Leo Anthony "Crystal" Klier (May 21, 1923 – June 4, 2005) 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.

Collegiate career

Klier, a 6'2 guard/forward, played collegiately at Notre Dame after a standout high school career at Washington High School in Washington, Indiana. He played for the Fighting Irish from 1942-1946. Klier was named a consensus first-team All-American in

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

as he notched Notre Dame's single-season scoring record (since broken). However, Klier missed the 1944-45 season as he served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Klier returned and was again named a consensus first-team All-American in

1946 Events January * January 6 - The 1946 North Vietnamese parliamentary election, first general election ever in Vietnam is held. * January 7 – The Allies recognize the Austrian republic with its 1937 borders, and divide the country into f ...

. He was elected to the

Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame is a sports museum and hall of fame in New Castle, Indiana. While it honors men and women associated with high school, college, and professional basketball in Indiana, an emphasis is placed on the athlete's high ...

in 1977 and was selected to the Notre Dame All-Century basketball team in 2004.

Professional career

Following his collegiate career, Klier played Indianapolis Kautskys of the National Basketball League from 1946–48. During the 1948-49 and 1949-50 seasons, Klier played in 113 games for the

Fort Wayne Pistons A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

, averaging 7.4 points per game. He then finished his career with the Anderson Packers for the 1950–51 season. Leo Klier died on June 4, 2005 in Naperville, Illinois.

BAA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

*
Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame page
1923 births 2005 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players United States Navy personnel of World War II Anderson Packers coaches Anderson Packers players Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indiana Fort Wayne Pistons players Forwards (basketball) Indianapolis Kautskys players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's basketball players People from Washington, Indiana Player-coaches Shooting guards Sportspeople from Naperville, Illinois {{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub