John Francis Sullivan (July 27, 1935 – September 16, 2010) was an American basketball coach and labor activist.

College career

Sullivan played on the

Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers men's basketball The Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers men's basketball team represents Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland, United States. The team's current head coach is Dan Engelstad, it competed in the Northeast Conference from 1989 until July 1 ...

team from 1953 to 1957. His average of 25.4 points per game is still the school record. His 2,676 points is still the school record for a career.Obituary
''

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'', September 22, 2010. His 1,070 points in the 1957 season is still the school record for one season. With a 27–5 record in 1957, the Mountaineers earned a berth in the NCAA College Division Final Four.

Basketball playing career

In 1957, he was drafted as the 14th overall pick by the

Philadelphia Warriors The history of the Golden State Warriors began in Philadelphia in 1946. In 1962, the franchise was relocated to San Francisco, California and became known as the San Francisco Warriors until 1971, when its name was changed to the current Golden St ...

, but instead played for the

Washington Tapers Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centere ...

of the newly formed American Basketball League in 1961.

Coaching career

Sullivan coached boys' varsity basketball at Gonzaga College High School, then girls' varsity basketball at Academy of the Holy Names (Silver Spring, Maryland) from 1979 to 1987, and finally the women's basketball team at The Catholic University of America from 1989 to 1996.

Career outside basketball

After retiring from basketball in the early 1960s, Sullivan joined the Boston field office of the United States Secret Service as a special agent. According to his family, Sullivan was stationed at the Kennedy Compound when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Sullivan also worked for labor unions, beginning in 1981 as director of government relations for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. He later became a lobbyist for the Center to Protect Workers' Rights, part of Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL–CIO, until retiring in 1996.

Personal life and death

He was married to Patricia Dailey for 49 years; she survived him. They had six children. On September 16, 2010, he died of

septic shock Septic shock is a potentially fatal medical condition that occurs when sepsis, which is organ injury or damage in response to infection, leads to dangerously low blood pressure and abnormalities in cellular metabolism. The Third International Con ...

at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore, Maryland.

Head coaching record

Notes

External links

*
Mount St. Mary’s Basketball Single Season and Career Records
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, John F. 1935 births 2010 deaths American Basketball League (1961–62) players Trade unionists from Washington, D.C. American women's basketball coaches Basketball players from Washington, D.C. High school basketball coaches in the United States Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers men's basketball players Philadelphia Warriors draft picks United States Secret Service agents American men's basketball players International Brotherhood of Teamsters people Deaths from sepsis