William Campion (born 1952) is a retired American basketball player. He stands and played the

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

position in college and professionally. Campion is best known for his career at Manhattan College. Before graduating in 1975, in just over 2½ seasons, he set the still-standing school

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

records for a game (30), season (419), and career (1,070). He also scored 1,223 points to give him a 1,000-point/rebound mark for his career. After his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

season he was given the

Haggerty Award __NOTOC__ The Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award is given to the All-New York Metropolitan NCAA Division I men's college basketball player of the year, presented by the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and the Met Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) ...

, an annual award that goes to the best male collegiate basketball player in the greater New York City area. Campion was selected in the fourth round (60th overall) in the

1975 NBA Draft The 1975 NBA draft was the 29th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 29, 1975, before the 1975–76 season. In this draft, 18 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players a ...

by the

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

. The American Basketball Association's

Virginia Squires The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976. The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, ...

also chose him that year, but Campion did not play in either league. After Manhattan College, Campion played in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

for Mobilgirgi Varese. During his rookie season, his team won the Euroleague championship, 81–74, over Real Madrid. In the title game, he played 29 minutes and recorded seven points, five rebounds and two assists. Eventually Campion moved back to the United States and played for the

Washington Generals The Washington Generals are an American basketball team who play exhibition games against the Harlem Globetrotters. The team has also played under several different aliases in their history as the Globetrotters' perennial opponents. Function ...

, the traveling exhibition team that plays the Harlem Globetrotters. As a member of the Generals for eight years, he was on a team that defeated the Globetrotters in 1984. Since the Globetrotters always defeat the Generals, the loss left the audience of the game in shock. Campion has not played competitive basketball since 1990 due to the wear and tear of playing seven or more games per week for eight years. He has had both knees replaced because of it. Today he resides in

Altoona, Pennsylvania Altoona is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 Census, making it the eighteenth most populous city in Pennsylvania. T ...

. In 1986, he was selected for the Manhattan College Athletic Hall of Fame.

References

# # # # # # {{DEFAULTSORT:Campion, Bill 1952 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City Centers (basketball) Manhattan Jaspers men's basketball players Milwaukee Bucks draft picks Pallacanestro Varese players Sportspeople from Altoona, Pennsylvania Sportspeople from the Bronx Washington Generals players