Steve Downing (born September 9, 1950) is an American retired

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. A 6'8"

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, Downing, along with teammate

George McGinnis George F. McGinnis (born August 10, 1950) is an American former professional basketball player who played 11 seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted into the ABA from Indiana ...

, led Indianapolis Washington High School to a 31–0 record and a state championship in 1969. He went on to star at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

, and won the

Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball The Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball was an award presented annually by the ''Chicago Tribune'' to the top men's and women's college basketball player of the Big Ten Conference. The ''Chicago Tribune'' awarded the Silver Basketball for men's basket ...

award in 1973 as the best player in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. Notable performances included the program's first triple-double: 28 points, 17 rebounds and 10 blocks in an 88–79 win over Michigan at the IU Fieldhouse on February 23, 1971; and 47 points and 25 rebounds in a 90–89 double-overtime victory over Kentucky on December 11, 1971. Downing later played two seasons for the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

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 S ...

. He averaged 2.4

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

in his professional career, and won an NBA Championship ring in 1974. Currently Downing is the athletic director at Marian University in Indianapolis.

Notes

1950 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Indianapolis Boston Celtics draft picks Boston Celtics players Centers (basketball) Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players {{1950s-US-basketball-bio-stub