Thomas William Kozelko (born July 1, 1951) is a retired 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 who played briefly in 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 ...

(NBA). Kozelko starred at

Traverse City Central High School Traverse City Central High School (also known as Central High School or TCC) is a public high school in Traverse City, Michigan. It is one of two comprehensive high schools in the Traverse City Area Public Schools district. History The first pu ...

Traverse City, Michigan Traverse City ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was ...

and moved on to play collegiately at the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...

from 1970 to 1973. Kozelko went on to become one of the best players in Rocket history, as he finished 1,561 points in his three-year career (freshmen were ineligible). He was the first player in

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

history to be named MAC player of the year twice, in 1972 and 1973. He was named to the University of Toledo athletic Hall of Fame in 1983. After completing his eligibility, Kozelko was drafted by the

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in the third round (48th pick overall) of the

1973 NBA draft The 1973 NBA draft was the 27th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24 and May 5, 1973, before the 1973–74 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college baske ...

. He played three seasons for the Bullets (who later renamed themselves the Washington Bullets), averaging 10.1 minutes and 2.2 points per game.basketball-reference.com profile
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1951 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Italy American men's basketball players Basketball players from Michigan Capital Bullets draft picks Capital Bullets players Power forwards Sportspeople from Traverse City, Michigan Toledo Rockets men's basketball players Washington Bullets players {{1950s-US-basketball-bio-stub