Melvin P. Bennett (born January 4, 1955) is a retired American professional
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.
He played forward for the
Virginia Squires
The Virginia Squires were a basketball team based in Norfolk, Virginia, and playing in several other Virginia cities. They were members of the American Basketball Association from 1970 to 1976.
The team originated in 1967 as the Oakland Oaks, ...
(1975–76) of the
American Basketball Association and the
Indiana Pacers (1976–78),
Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz are an American professional basketball team based in Salt Lake City. The Jazz compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference (NBA), Western Conference, Northwest Division (NBA), ...
(1980–81) and
Cleveland Cavaliers (1981–82) 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 St ...
. Born and raised in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...
, he played at
Peabody High School and the
University of Pittsburgh
The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...
.
Currently, he works as an aide at Ocean City Intermediate School in
Ocean City, New Jersey
Ocean City is a city in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the principal city of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Cape May County and is part of the Philadelphia- Wilmington- Camden, ...
. There, he gives students snacks as prizes for answering his trivia questions. In 2015, he was voted by the students to dress like a turkey for
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Philippines. It is also observed in the Netherlander town of Leiden ...
.
References
External links
Databasebasketball's entry on Mel Bennett
1955 births
Living people
20th-century African-American sportspeople
21st-century African-American people
African-American basketball players
American men's basketball players
Basketball players from Pittsburgh
Cleveland Cavaliers players
Hawaii Volcanos players
Indiana Pacers players
Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball players
Power forwards (basketball)
Undrafted National Basketball Association players
Utah Jazz players
Virginia Squires draft picks
Virginia Squires players
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