Randolph Owens (May 12, 1959 – December 1, 2015) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He played the center and forward positions. He was drafted in the

1980 NBA Draft The 1980 NBA draft was the 34th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1980, at the Sheraton Centre Hotel & Towers, before the 1980–81 season. In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selectin ...

in Round 6 by the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...

. He played in the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

for three years, in the

Israel Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl ( he, ליגת העל, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is the top-tier level league of professional competition in Israeli club basketball, making it Israel's primary basketball co ...

for five years, and in a number of other countries.

Biography

Owens was 6' 7" (2.01 m) tall, and weighed 180 pounds (82 kg). He attended Germantown High School in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Owens then attended

Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science Thomas Jefferson University is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Established in its earliest form in 1824, the university officially combined with Philadelphia University in 2017. To signify its ...

(now known as Thomas Jefferson University). He played basketball there. As a sophomore in 1978-79, he was 19th in the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is an intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environmen ...

with a

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the gener ...

of .588, and was a

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, head men's basketball coach at the University o ...

Division II Second Team All American. Owens entered the

as an Early Entrant. He was drafted in Round 6, as Pick 9, by the

, 124th overall. He played in the

for three years. Owens played for the Scranton Aces in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U ...

in 1980–81 (and was second in the CBA in points scored), Rochester Zeniths in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

in 1981–82, and the Maine Lumberjacks in

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Penobscot County. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's 3rd-largest settlement, behind Portland (68,408) and Lewiston (37,121). Modern Bangor ...

in 1982–83. Owens played basketball in Israel for five years, including for

Hapoel Holon Hapoel Holon Basketball Club ( he, מועדון הכדורסל הפועל חולון), known for sponsorship reasons as Hapoel Atsmon Playgrounds Holon (), is a professional basketball club based in Holon, Israel. The team plays in the Israeli B ...

and

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...

in the

. He also played in Spain, Argentina, and the Philippines. He died of cancer at the age of 56 in Philadelphia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owens, Randy 1959 births 2015 deaths American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players from Philadelphia Centers (basketball) Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania Hapoel Holon players Indiana Pacers draft picks Israeli Basketball Premier League players Maccabi Haifa B.C. players Maine Lumberjacks players Philadelphia Rams men's basketball players Power forwards (basketball) Rochester Zeniths players