Thomas M. Kron (February 28, 1943 – November 29, 2007) was an American former 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. A 6ft 5in guard, Kron, played his rookie season (1966–1967) with the

St. Louis Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

. He was drafted by the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly known as the Seattle Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member club of the league's Western Confe ...

in the 1967 Expansion draft and spent two seasons there, and finished his career with the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association, becoming a fan favorite during the 1969 and 1970 seasons.

High school career

Kron played for the legendary Orlando "Gunner" Wyman at Tell City High School (

Tell City, Indiana Tell City is a city in Troy Township, Perry County, in the U.S. state of Indiana, along the Ohio River. The population was 7,272 at the 2010 census. The city is the county seat of Perry County. History Tell City traces its 150+ year old roots ...

); he led the Marksmen to 4 Sectional and 3 Regional titles; during his junior season (1960–61), he led them to the Indiana Final Four. The Marksmen lost their semi-final matchup to the Indianapolis Manual Redskins, starring the Van Arsdale Twins,

Dick Van Arsdale Richard Albert Van Arsdale (born February 22, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, and a current National Basketball Association (NBA) executive. A graduate of Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis, Van A ...

and

Tom Van Arsdale Thomas Arthur Van Arsdale (born February 22, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player. A graduate of Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis, the guard played collegiately at Indiana University under longtime head coach ...

. He was named All-State and an Indiana All-Star in 1962. Kron was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.

College career

Kron played college basketball 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 ...

under legendary coach

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 Univ ...

; he was a member of 2 SEC championship teams (1963-64 & 1965-66). As a senior member of Rupp's Runts during the 1965–1966 season, he led Kentucky to the

NCAA Championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

Finals versus

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stu ...

, playing alongside such All-Americans as

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

, Thad Jaracz and

Louie Dampier Louis Dampier (born November 20, 1944) is an American retired professional basketball player. A 6-foot-tall guard, Dampier is one of only a handful of men to play all nine seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) (1967–1976), all w ...

. Upon graduation from Kentucky, Kron had scored 719 points, grabbed 500 rebounds, and dished out 134 assists. In 1964–65 he was named both First Team All-

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

by the coaches and Third Team by the AP. In 1965–66, he was named Third Team All-Southeastern Conference by the UPI.

Professional career

In 1966, the St. Louis Hawks made him their 3rd round pick; as a rookie, he averaged 2.1 points per game off the bench. He then moved to Seattle, following the

1967 NBA Expansion Draft The 1967 NBA Expansion Draft was the third expansion draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on May 1, 1967, so that the newly founded San Diego Rockets and Seattle SuperSonics could acquire players for the upcoming ...

, as a member of the SuperSonics and spent the next two seasons (1967–68 and 1968–69) coming off the bench and averaging 9.7 and 5.1 respectively. He then moved to the ABA rejoining his Kentucky teammate

in leading the Colonels to the playoffs.

Death

Tommy Kron died of bladder cancer at age 64 on November 29, 2007. He is interred at

Cave Hill Cemetery Cave Hill Cemetery is a Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky. Its main entrance is on Baxter Avenue and there is a secondary one on Grinstead Drive. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of buri ...

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 ...

References

External links

@ basketball-reference.com

@ hoopshall.com * 1943 births 2007 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from Indiana Deaths from bladder cancer Kentucky Colonels players Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players People from Tell City, Indiana Seattle SuperSonics expansion draft picks Seattle SuperSonics players Shooting guards Sportspeople from Owensboro, Kentucky St. Louis Hawks draft picks St. Louis Hawks players Deaths from cancer in Kentucky Burials at Cave Hill Cemetery {{1940s-US-basketball-bio-stub