Whitey Von Nieda
Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Ephrata, Pennsylvania, U.S. | June 19, 1922
Died | September 6, 2023 Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, U.S. | (aged 101)
Listed height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
Listed weight | 170 lb (77 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Ephrata (Ephrata, Pennsylvania) |
College | Penn State (1942–1943) |
Playing career | 1946–1953, 1978 |
Position | Guard / forward |
Number | 6, 4 |
Coaching career | 1950–1979 |
Career history | |
As player: | |
1946–1947 | Lancaster Red Roses |
1947–1950 | Tri-Cities Blackhawks |
1950 | Baltimore Bullets |
1950–1953; 1978 | Lancaster Rockets / Red Roses |
As coach: | |
1950–1952 | Elizabethtown |
1950–1953 | Lancaster Red Roses |
1961–1962 | Hazleton Hawks |
1977–1979 | Lancaster Red Roses (assistant) |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Stats at NBA.com | |
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |
Stanley Lee "Whitey" Von Nieda Jr. (June 19, 1922 – September 6, 2023) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He was the longest lived National Basketball Association (NBA) player in history.[1]
Career
[edit]Von Nieda played basketball at Ephrata High School and Penn State University. Enlisting in the army during World War II, he played with the paratroopers at Fort Benning, Georgia. There, he led the country, both college and service teams, in scoring with 1062 points in 44 games. After being discharged, he played for the Lancaster Red Roses in the Eastern Basketball League, where he led that league in scoring, averaging more than 24 points per game.[citation needed]
In 1947, he began playing for the Tri-Cities BlackHawks in the National Basketball League (NBL). While with the Blackhawks, he made the All-Rookie team, averaging 12 points a game. His team made it to the final round of the playoffs in both of the years he played there. In 1949, the founding year of the NBA, Von Nieda was traded to the Baltimore Bullets, where he completed the 1949–50 NBA season. In Baltimore, he started every game playing both point guard and shooting guard. Von Nieda was known for his quickness on the court.[citation needed]
After leaving the NBA, he coached at Elizabethtown College for two years. In 1952, he became the player/coach of the Lancaster Red Roses for four years, making it to the finals three of those years. Von Nieda was selected to the All-EPBL Second Team in 1951.[2]
Von Nieda returned to the Red Roses as an assistant coach for the 1977–78 season.[3] On March 27, 1978, he was activated as a player and placed in the starting line-up for a game against the Brooklyn Dodgers that was billed as "Nostalgia Night".[4][5] Von Nieda played the first four minutes and missed his only field goal attempt.[4]
Again in 1985, he coached Lancaster in the Continental League; these teams were a stepping stone to the NBA. Once again, his team made it to the finals. For many years, he coached junior teams, working with 10- and 12-year-old players and teaching them the fundamentals of basketball.[citation needed]
Personal life and death
[edit]Von Nieda resided in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Arlene. He turned 100 on June 19, 2022; he was the first NBA player to reach 100 years of age, and thus the longest lived NBA player in history.[6] He died on September 6, 2023, at the age of 101.[7][8]
Career statistics
[edit]Legend | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
GP | Games played | FGM | Field-goals made | ||
FG% | Field-goal percentage | FTM | Free-throws made | ||
FTA | Free-throws attempted | FT% | Free-throw percentage | ||
APG | Assists per game | PTS | Points | ||
PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
NBL
[edit]Source[9]
Regular season
[edit]Year | Team | GP | FGM | FTM | FTA | FT% | PTS | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1947–48 | Tri-Cities | 60 | 276 | 174 | 287 | .606 | 726 | 12.1 |
1948–49 | Tri-Cities | 64 | 247 | 147 | 226 | .650 | 641 | 10.0 |
Career | 124 | 523 | 321 | 513 | .626 | 1,367 | 11.0 |
Playoffs
[edit]Year | Team | GP | FGM | FTM | FTA | FT% | PTS | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1948 | Tri-Cities | 6 | 41 | 15 | 28 | .536 | 97 | 16.2 |
1949 | Tri-Cities | 6 | 20 | 13 | 24 | .542 | 53 | 8.8 |
Career | 12 | 61 | 28 | 52 | .538 | 150 | 12.5 |
NBA
[edit]Regular season
[edit]Year | Team | GP | FG% | FT% | APG | PPG |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1949–50 | Tri-Cities | 26 | .345 | .630 | 1.4 | 4.2 |
1949–50 | Baltimore | 33 | .364 | .638 | 3.2 | 6.2 |
Career | 59 | .357 | .635 | 2.4 | 5.3 |
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Flynn, Cameron (September 8, 2023). "Oldest Living NBA Player Dies At 101". Athlon Sports. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- ^ "Stanley Von Nieda minor league basketball statistics". Stats Crew. Retrieved June 21, 2021.
- ^ "Von Nieda, Raskin Chosen To Share Roses' Coaching". Lancaster New Era. October 21, 1977. p. 19. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Roses Score 174 Points, Make Playoffs". Lancaster New Era. March 27, 1978. p. 20. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Rutherford, Mac (March 27, 1978). "Norman's Shooting Lights Armory". Intelligencer Journal. p. 15. Retrieved July 6, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Gross, Mike. "Ephrata basketball legend Von Nieda celebrates a century". lancasteronline.com. Retrieved June 19, 2022.
- ^ Gross, Mike (September 8, 2023). "Ephrata's Whitey Von Nieda, NBA veteran, dies at 101". LancasterOnline. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- ^ "Former NBA player Stanley 'Whitey' Von Nieda dies at the age of 101". Associated Press. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
- ^ "Whitey Von Nieda NBL Stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
External links
[edit]- Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
- 1922 births
- 2023 deaths
- American men centenarians
- American men's basketball players
- Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) players
- Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania
- Basketball players from Pennsylvania
- Penn State Nittany Lions basketball players
- Lancaster Red Roses (CBA) players
- People from Ephrata, Pennsylvania
- Point guards
- Shooting guards
- Sportspeople from Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
- Tri-Cities Blackhawks players
- United States Army personnel of World War II