John Richard Clawson (May 15, 1944 – December 15, 2018) was an American

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. A 6'4" (1.93 m)

small forward The small forward (SF), also known as the three or swingman, is one of the five positions in a regulation basketball game. Small forwards are typically shorter, quicker, and leaner than power forwards and centers but taller, larger, and stronger ...

born in

Duluth, Minnesota , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

and from Naperville High School in Illinois, Clawson played at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, where his team won three

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 ...

titles and participated in two NCAA Final Fours. Clawson then represented the United States at the 1967 Pan American Games and the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

, earning gold medals in basketball at both events. He also played for the

United States men's 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 ...

at the

1967 FIBA World Championship The 1967 FIBA World Championship was the 5th FIBA World Championship, the international basketball world championship for men's teams. It was hosted by Montevideo, Uruguay from 27 May to 11 June 1967. Venues Competing nations Competition fo ...

.1967 USA Basketball
From 1968 to 1969, he played for the Oakland Oaks of the American Basketball Association. He averaged 4.7 points per game with the Oaks and won a league championship in 1969. After his basketball career ended, Clawson worked at Merrill Lynch and as a high school teacher in

Danville, California The Town of Danville is located in the San Ramon Valley in Contra Costa County, California. It is one of the incorporated municipalities in California that use "town" in their names instead of "city". The population was 43,582 at the 2020 census ...

. He later started his own construction company.

References

External links

*
Profile
at Naperville Central High School
John Clawson's obituary
1944 births 2018 deaths Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1967 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1968 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Minnesota Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Michigan Wolverines men's basketball players Oakland Oaks players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in basketball Small forwards Sportspeople from Duluth, Minnesota United States men's national basketball team players Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games 1967 FIBA World Championship players {{1940s-US-basketball-bio-stub