Don Sunderlage

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Don Sunderlage
Minneapolis Lakers
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points
874 (7.7 ppg)
Rebounds281 (2.5 rpg)
Assists224 (2.0 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Don J. Sunderlage (December 20, 1929 – July 15, 1961) was an American basketball player.

A 6'1"

Minneapolis Lakers. He averaged 7.7 points per game in his career and represented the Hawks at the 1954 NBA All-Star Game.[1]

High school

A native of

guard who led his team to a Big 8 Conference championship while setting the Elgin High School scoring record of 359 points during the 1946-47 season.[2] Following his senior season, Sunderlage was selected to play in a North-South All Star game where he was the high scorer for the North. In two varsity seasons, Sunderlage's Elgin Maroons teams won 35 games while only losing 6 (win pct=85.3%).[3]

In 1973, Sunderlage was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame as a player.[4]

College

In the fall of 1947, Sunderlage enrolled at the

NCAA Tournament. Illinois defeated Yale to earn a berth in the Final Four (only eight teams played in the tournament back then), but lost to eventual national champion Kentucky, 76–47. They defeated Oregon State in the third place game, however. This was Illinois’ first 20-game winning team since 1908 which equaled a final AP
ranking of No. 4 in the nation.

The

Dike Eddleman's 329 points from the previous season left the Illini with a fourth-place finish in the conference at 7 wins and 5 losses while finishing the regular season with an overall record of 14 wins and 8 losses. After the season, Sunderlage was named captain for the following season on a team that added future All-Americans Jim Bredar and Irv Bemoras
. Even with the lack of overall success by the team, Sunderlage won the Ralph Woods Memorial Free Throw trophy in 1950

Unlike the previous season, the

Minneapolis. Along with Sunderlage, the team included and Ted Beach, Rodney Fletcher, Irving Bemoras, Robert Peterson and Mack Follmer.[5]

After the completion of his senior season, Sunderlage was named the

Most Valuable Player of the Big Ten Conference and honored with the Chicago Tribune Silver Basketball award. He was also a Helms 2nd team All-American, a Sporting News 2nd team All-American, a United Press International 3rd team All-American, a Converse 3rd team All-American and an Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American. In addition to his other honors, Sunderlage was the first Illinois player to score more than 400 points in a season (471 in 1951). In his three years of varsity basketball, Sunderlage played in 74 games while scoring 777 points for an average of 10.5 points per game.[6]
His teams won 57 games while losing only 17 (win pct=77.0%).

In 2008, Sunderlage was honored as one of the thirty-three honored jerseys which hang in the State Farm Center to show regard for being the most decorated basketball players in the University of Illinois' history.

Professional basketball

After leaving the University of Illinois, Sunderlage played professionally for two seasons in the

Minneapolis Lakers. He played in 45 games for the Lakers during the 1954–55 NBA season but his minutes and scoring were drastically reduced from his previous season and on July 1, 1955, he was released from his contract.[9]

Personal life & death

Sunderlage was the son of Alfred Henry Sunderlage and Hulda Louise Minnie Sunderlage and married Mary "Janice" Newby. Their marriage resulted in the birth of one son, Steven, born December 23, 1959.[10]

On July 15, 1961, Sunderlage and his wife died following a car accident in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.[11]

Honors

Statistics

College basketball

Season Games
Points
 PPG Big Ten
Record 		Overall
Record 		Highlight
1948–49 25 153 6.1 10–2 21–4 -
1949–50 22 153 7.0 7–5 14–8 -
1950–51 27 471 17.4 13–1 22–5 Big Ten Player of the Year
Totals 74 777 10.5 30–8 57–17

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1953–54 Milwaukee 68 32.8 .340 .748 3.3 2.8 11.2
1954–55 Minneapolis 45 9.0 .248 .658 1.2 0.8 2.5
Career 113 23.3 .326 .732 2.5 2.0 7.7

External links

References

  1. ^ Basketball-Reference.com/players/s/sundedo01.html. Retrieved June 6, 2007.
  2. ^ U-46.org
  3. ^ IHSA.org
  4. ^ "IBCAIllinois.org". Archived from the original on February 26, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  5. ISBN 1-58261-356-7
  6. ^ Sports-Reference.com
  7. ^ "1951 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC.
  8. ^ APBRBasketball
  9. ^ Basketball.RealGM.com
  10. ^ Geni.com
  11. ^ http://www.apbr.org/deceased.html. Retrieved June 6, 2007.
  12. ^ "FightingIllini.com" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 24, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  13. ^ "IBCA Hall of Fame". Archived from the original on February 26, 2019. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
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