Former longtime NBA guard Frank Selvy, a college hoops legend, has sadly passed away at the age of 91, reports The Associated Press.
According to Selvy’s family, he passed away in his Simpsonville, South Carolina home on Tuesday.
The 6-foot-3 guard was a two-time All-American superstar at the NCAA level while at Furman. Selvy was twice the NCAA’s most prolific scorer in college basketball, and still holds the record for most points scored in a single game.
Following an All-State high school career at Cobrin High School, Selvy starred at Furman from 1951-54.
The college standout averaged 41.7 points a game during his 1953-54 senior season. He scored what is still a collegiate record 100 points while vanquishing a non-Division I opponent, Newberry, on Feb. 13, 1954. All told, the prolific scorer notched 40 or more points 22 times during his NCAA career.
“A true Paladin legend,” Furman vice president of intercollegiate athletics Jason Donnelly said in a press statement, according to Todd Shanesy of The Greenville News. “Furman’s all-time greatest athlete, a consensus All-American, NBA all-star (1955 and 1962), distinguished member of the College Basketball Hall of Fame, one of the greatest scorers in the history of college basketball.”
In addition to making a pair of consensus All-American teams, Selvy was also a three-time All-Southern Conference honoree. He held college averages of 32.5 points on 43.0 percent shooting from the floor and 76.6 percent free throws. He averaged 13.8 rebounds during his senior season, to boot.
Bob Cousy #14 of the Boston Celtics dribbles as Frank Selvy #15 of the New York Knicks defends during an NBA game on October 25, 1958 at the Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. Selvy passed away on Tuesday at age 91.
Hy Peskin/Getty Images
“Frank was both a mentor and a friend who had an incredible impact on Furman basketball as a player and a coach (1966-70),” seventh-year Furman basketball coach Bob Richey stated, per Shanesy. “In addition to being a great basketball player, Frank was a phenomenal person. He was one of the best to ever wear the jersey, and he will be deeply missed.”
Selvy was selected by the then-Baltimore Bullets with the No. 1 overall pick in 1954. When the Baltimore franchise met its demise that same season, he was selected by the then-Milwaukee Hawks in a dispersal draft of ex-Bullets contributors. The club, coached by eventual Naismith Hall of Famer Red Holzman, moved to St. Louis for the 1955-56 season.
Selvy served with the U.S. Army in 1956-57 and did not play for the Hawks. The next season, he returned in a reserve capacity.
The guard was flipped to the then-Minneapolis Lakers in a midseason deal for Dick Boushka and Terry Rand. The Hawks would go on to capture a title against the Bill Russell and Bob Cousy-led Boston Celtics.
Selvy suited up for the New York Knicks during the 1958-59 season. New York cut him early into the next year, but he soon joined the Syracuse Nationals. He was flipped back to Minneapolis. The team relocated to Los Angeles in 1960-61, and Selvy found himself finishing his career next to a pair of Hall of Famers in guard Jerry West and forward Elgin Baylor.
Those loaded Lakers clubs appeared in a pair of NBA Finals, falling to the Boston Celtics in both 1962 and 1963. Selvy retired after the 1962-63 season.
Selvy was twice named an NBA All-Star, in 1955 with the Hawks and then in 1962 with the Lakers.
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