Gino Sovran (December 17, 1924 – June 26, 2016) was a Canadian professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. Born in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the southe ...

, Sovran attended Kennedy Collegiate Institute and was a top basketball player at Assumption College, scoring more than 1,000 points over three seasons, and playing as team captain in the 1943–44 and 1944–45 seasons. He played for

University of Detroit The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Roman Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catholic univers ...

in 1945–46 where he was the team's leading scorer. Sovran then returned to the Assumption team to help it win the Ontario and Eastern Canada senior basketball championships in 1946 before losing to the Victoria Dominoes for the national title."Gino Sovran '45"
University of Windsor HOF. Retrieved July 4, 2017. From there, Sovran joined the newly formed

Toronto Huskies The Toronto Huskies were a team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which was a forerunner of the National Basketball Association (NBA), during the 1946–47 season. They were based in Toronto. The team compiled a 22–38 win–loss r ...

professional team that competed in the Basketball Association of America (which later evolved into 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 St ...

). Along with former Assumption teammate Hank Biasatti, he was one of two Canadians to play for the Huskies in their first and only season in 1946–47. Sovran was signed by the Huskies about two weeks into the season, making his professional debut on November 22, 1946 against the Boston Celtics. He appeared in six games,"Gino Sovran Stats"
Basketball Reference. Retrieved July 4, 2017. before being waived by the team on December 29, 1946.Zwerling, Jared (February 22, 2016)
"Living Legend: Gino Sovran Still Recalls Many Memories of NBA’s First Season 70 Years Later"
NBPA. Retrieved July 4, 2017. Sovran was also a competitive track and field athlete, setting regional records in the high jump and triple jump while a student. He has been inducted into the University of Windsor Alumni Sports Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame 2002. Away from sports, Sovran earned a doctoral degree from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

and worked as a research engineer for General Motors.

BAA career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

FrozenHoops.com 100 Greatest Canadian Basketball Players
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sovran, Gino 1924 births 2016 deaths Basketball players from Windsor, Ontario Canadian expatriate basketball people in the United States Canadian men's basketball players Detroit Mercy Titans men's basketball players Forwards (basketball) General Motors former executives Guards (basketball) National Basketball Association players from Canada Toronto Huskies players University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni Canadian emigrants to the United States