Wilmer Frederick Hosket (born December 20, 1946) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. A 6'8"

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

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, Hosket played basketball at Belmont High School in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

, where he won an Ohio state championship in 1964. He was named Ohio Player of the Year and was also MVP of the state tournament.Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame
Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame. Retrieved on 2017-08-21. He played college basketball at the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

from 1965 to 1968. He led his Ohio State team in scoring and rebounding during each of his three varsity seasons and was named to three All

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

Academic First Teams. In fall 1968, he competed at the Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal with the

United States national basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. They are the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in ...

.Ohio High School Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame Profile
. Retrieved 11 July 2007. Hosket then played four seasons (1968–1972) in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

as a member of the

Buffalo Braves The Buffalo Braves were an American professional basketball franchise based in Buffalo, New York. The Braves competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division from 1970 ...

and

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

. He averaged 4.0

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

in his career and won a league championship with the Knicks in 1970. After retiring as a player, Hosket served on three United States Olympic Basketball Committees. He also founded Buckeye Basketball Camp (not officially affiliated with

) in his home state of Ohio. In 1998, Hosket was named as the President of the OHSAA Foundation and served as the foundation's first executive director. He is a principal at Hosket & Ulen, an independent insurance agency. Hosket and his wife, Patty, have three grown sons (all graduates of Ohio State) and reside in Columbus. Hosket's father, Bill Hosket, Sr., and his son, Brad Hosket, also played basketball at Ohio State.Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame Profile
Hosket is a member of the Ohio State Hall of Fame and was named in 1993 to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Silver Anniversary team. He was honored in 2002 by the Ohio High School Athletic Association with its highest honor – the Ethics and Integrity Award. In 2006, he was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hosket, Bill Jr. 1946 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Dayton, Ohio Buffalo Braves expansion draft picks Buffalo Braves players Centers (basketball) Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics New York Knicks draft picks New York Knicks players Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Power forwards (basketball)