 points, a record that still stands for a Division I team. (Newberry College was not a Division 1 opponent. The record for points in a game by a Division 1 player against a Division I opponent is 72 by Kevin Bradshaw.)

Selvy was the first overall selection in the 1954 NBA draft by the Baltimore Bullets. The Bullets franchise dissolved shortly into the 1954-55 season, and Selvy was selected by the Milwaukee Hawks in the dispersal draft. He would average 19 points per game in his rookie year and was partly into his second season with the Hawks (now in St Louis) when he entered the U.S. Army. He would spend two years in the service and returned to the Hawks in 1958. The Hawks traded him to the Lakers in mid-February of 1958, and joined the New York Knicks for the 1958-59 season. After a year with the Knicks, he was waived on the eve of the 59-60 season. He was claimed by the Nationals and spent about six weeks with Syracuse before being sold back to the Lakers. He spent the rest of his nine year career in Los Angeles before retiring in 1964 as a two-time All-Star. He returned to Furman to coach the team for four seasons.

Source:


Stats:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/selvyfr01.html
https://www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=selvyfr01

Dick Rosenthal

Richard Anthony Rosenthal


Born:
January 20, 1930
St. Louis, MO

Died:
June 11, 2024
Estero, FL


Career
1948-49 McBride High School - Missouri (High School)
1949-50 McBride High School - Missouri (High School)
1951-52 University of Notre Dame (College)
1952-53 University of Notre Dame (College)
1953-54 University of Notre Dame (College)
1954-55 Fort Wayne Pistons (NBA)
1956-57 Fort Wayne Pistons (NBA)

A two-time basketball All-American as well as a baseball player at Notre Dame, Rosenthal was drafted by the Pistons in the first round of the 1954 NBA draft. After one season with Fort Wayne, he entered the U.S. Army and missed the 1956-57 season. He made his return to the Pistons in January of 1957 and played in 17 games before being released.

Rosenthal was working as the president of St. Joseph Bank and Trust in South Bend, Indiana, when Notre Dame hired him in 1987 to become the school's athletic director. Dick remained in that position until retiring in 1994.

Source:
Chicago Tribune, August 1, 1994

Stats:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/rosendi01.html
https://www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=rosendi01

Frank Ramsey

Frank Vernon Ramsey, Jr.


Born:
July 13, 1931
Corydon, KY

Died:
July 8, 2018
Evansville, IN


Career
1947-48 Madisonville High School - Kentucky (High School)
1948-49 Madisonville High School - Kentucky (High School)
1950-51 University of Kentucky (College)
1951-52 University of Kentucky (College)
1953-54 University of Kentucky (College)
1954-55 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 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1962-63 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1963-64 Boston Celtics (NBA)

NATIONAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME, 1982

Ramsey would play baseball and basketball at the University of Kentucky. In 1952, the UK basketball program was suspended for a year due to a point-shaving scheme perpetrated by Wildcat players prior to Ramsey arriving there. Ramsey graduated in 1953 and was a first round draft pick by the Boston Celtics in the 1953 NBA draft, but Ramsey returned to UK for one more season, with the Wildcats finishing 25-0. However, Kentucky has to pass on the NCAA tournament due to a rule stating graduate students (like Ramsey and a few teammates who had also returned after the year off) were not permitted to compete. Ramsey would join the Celtics that fall and averaged 11.2 points in his rookie season. He was drafted into the U.S. Army, and missed the 1955-56 season but returned to the Celtics in January of 1957. All told, he would play nine seasons with the Celtics, with seven of those seasons as the NBA champions. He was a very versatile player, and was the first true "sixth man" in NBA history, coming off the bench and making an impact in limited playing time. He averaged 13.4 PPG in his career while playing in under 25 minutes per game. His number would be retired by the Celtics, and in 1982, Ramsey was elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

After retiring in 1964, Ramsey went to work at the bank his grandfather founder, and he was president of that bank in Dixon, Kentucky, until retiring in his 80's. In 2018, he suffered an aneurysm and died shortly thereafter of cardiac arrest.

Frank and his wife, Jean, had three children.

Source:
Obituary, Washington Post, July 10, 2018
Obituary, kentucky.com, July 8, 2018

Stats:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/ramsefr01.html
https://www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=ramsefr01

Bob Pettit

Robert Lee Pettit, Jr.


Born:
December 12, 1932
Baton Rouge, LA

 :




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

Togo Palazzi

Togo Anthony Palazzi


Born:
August 8, 1932
Union City, NJ

Died:
August 12, 2022
Worcester, MA


Career
1948-49 Union City High School - New Jersey (High School)
1949-50 Union City High School - New Jersey (High School)
1950-51 College of the Holy Cross (College) Freshmen
1951-52 College of the Holy Cross (College)
1952-53 College of the Holy Cross (College)
1953-54 College of the Holy Cross (College)
1954-55 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1955-56 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1956-57 Boston Celtics (NBA)
1956-57 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1957-58 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1958-59 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1959-60 Syracuse Nationals (NBA)
1972-73 College of the Holy Cross (College) Freshmen - Head coach
1980-81 College of the Holy Cross (College) Women's team - Head coach
1981-82 College of the Holy Cross (College) Women's team - Head coach

Togo starred at Holy Cross, leading the team to a 1954 NIT title. He set many scoring records at Holy Cross, putting up 593 points as a junior to eclipse legendary Bob Cousy's single-season record, only to smash that with 670 points as a senior. He also set the school record when he dropped 47 on Brown University on February 14, 1953). Palazzi was drafted fifth overall by the Boston Celtics in the 1954 draft.

He was sold to the Nationals in November of 1956, and stayed with Syracuse through 1960. After six full seasons in the NBA, Palazzi returned to Holy Cross to coach.

Source:
goholycross.com

Stats:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/palazto01.html
https://www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=palazto01

Boris Nachamkin

Boris Alexander Nachamkin

Born:
December 6, 1933
Brooklyn, NY

Died:
February 14, 2018
Poughkeepsie, NY


Career
1948-49 Thomas Jefferson High School - Brooklyn (High School)
1949-50 Thomas Jefferson High School - Brooklyn (High School)
1951-52 NYU (College)
1952-53 NYU (College)
1953-54 NYU (College)
1954-55 Rochester Royals (NBA)

After setting the school scoring record at NYU with 21.8 games in the 1952-53 season, Boris was drafted in the second round of the 1954 NBA draft by the Rochester Royals. He would only play in six games with them before being drafted by the U.S. Army. After his service, Boris worked for 36 years at Bankers Trust and eventually relocated to their London office where he would eventually be promoted to Head of Global Shipping.

Boris married was married to Anne-Margrete in 1964 and they had one son, Nikolai.

Source:
Obituary, McHoul Funeral Home

Stats:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/n/nachabo01.html

https://www.justsportsstats.com/basketballstatsindex.php?player_id=nachabo01