Murray Wier

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Murray Wier
Tri-Cities Blackhawks
1950–1951Waterloo Hawks
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points
429 (7.7 ppg)
Assists107 (1.9 apg)
Games played56
Stats at NBA.com 
Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Murray Neal Wier (December 12, 1926 – April 6, 2016), nicknamed "Rampaging Redhead" and "Wizard Wier,"

Tri-Cities Blackhawks (now the present-day Atlanta Hawks) and the Waterloo Hawks.[2][3] He is better known for his standout college career at the University of Iowa, however, when in 1947–48 he was named a consensus first team All-American and was also the inaugural National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Major College scoring leader at 21.0 points per game.[4]

Early life

Wier was born in

Des Moines Register and Iowa Daily Press Association. After his breakout senior season, University of Iowa head men's basketball coach Pops Harrison offered him a full scholarship to play for the Hawkeyes.[2]

Career

College

Harrison made Wier a four-year starter at Iowa.

forward.[2] The Hawkeyes were fairly successful over the rest of Wier's career and eventually finished second to the Michigan Wolverines
for the conference championship during his senior season in 1947–48.

Wier led the Hawkeyes in scoring in both his junior and senior years at 15.1 and 21.0 points per game (ppg), respectively.[5] Like he did in high school, he had a breakout senior year. His 21.0 ppg led the NCAA in scoring en route to Wier becoming the first officially recognized Major College division scoring leader.[4] In the process, he set a then-Big Ten record of 272 points in conference play, was a first team all-conference selection and was also dubbed the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player.[2] He capped his career off by being named a consensus first team All-American.

Professional

Wier was drafted 48th overall in the

National Professional Basketball League
. When the league folded, his basketball career as a player ended.

Later life

After professional basketball, Wier became an assistant coach at

Waterloo East High School for the boys' basketball team. He was the head coach for 24 years and compiled an overall record of 374 wins versus 140 losses, including winning the state championship in 1974.[2] That same season he was named the Iowa State Coach of the Year.[2] Weir was also the head men's tennis coach for 10 years before retiring in 1989. Aside from coaching, Wier also served as the high school's athletic director for 34 years.[2]

Wier lived in Georgetown, Texas in a retirement community called Sun City Texas.[2] He was a member of the NBA Retired Players Association.[2] Wier died on April 6, 2016.[6]

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

NBA

Source[1]

Regular season

Year Team GP FG% FT% APG PPG
1949–50 Tri-Cities 56 .327 .693 1.9 7.7

Playoffs

Year Team GP FG% FT% APG PPG
1949–50 Tri-Cities 3 .333 .500 .0 3.3

See also

  • List of shortest players in National Basketball Association history

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Murray Wier". basketball-reference.com. 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Dietz, Gil (February 27, 2006). "Former resident stirs up a racket during retirement: Wier swapped a basketball for a tennis ball". Muscatine Journal. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  3. ^ a b "1948 BAA Draft". basketball-reference.com. 2010. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  4. ^ a b "2009–10 NCAA Men's Basketball Records" (PDF). 2009–10 NCAA Men's Basketball Media Guide. National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2009. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  5. ^ "2009–10 Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball media guide" (PDF). University of Iowa. 2009. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  6. ^ "Former Iowa basketball standout Murray Wier, 89, passes away". btn.com. April 6, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2016.
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