Saul William Marsch (born Saul George Mariaschin; August 10, 1924 – December 20, 1990) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He played college basketball at Syracuse University for one season in 1942–43 before leaving to join 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 opposing ...

.Young, RL
"Saul Mariaschin"
2014. Retrieved March 31, 2018. He played his final two years of college basketball at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, and helped to take the team to its first appearance in the NCAA tournament after achieving a 19-1 record. It would be the only time Harvard would reach the tournament for 66 years, until the 2011–12 team reached the Second Round in 2012. Mariaschin was selected in the 1947 BAA draft by the

Washington Capitols The Washington Capitols were a former Basketball Association of America (forerunner of the National Basketball Association) team based in Washington, D.C. from 1946 to 1951. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerbac ...

, but never played for the team. He instead signed with the Boston Celtics, and played for the team during the 1947–48 season. Mariaschin was the first and only player from Harvard to reach the BAA/NBA postseason until Jeremy Lin did so with the Houston Rockets in 2013. Mariaschin died in 1990 during a skiing vacation.

BAA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

1924 births 1990 deaths American men's basketball players Boston Celtics players Guards (basketball) Harvard Crimson baseball players Harvard Crimson men's basketball players Basketball players from Brooklyn Syracuse Orange men's basketball players Washington Capitols draft picks United States Navy personnel of World War II {{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub