Ralph Milton Beard Jr. (December 2, 1927 – November 29, 2007) was an American collegiate and 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. He won two NCAA national

championships at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

and played two years in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

prior to being barred for life for his participation in the 1951 point shaving scandal.

Early life

Beard was born in

Hardinsburg, Kentucky Hardinsburg is a home rule-class city in Breckinridge County, Kentucky, in the United States. It is the seat of its county. The population was 2,343 at the 2010 census. Hardinsburg was named after Captain William Hardin. History In August ...

. Beard grew up in

Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...

and attended

Louisville Male High School Louisville Male Traditional High School is a public co-ed secondary school serving students in grades 9 through 12 in the southside of Louisville, Kentucky, USA. It is part of the Jefferson County Public School District. History Ninth and Ches ...

. He later cited the family's finances as a reason he took money from gamblers. His mother worked as a cleaning lady after his father left the family.

College career

He was a member of

Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. He is ranked seventh in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching at the Un ...

's " Fabulous Five"

basketball team, with

Alex Groza Alex John Groza (October 7, 1926 – January 21, 1995) was an American professional basketball player from Martins Ferry, Ohio. Resulting from the CCNY point shaving scandal, Groza was banned from the National Basketball Association (NBA) for l ...

Wallace Jones Wallace Clayton "Wah Wah" Jones (July 14, 1926 – July 27, 2014) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1949 to 1952 with the Indianapolis Olympians. Biography Jones was born ...

, Cliff Barker, and

Kenny Rollins Kenneth Herman Rollins (September 14, 1923 – October 9, 2012) was an American professional basketball player. He competed at the 1948 London Olympics and was a member of the University of Kentucky's "Fabulous Five" who won the 1948 NCAA tourn ...

. Beard won a gold medal in the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ...

with the Fabulous Five and the

Phillips 66ers The Phillips 66ers (also known as the Oilers) were an amateur basketball team located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and sponsored and run by the Phillips Petroleum Company. The 66ers were a national phenomenon that grew from a small-town team to an ...

Professional career

Indianapolis Olympians (1949–1951)

Taken in the second round of the 1949 NBA draft, Beard played two seasons with the

Indianapolis Olympians The Indianapolis Olympians were a founding National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Indianapolis. They were founded in 1949 and folded in 1953. Their home arena was Butler Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University--now known as H ...

and averaged 15.9 points and 4.4 assists per game.

CCNY point shaving scandal

In October 1951, authorities charged him along with his former teammates

and Dale Barnstable with taking bribes as part of the 1951 NCAA point shaving scandal. They pleaded guilty and received suspended sentences but the NBA Commissioner

Maurice Podoloff Maurice Podoloff ( yi, מוריס פודולוף; August 18, 1890 – November 24, 1985) was an American lawyer and a basketball and ice hockey administrator. He served as the president of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) between 1946 ...

banned all three for life from the NBA. Beard admitted that he took $700 but denied that he had ever shaved points in a game. He claimed that

Frank Hogan Frank Smithwick Hogan (January 17, 1902 – April 2, 1974) was an American lawyer and politician from New York. He served as New York County District Attorney for more than 30 years, during which he achieved a reputation for professionalism and ...

, the New York district attorney, conspired with Podoloff of the NBA and Cardinal

Francis Spellman Francis Joseph Spellman (May 4, 1889 – December 2, 1967) was an American bishop and cardinal of the Catholic Church. From 1939 until his death in 1967, he served as the sixth Archbishop of New York; he had previously served as an auxiliary ...

, the Archbishop of New York to go after Midwestern players in an effort to protect players at Catholic colleges.

Aftermath

He worked in the pharmaceutical industry afterward. His only involvement in the sport after his ban was some scouting work with the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...

. He tried playing professional baseball but his ban for gambling prevented him from that sport as well.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life

Later in life, the University of Kentucky welcomed Beard back. The school retired his jersey and invited him to speak to players about point shaving. In 1985, he was inducted into the

Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame The Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame is a sports hall of fame for the U.S. state of Kentucky established in 1963. Individuals are inducted annually at a banquet in Louisville and receive a bronze plaque inside Louisville's Freedom Hall. The Kentucky ...

. Beard died on November 29, 2007 at his

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

home.Former UK star Ralph Beard, part of a college basketball point-shaving scandal, dies at 79
Yahoo! Sports. November 29, 2007.

References

External links

NBA.com 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 ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Beard, Ralph 1927 births 2007 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Banned National Basketball Association players Basketball players at the 1948 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Louisville, Kentucky College basketball controversies in the United States Chicago Stags draft picks Guards (basketball) Indianapolis Olympians players Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Louisville Male High School alumni Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics National Basketball Association All-Stars Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball People from Hardinsburg, Kentucky United States men's national basketball team players