Ephraim J. "Red" Rocha (September 18, 1923 – February 13, 2010) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
player and coach.
Basketball
A 6'9" center from
Oregon State University
Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering c ...
, he earned
All-Pacific Coast Conference honors in 1945, 1946, and 1947. He was also selected as a 1947
All-American.
Rocha played in the
BAA and
NBA in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He represented the
Baltimore Bullets in the
1951 NBA All-Star Game
The 1951 NBA All-Star Game was an exhibition basketball game played on March 2, 1951, at Boston Garden in Boston, home of the Boston Celtics. The game was the first edition of the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star Game and was playe ...
, the first NBA All-Star Game.
[ Rocha had 6,362 career points in the NBA and won an NBA title with the ]Syracuse Nationals
The Philadelphia 76ers are an American basketball team currently playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 76ers are third in NBA history in wins and playoff appearances.
1946– ...
in 1955.Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at L ...
from 1958 to 1960.[ Rocha also coached the ]Hawaii Chiefs
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is ...
of the American Basketball League.Association for Professional Basketball Research American Basketball League page
/ref> Rocha then became head coach for the University of Hawaii
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
men's basketball team.[ At UH, he assembled what is known today as the " Fabulous Five" during the 1970 to 1972 seasons. In 1970, the team advanced to postseason play for the first time in school history. Red also co-founded the Rainbow Classic — an eight-team collegiate men's basketball tournament, with UH hosting the tournament.
]
Later years
He was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame The Oregon Sports Hall of Fame honors Oregon athletes, teams, coaches, and others who have made a significant contribution to sports in Oregon. The first class was inducted in 1980, with new inductees added in the fall. Operated by the Oregon Sports ...
in 1980, and into the Oregon State University Sports Hall of Fame in 1990. Ephraim "Red" Rocha died from cancer on February 13, 2010, in Corvallis, Oregon, at the age of 86.
BAA/NBA career statistics
Regular season
Playoffs
References
External links
Career stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocha, Red
1923 births
2010 deaths
All-American college men's basketball players
American Basketball League (1961–62) coaches
American men's basketball coaches
American men's basketball players
Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) players
Basketball coaches from Hawaii
Basketball players from Hawaii
Centers (basketball)
Detroit Pistons head coaches
Fort Wayne Pistons players
Hawaii Rainbow Warriors basketball coaches
National Basketball Association All-Stars
Oregon State Beavers men's basketball players
People from Hilo, Hawaii
St. Louis Bombers (NBA) players
Syracuse Nationals players
Toronto Huskies draft picks