Stephen Sullivan (July 20, 1944 – August 27, 2014) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. Sullivan played collegiately for the

Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball The Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball program represents Georgetown University in NCAA Division I men's intercollegiate basketball and the Big East Conference. Georgetown has competed in men's college basketball since 1907. The current head co ...

team and was the 14th overall pick in the

1967 NBA draft The 1967 NBA draft was the 21st annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 3 and 4, 1967 before the 1967–68 season. In this draft, 12 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...

by the Detroit Pistons. The

Pittsburgh Pipers 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 Pennsylv ...

also drafted Sullivan in the 1967

ABA ABA may refer to: Businesses and organizations Broadcasting * Alabama Broadcasters Association, United States * Asahi Broadcasting Aomori, Japanese television station * Australian Broadcasting Authority Education * Académie des Beaux- ...

Draft. Sullivan was a member of the

USA Basketball USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States Olympi ...

Gold Medal teams of the 1967

Pan-American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

and 1967

World University Games The Universiade is an international multi-sport event, organized for university athletes by the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The name is a portmanteau of the words "University" and "Olympiad". The Universiade is referred t ...

Early life

Born in Newark, New Jersey and raised in

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 69,612. The city was List of municipalities in ...

, Sullivan attended

Essex Catholic High School Essex Catholic Boys High School (formally known as Bishop Francis Essex Catholic High School after 2000) was a four-year Catholic high school located in Newark and East Orange, in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. The high school opened ...

, graduating in 1963. He then enrolled at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

College basketball career

Sullivan suffered a severe ankle injury and averaged only 7.1 points over 18 games in his first varsity season (1964–65) at Georgetown. In 1965–66 he led the team in scoring (15.1) and rebounding (9.7).Georgetown Basketball History: The Top 100 - 34. Steve Sullivan

. Accessed March 24, 2018. "Sullivan, who turned down 42 college offers to attend Georgetown, starred at the former Essex Catholic HS in East Orange NJ." In 1966–67, Sullivan scored in double figures in 21 of 23 games, scored 20 or more points 10 times and averaged 18.6 points and 11.8 rebounds a game. That season, Sullivan had 33 points and 17 rebounds against

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

, 26 points with 23 rebounds vs.

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

, and had 18 points and 16 rebounds vs. Seton Hall in his final game. Sullivan is one of only seven Georgetown players ever to lead the team in scoring and rebounding in consecutive seasons. Sullivan graduated from Georgetown as the school's seventh all–time scorer, second all–time rebounder, and was the highest NBA draft pick to date in program history. Sullivan remained the highest Georgetown NBA pick until

Sleepy Floyd Eric Augustus "Sleepy" Floyd (born March 6, 1960) is an American former professional basketball player. An NBA All-Star in 1987 as a Warrior, he is perhaps best known for his tenures for Golden State and Houston. Early life, family and education ...

was the 13th pick of the 1982 NBA draft. Both were surpassed when Patrick Ewing was the 1st overall pick of the

1985 NBA draft The 1985 NBA Draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the "lottery" era. It was also around this time where the league decreased the amount of rounds the draft spent, with the previous few years lasting up to 10 roun ...

. Sullivan was selected as a member of the USA Basketball Gold Medal teams of the 1967 Pan Am games and 1968 World University Games. The USA Team for the Pan–Am games captured the gold medal by going 9–0 with the Gold Medal Game victory over

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. The 1967 World University Team also won the gold medal, going 7–0 and defeating Brazil 91–38 in the Gold Medal Game. Sullivan averaged 7.2 points in the Games. Sullivan's teammates on both squads included his future Detroit fellow draft pick

Sonny Dove Lloyd "Sonny" Dove (August 16, 1945 – February 14, 1983) was a Native American professional basketball player. As a star at St. John's University in New York, in his last season of 1967, Dove won the Haggerty Award. That year he was part o ...

Jo Jo White Joseph Henry White (November 16, 1946 – January 16, 2018) was an American professional basketball player. As an amateur, he played basketball at the University of Kansas, where he was named a second-team All-American twice. White was part o ...

and

Wes Unseld Westley Sissel Unseld Sr. (March 14, 1946June 2, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, coach and executive. He spent his entire National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets. Unseld ...

Professional career

Sullivan was drafted by the ABA's

in the 1967 ABA Draft. Pittsburgh had just signed Connie Hawkins at power forward, so Sullivan waited for the NBA draft that summer. Selected 14th in the draft by the Detroit Pistons in an overall draft that included Earl Monroe, Pat Riley, Clem Haskins, Walt Frazier, and

Phil Jackson Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive. A power forward, Jackson played 12 seasons in the NBA, winning NBA championships with the New York Knicks in 1970 and ...

, the Pistons had two of the first four overall picks. The Pistons drafted Jimmy Walker with the first overall pick, then drafted Sonny Dove with the 4th overall pick. The Pistons eventually opted to keep Dove on the roster over Sullivan. Later, Sullivan spent nine years professionally playing in Italy and Spain, receiving numerous MVP awards.

Death

After living and working for 45 years in Spain, Italy and England, Sullivan passed away in London, England on August 27, 2014, surrounded by his family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Steve 1944 births 2014 deaths American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players from Newark, New Jersey Detroit Pistons draft picks Essex Catholic High School alumni Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball players Pittsburgh Pipers draft picks Sportspeople from East Orange, New Jersey Basketball players from Essex County, New Jersey Universiade medalists in basketball Forwards (basketball) Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Basketball players at the 1967 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in basketball