Alex John Groza (October 7, 1926 – January 21, 1995) 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 from Martins Ferry, Ohio. Resulting from the

CCNY point shaving scandal The CCNY point-shaving scandal of 1950–51 was a college basketball point-shaving gambling scandal that involved seven American schools in all, with four in the New York metropolitan area, two in the Midwest, and one in the South. However, most ...

, Groza was banned from the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball sports league, 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 i ...

(NBA) for life in 1951. In college, he won two NCAA championships as captain of the

University of Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30,473 ...

, and was a two-time All-NBA player for the

Indianapolis Olympians The Indianapolis Olympians were a founding National Basketball Association (NBA) team based in Indianapolis. They were founded in 1949 and folded in 1953. Their home arena was Butler Fieldhouse on the campus of Butler University--now known as H ...

before his career abruptly ended.

Early life

Groza grew up in Martins Ferry, Ohio and attended

Martins Ferry High School Martins Ferry High School is a public high school in Martins Ferry, Ohio, United States. It is the only high school in the Martins Ferry City School District. Athletic teams compete as the Martins Ferry Purple Riders in the Ohio High School Athl ...

. He was the brother of future Pro Football Hall-of-Famer

Lou Groza Louis Roy Groza (January 25, 1924 – November 29, 2000), nicknamed "the Toe", was an American professional football player who was a placekicker and offensive tackle while playing his entire career for the Cleveland Browns in the All-America F ...

. Alex Groza led the Purple Riders to two undefeated regular seasons and to the Ohio state tournament both years, as Martins Ferry finished 24–1 in 1943 and 26–1 in 1944. In 1944, he scored 628 points, including 41 in one game, and was named first-team All-Ohio.Alex Groza
Ohio Valley Athletic Conference

College career

Groza was the captain and center of the " Fabulous Five" that won the 1948 and 1949 NCAA Men's Basketball Championships, as well as the leading scorer on the gold medal-winning 1948 US Olympic basketball team. Groza was three-time All-American and All- SEC, and two-time NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player.

Professional career

Indianapolis Olympians (1949–1951)

Groza was drafted in the 1st round of the 1949 NBA draft by the Indianapolis Olympians. Groza averaged 23.4 points per game in his rookie season and was named

NBA Rookie of the Year The National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the top rookie(s) of the regular season. Initiated following the 1952–53 NBA season, it confers the Eddie Gott ...

. Because the award was selected by newspaper writers at the time, the NBA currently does not recognize Groza having won the award. He averaged 22.5 points per game over two seasons before being implicated along with college teammates Ralph Beard and Dale Barnstable in a point shaving scandal during the 1948–49 season at Kentucky. NBA president Maurice Podoloff banned all of the implicated players from the league for life. As a result of this ban, Groza became the first player in NBA history to end his career with a season in which he averaged at least 20 points per game (Groza averaged 21.7 PPG during the 1950–51). In NBA history, only three players have had higher scoring averages in their final NBA seasons:

Bob Pettit Robert Lee Pettit Jr. (born December 12, 1932) is an American former professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks (1954–1965). In 1956, he became the first recipient of the NBA's M ...

(22.5 PPG in '64–65),

Paul Arizin Paul Joseph Arizin (April 9, 1928 – December 12, 2006), nicknamed "Pitchin' Paul", was an American basketball player who spent his entire National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Philadelphia Warriors from 1950 to 1962. He retir ...

(21.9 PPG in '61–62), and Dražen Petrović (22.3 PPG in '92–93).

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Coaching career

After his playing career ended, Groza became the coach of

Bellarmine College Bellarmine University (BU; ) is a private Catholic university in Louisville, Kentucky. It opened on October 3, 1950, as Bellarmine College, established by Archbishop John A. Floersh of the Archdiocese of Louisville and named after Saint Rober ...

(now University) in

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 ...

. In 1963, Groza led the Knights to a Kentucky Intercolliegiate Athletic Conference title and was named KIAC coach of the year. Groza left Bellarmine in 1966 for a brief coaching and managerial career in the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, leading to four A ...

. Between 1971 and 1975, Groza coached 40 games with the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...

and San Diego Conquistadors and held a number of front office positions, including becoming the Kentucky Colonels' business manager in 1969 and general manager of the San Diego Conquistadors in 1972 (and, later, San Diego's head coach). Groza was 2–0 as coach of the Colonels but 15–23 as coach of the Conquistadors after replacing Wilt Chamberlain in 1974, putting his career coaching record at 17–23. He was named general manager of the expansion Conquistadors on August 8, 1972. In 1975 Groza became director of player development for the

San Diego Sails The San Diego Conquistadors (known as the San Diego Sails in their final, partial season), were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in San Diego. The "Q's", as they were popularly known, played from 1972 to 1975. As the Sails, the ...

of the ABA.Remember the ABA: San Diego Conquistadors/San Diego Sails Year-by-Year Notes

Personal life

After the team moved to Houston, Groza remained in San Diego, working as a sales manager for Reynolds International until his death.
New York Times. January 23, 1995. Alex Groza died of cancer in 1995 at age 68. He was survived by his wife of 42 years, Jean (Watson) Groza, two sons, two daughters, and two grandchildren.

Miscellaneous

*Groza led the league in field goal percentage in 1950 and 1951. *Alex Groza was the brother of football Hall of Famer

. *Groza's nickname was "The Beak".

References

External links

*
Alex Groza player statistics
at Basketball-Reference.com

at Basketball-Reference.com

– UK Career Statistics and Biography * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Groza, Alex 1926 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople All-American college men's basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American Basketball Association executives American men's basketball players Banned National Basketball Association players Basketball coaches from Ohio Basketball players at the 1948 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Ohio American people of Hungarian descent American people of Romanian descent Bellarmine Knights baseball coaches Bellarmine Knights men's basketball coaches Centers (basketball) Indianapolis Olympians draft picks Indianapolis Olympians players Kentucky Colonels coaches Kentucky Colonels executives Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players Medalists at the 1948 Summer Olympics National Basketball Association All-Stars Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball People from Martins Ferry, Ohio San Diego Conquistadors coaches San Diego Conquistadors executives Sportspeople involved in betting scandals United States men's national basketball team players