Donald Robert Anielak (November 1, 1930 – November 19, 1995) was an American 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 and a high school coach. He starred at

Southwest Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

before playing professionally for the

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 ...

in 1954.

College career

Anielak played collegiately for two seasons at

Moberly Junior College Moberly Area Community College (MACC) is a public community college based in Moberly, Missouri. In addition to the Moberly campus, MACC has four campuses across a large portion of Northeastern and central Missouri: Columbia, Hannibal, Kirksvill ...

before transferring to

where he played from 1952 to 1954. He originally signed on to play with Bradley, but left the school shortly before the first game of the 1951 season. In January 1953, he set the schools then single-game scoring record with 39 points at Northeast Missouri. A month later he scored 38 points against Warrensburg. He was a MIAA All-Conference selection in 1953 after leading the conference in scoring with 21.9 points per game. He won the NAIA championship the same season and was a member of the NAIA All-Tournament team that year. His total of 888 points remained a school record for a player in a two-year career until 1974. In 1989, Southwest Missouri State inducted Anielak into their Athletics Hall of Fame.

Professional career

After college, Anielak was selected by the

in the third round (26th overall) of the

1954 NBA draft The 1954 NBA draft was the eighth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24, 1954, before the 1954–55 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball pla ...

and signed with the team in August 1954. He appeared in one regular season game for the Knicks, scoring three points, before being waived in November 1954.

Later life

After his playing career ended, Anielak became a high school coach, first at St. Peter's High in St. Charles. He later coached at Ramsey Illinois where he accumulated a 56–18 record in three seasons before moving to Williamsville where he posted a 134–55 record in nine seasons. In 1972, he was hired as the head coach Koshkonong High School in Missouri and in 1974 he moved to North Boone High School in Illinois.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

References

External links

Missouri State Athletic HOF profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anielak, Don 1930 births 1995 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from St. Louis Forwards (basketball) High school basketball coaches in Illinois High school basketball coaches in Missouri Missouri State Bears basketball players Moberly Greyhounds men's basketball players New York Knicks draft picks New York Knicks players