John E. Foley (April 19, 1939 – November 29, 2020) 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 for the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

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 ...

of 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 ...

(NBA). He was selected in the second round as the 18th pick in the

1962 NBA Draft The 1962 NBA draft was the 16th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 26, 1962, before the 1962–63 season. In this draft, nine NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball playe ...

by the Celtics and spent one season playing in the league. Foley was given the nickname "The Shot" because of his explosive offensive ability. A native of

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

, Foley attended Assumption High School, where he graduated in 1958. He decided to stay close to home when playing college basketball and enrolled at the

College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private, Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, about 40 miles (64 km) west of Boston. Founded in 1843, Holy Cross is the oldest Catholic college in New England and one of the oldest ...

. Since college

freshmen A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

were ineligible to participate on varsity teams, Foley's college career did not officially begin until 1959–60. In his three seasons as a Crusader, he scored so many points that his nickname, "The Shot", was what he was commonly referred to. In his

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

season, Foley averaged 24.6 points per game (ppg), followed by 26.9 ppg and 33.3 ppg during his

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

and

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

seasons, respectively. In his senior year of 1961–62, he finished second in the nation in scoring behind

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Bill McGill Bill "The Hill" McGill (September 16, 1939 – July 11, 2014) was an American basketball player best known for inventing the jump hook. McGill was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1962 NBA draft out of the University of Utah, with whom he led the N ...

(38.8 ppg). That season, Foley garnered consensus Second Team All-American honors. In addition to his high season scoring averages, Foley also put up big single game numbers. He is the record holder of the two highest scoring games in school history—56 points against

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

in 1962 and 55 against Colgate in 1960—as well as having scored 40 or more points five times in his career. Foley became the first player in school history to score 2,000 career points, and his 2,185 points was the most in school history until the early 1980s. Foley's professional career was not spectacular, especially compared to his college career. He played in five total games for the Celtics in , averaging 6.4 points, before being sold to the

on January 22, 1963. He then played in six games for the Knicks and averaged 3.5 points. For his career, Foley scored 53 points, grabbed 16 rebounds and recorded 5 assists. Following his basketball career, Foley became a high school teacher and girls' basketball coach. He died from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

on November 29, 2020, at his home in Worcester.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foley, Jack 1939 births 2020 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Massachusetts Basketball players from Worcester, Massachusetts Boston Celtics draft picks Boston Celtics players Forwards (basketball) High school basketball coaches in Massachusetts Holy Cross Crusaders men's basketball players New York Knicks players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)