Mark Cecil Workman (born March 10, 1930 – December 21, 1983) 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 from

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

. He played collegiately at

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Institute of Technology in Beckley, Potomac State College ...

. Workman was the first overall pick in the 1952 NBA draft, by the

Milwaukee Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

Early life

Born in

Logan, West Virginia Logan is a city in Logan County, West Virginia, United States, along the Guyandotte River. The population was 1,438 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Logan County. History What is now Logan was initially called "Islands of the Guyandot" ...

, Workman moved from Logan to

in 10th grade, leading the Charleston High School Mountain Lions to the state title as a junior. Workman averaged 32.8 points per game as a senior in 1948. He scored 63 points in a sectional tournament game that season. Workman (1952) and

Hot Rod Hundley Rodney Clark "Hot Rod" Hundley (October 26, 1934 – March 27, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and television broadcaster. Hundley was the number 1 pick of the 1957 NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals out of West Virginia Uni ...

( 1957 NBA draft) are the only No. 1 overall draft picks to come from the same high School. He also lettered in track, specializing in shot put, javelin, and discus. Upon graduation some local car dealers gave him a

Chrysler New Yorker The Chrysler New Yorker is an automobile model that was produced by Chrysler from 1940 until 1996, serving for several decades as the brand's flagship model, or as a junior sedan to the Chrysler Imperial luxury brand. A trim level named the "Ne ...

in order make the drive to Morgantown, becoming the first automobile in the Workman family.

College career

After graduating from Charleston High School, Workman enrolled at

. There he led the Mountaineers from 1950–52, scoring 1,469 career points (21.0 point-per-game average) under Coaches Lee Patton and Robert N. "Red" Brown. Workman averaged 26.1 points a game in 1950-1951. In 1951-1952, he averaged 23.1 points and 17.5 rebounds for the 23-4 Mountaineers. Workman was a 1952 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, alongside

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and prese ...

inductees

Cliff Hagan Clifford Oldham Hagan (born December 9, 1931) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6-4 forward who excelled with the hook shot, Hagan, nicknamed "Li'l Abner", played his entire 10-year NBA career (1956–1966) with the St. Lo ...

Clyde Lovellette Clyde Edward Lovellette ( ; September 7, 1929 – March 9, 2016) was an American professional basketball player. Lovellette was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. He was the first basketball player in history to ...

and

Bob Pettit Robert Lee Pettit Jr. (born December 12, 1932) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks (1954–1965). In 1956, he became the first recipient of the NBA's Mo ...

, as well as major league baseball All-Star

Dick Groat Richard Morrow Groat (born November 4, 1930) is a former professional baseball and basketball player who was an eight-time All-Star shortstop and two-time World Series champion in Major League Baseball. He rates as one of the most accomplished t ...

. His top scoring performance was 50 points against

Salem College Salem College is a private women's liberal arts college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Founded in 1772 as a primary school, it later became an academy (high school) and ultimately added the college. It is the oldest female educational establ ...

in 1951. He also scored 48 points against

Washington and Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a private liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania. The college traces its origin to three log cabin colleges in Washington County established by three Presbyterian missionaries to ...

, and 44 points against

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

. He still holds the WVU single-game records for field goals (22), free throws (17), and points in a half (37), along with four of the top 10 scoring marks. One of Workman's greatest accomplishments was winning the

United States Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awa ...

Gold Star Award as the outstanding visiting player in the state of New York for the 1951–52 season for leading WVU to wins over

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

(100-75) and

Niagara University Niagara University (NU) is a private Catholic university in the Vincentian tradition in Lewiston in Niagara County, New York. It is run by the Congregation of the Mission and has 3,300 undergraduate students in 50 academic programs. Appro ...

(74-71), despite the New York press having labelled him "the Galloping Goon from West Virginia" the previous year. Workman also competed in Track and Field at West Virginia. He once beat future Olympic Champion

Bob Mathias Robert Bruce Mathias (November 17, 1930 – September 2, 2006) was an American decathlete, two-time Olympic gold medalist in the event, a United States Marine Corps officer, actor and United States Congressman representing the state of Califor ...

in the javelin. “Mark Workman was a very good athlete — not a goon as some people thought,” said Eddie Barrett, who was the WVU Sports Information Director at the time. “He also competed in varsity track and field.”

Professional career

Workman was the first overall pick in the 1952 NBA draft, selected by the

, but went on a tour of Europe with the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...

before playing two years for the

NBA 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 ...

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 ...

and Baltimore Bullets. In 1952-1953, Workman played five games for Milwaukee and was traded on November 19, 1952 to the Philadelphia Warriors for

Don Sunderlage Don J. Sunderlage (December 20, 1929 – July 15, 1961) was an American basketball player. A 6'1" guard from Roselle, Illinois, Sunderlage played collegiately at the University of Illinois, earning the Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball award in ...

. He averaged 5.3 points in 60 games for Philadelphia. In 1953-54, Workman played in 14 games for the Warriors, averaging 4.0 points and 3.6 rebounds.

Personal

After retiring from basketball, Workman became a salesman, bringing bowling to the Orient as a representative of the

Brunswick Corporation Brunswick Corporation, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is an American corporation that has been developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products since 1845. Today, Brunswick has more than 13,000 employ ...

. He later moved to Florida where he worked as a salesman for a mining company while enjoying his true love of fishing. Workman died at his home on December 21, 1983 after a long illness. He was survived by his wife, Jane.

Honors

Workman was inducted into the West Virginia Sports Writers Hall of Fame in 1974. In 1994, Workman was inducted into the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame. In 2017, Workman was named an inaugural member of West Virginia University's Mountaineer Legends Society.

References

External links

West Virginia U. Sports, Workman bio.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Workman, Mark 1930 births 1983 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) players Basketball players from West Virginia Centers (basketball) Charleston High School (West Virginia) alumni Milwaukee Hawks draft picks Milwaukee Hawks players Philadelphia Warriors players Sportspeople from Charleston, West Virginia West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball players American men's basketball players