Forrest Sale "Red" DeBernardi (February 3, 1899 – April 29, 1970) was an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

player in the 1920s. Standing 6 ft. 1 inches tall, DeBernardi was one of the best

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 eccentrici ...

s of his era, and played all five positions. Born in

Nevada, Missouri Nevada ( ''nə--də'') is a city in and the county seat of Vernon County, on the western border of Missouri, United States. The population was 8,386 at the 2010 census, and 8,254 in the 2018 estimate. The local government has a council-manager ...

, he attended Westminster College where he played from 1919 to 1921. On January 19, 1920, he made 24 field goals against Missouri Wesleyan, a school record that stands to this day. DeBernardi then transferred to the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

in order to be closer to the

Kansas City Athletic Club The Kansas City Athletic Club is an athletic club and gentlemen's club in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. Notable members have included President Harry S. Truman and others. Founding The club was founded in 1887 by Arthur E. Stillwell as the F ...

so that he could compete for them in the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It h ...

(AAU). He did not play for the university, however. Following his impressive collegiate career, DeBernardi became an outstanding AAU player. Between 1920 and 1929, when he played with

(1920–22), Hillyard Shine Alls (1922–27) and Cook's Painter Boys (1927–29), he played in 10 national AAU tournaments and was named to the AAU All-American team five times. DeBernardi was also an AAU national champion five times. In 1938 the

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selected DeBernardi as the center on its All-Time All America college basketball team. He was also awarded with the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owners ...

Hall of Fame Award in 1952. In 1961, DeBernardi was elected to the

Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pre ...

. In 2006, he was elected posthumously into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

References

HOF BB Players – Forrest DeBernardi

Westminster College Hall of Fame – Forrest DeBernardi
{{DEFAULTSORT:DeBernardi, Forrest 1899 births 1970 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Kansas Basketball players from Missouri Centers (basketball) College men's tennis players in the United States College men's track and field athletes in the United States Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame inductees People from Nevada, Missouri University of Kansas alumni Westminster Blue Jays baseball players Westminster Blue Jays men's basketball players