Alex Groza
Personal information | |||||||||||||||
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Born | Martins Ferry, Ohio | October 7, 1926||||||||||||||
Died | January 21, 1995 San Diego, California | (aged 68)||||||||||||||
Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||
Listed height | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | ||||||||||||||
Listed weight | 218 lb (99 kg) | ||||||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||||||
High school | Martins Ferry (Martins Ferry, Ohio) | ||||||||||||||
College | Kentucky (1945–1949) | ||||||||||||||
BAA draft | 1949: 1st round, 2nd overall pick | ||||||||||||||
Selected by the Indianapolis Olympians | |||||||||||||||
Playing career | 1949–1951 | ||||||||||||||
Position | Center | ||||||||||||||
Number | 15 | ||||||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||||||
As player: | |||||||||||||||
1949–1951 | Indianapolis Olympians | ||||||||||||||
As coach: | |||||||||||||||
1959–1966 | Bellarmine | ||||||||||||||
1970 | Kentucky Colonels | ||||||||||||||
1974–1975 | San Diego Conquistadors | ||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Career NBA statistics | |||||||||||||||
Points | 2,925 (22.5 ppg) | ||||||||||||||
Rebounds | 709 (10.7 rpg) | ||||||||||||||
Assists | 318 (2.4 apg) | ||||||||||||||
Stats at NBA.com | |||||||||||||||
Stats at Basketball Reference | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Alex John Groza[1] (October 7, 1926 – January 21, 1995) was an American professional basketball player from Martins Ferry, Ohio. Resulting from the CCNY point shaving scandal, Groza was banned from the National Basketball Association (NBA) for life in 1951. In college, he won two NCAA championships as captain of the University of Kentucky Wildcats, and was a two-time All-NBA player for the Indianapolis Olympians before his career abruptly ended.
Early life
Groza grew up in Martins Ferry, Ohio and attended Martins Ferry High School. He was the brother of future Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Lou Groza.
Alex Groza led the Purple Riders to two undefeated regular seasons and to the Ohio state tournament both years, as Martins Ferry finished 24-1 in 1943 and 26-1 in 1944. In 1944, he scored 628 points, including 41 in one game, and was named first-team All-Ohio.[2]
College career
Groza was the captain and center of the "Fabulous Five" that won the 1948 and 1949 NCAA Men's Basketball Championships, as well as the leading scorer on the gold medal-winning 1948 US Olympic basketball team.[3][4] Groza was three-time All-American and All-SEC, and two-time NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
Professional career
Groza was drafted in the 1st round of the 1949 NBA Draft by the Indianapolis Olympians. Groza averaged 23.4 points per game in his rookie season and was named NBA Rookie of the Year. Because the award was selected by newspaper writers at the time, the NBA currently does not recognize Groza having won the award. He averaged 22.5 points per game over two seasons before being implicated along with college teammates Ralph Beard and Dale Barnstable in a point shaving scandal during the 1948–49 season at Kentucky. NBA president Maurice Podoloff banned all of the implicated players from the league for life.
As a result of this ban, Groza became the first player in NBA history to end his career with a season in which he averaged at least 20 points per game (Groza averaged 21.7 PPG during the 1950–51). In NBA history, only three players have had higher scoring averages in their final NBA seasons: Bob Pettit (22.5 PPG in '64-65), Paul Arizin (21.9 PPG in '61-62), and Dražen Petrović (22.3 PPG in '92-93).
NBA career statistics
GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
* | Led the league |
* | Led the league |
Regular season
Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1949–50 | Indianapolis | 64 | – | .478* | .729 | – | 2.5 | 23.4 |
1950–51 | Indianapolis | 66 | – | .470* | .786 | 10.7 | 2.4 | 21.7 |
Career | 130 | – | .474 | .765 | 10.7 | 2.4 | 22.5 | |
All-Star | 1 | – | .500 | 1.000 | 13.0 | 1.0 | 17.0 |
Playoffs
Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1950 | Indianapolis | 6 | – | .595 | .831 | – | 2.0 | 22.8 |
1951 | Indianapolis | 3 | – | .493 | .758 | 14.0 | 0.7 | 32.3 |
Career | 9 | – | .544 | .804 | 14.0 | 1.6 | 26.0 |
Coaching career
After his playing career ended, Groza became the coach of Bellarmine College (now University) in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1963, Groza led the Knights to a Kentucky Intercolliegiate Athletic Conference title and was named KIAC coach of the year. Groza left Bellarmine in 1966 for a brief coaching and managerial career in the American Basketball Association. Between 1971 and 1975, Groza coached 40 games with the Kentucky Colonels and San Diego Conquistadors and held a number of front office positions, including becoming the Kentucky Colonels' business manager in 1969 and general manager of the San Diego Conquistadors in 1972 (and, later, San Diego's head coach). Groza was 2-0 as coach of the Colonels but 15-23 as coach of the Conquistadors, putting his career coaching record at 17-23.[5] Groza served as general manager of the San Diego Conquistadors beginning in 1972 until taking over as the team's coach in 1974, replacing Wilt Chamberlain. In 1975 Groza became director of player development for the San Diego Sails of the ABA.[6]
Personal life
After the team moved to Houston, Groza remained in San Diego, working as a sales manager for Reynolds International until his death.[7]
Alex Groza died of cancer in 1995 at age 68. He was survived by his wife of 42 years, Jean (Watson) Groza,[2] two sons, two daughters, and two grandchildren.[7]
Miscellaneous
- Groza led the league in field goal percentage in 1950.
- Alex Groza was the brother of football Hall of Famer Lou Groza.
- Groza's nickname was "The Beak".[8]
References
- ^ Alex Groza Player Statistics Basketball-Reference.com
- ^ a b Alex Groza Ohio Valley Athletic Conference
- ^ "All-Time Kentucky Team (Starting PG): #12 Ralph Beard". straitpinkie.com. Archived from the original on October 5, 2013. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
- ^ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alex Groza Olympic Results". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved June 14, 2018.
- ^ Alex Groza Coach Statistics Basketball-Reference.com
- ^ Remember the ABA: San Diego Conquistadors/San Diego Sails Year-by-Year Notes Archived December 25, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b Alex Groza, Basketball Star For Kentucky, Is Dead at 68 New York Times. January 23, 1995.
- ^ Gould, Todd (1998). Pioneers of the hardwood: Indiana and the birth of professional basketball. Indiana University Press. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-253-21199-6.
External links
- Alex Groza Info Page at NBA.com
- Alex Groza Player Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
- Alex Groza Coach Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com
- Alex Groza – UK Career Statistics and Biography
- "Alex Groza, Basketball Star For Kentucky, Is Dead at 68", The New York Times, January 23, 1995
- "Alex Groza". Find a Grave. Retrieved September 3, 2010.
- 1926 births
- 1995 deaths
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- All-American college men's basketball players
- Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players
- American Basketball Association executives
- American men's basketball players
- Banned National Basketball Association players
- Basketball coaches from Ohio
- Basketball players at the 1948 NCAA Men's Division I Final Four
- Basketball players at the 1948 Summer Olympics
- Basketball players at the 1949 NCAA Men's Division I Final Four
- Basketball players from Ohio
- American people of Hungarian descent
- American people of Romanian descent
- Bellarmine Knights men's basketball coaches
- Centers (basketball)
- Indianapolis Olympians draft picks
- Indianapolis Olympians players
- Kentucky Colonels coaches
- Kentucky Colonels executives
- Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players
- Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics
- National Basketball Association All-Stars
- Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball
- People from Martins Ferry, Ohio
- San Diego Conquistadors coaches
- San Diego Conquistadors executives
- United States men's national basketball team players