- Red Rocha
Ephraim J. "Red" Rocha (born
September 18 ,1923 inHilo, Hawaii ) is a former professionalbasketball player. A 6'9" center fromOregon State University , he earned All-Pacific Coast Conference honors in 1945, 1946, and 1947. He was also selected as a 1947All-American .Rocha played in the BAA and
NBA in the late 1940s and early 1950s. He represented the Baltimore Bullets in the first NBA All-Star Game in 1951, and won a championship ring with the Syracuse Nationals in 1955. He scored 6,362 points in his playing career. He later served as a coach for theDetroit Pistons . Following his NBA career, he became head coach for theUniversity of Hawaii 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.He was inducted into the
Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1980, and into the Oregon State University Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.Rocha still shares, with former teammate Paul Seymour, the NBA record for most minutes in a playoff game with 67.citation | title = A March Marathon - Flashback: 1953's Four-OT Thriller - Boston Celtics vs. Syracuse Nationals| magazine=Basketball Digest | year=2003 |date = March, 2003 | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCJ/is_5_30/ai_97615973]
References
External links
* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/rochare01.html Career Stats]
* [http://starbulletin.com/2003/12/15/sports/story2.html Rocha returns to Hawaii]
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