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Ralph Beard
Ralph Beard.jpg
Personal information
Born (1927-12-02)December 2, 1927
Hardinsburg, Kentucky, U.S.
Died November 29, 2007(2007-11-29) (aged 79)
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
High school Louisville Male
(Louisville, Kentucky)
Listed height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight 175 lb (79 kg)
Career information
College Kentucky (1945–1949)
NBA Draft 1949 / Round: 2 / Pick: 22nd overall
Selected by the Chicago Stags
Pro career 1949–1951
Career history
1949–1951 Indianapolis Olympians
Career highlights and awards
  • NBA All-Star (1951)
  • All-NBA First-Team (1951)
  • 2× NCAA champion (1948, 1949)
  • 3× Consensus first-team All-American (1947–1949)
Career statistics
Points 2,006 (15.9 ppg)
Rebounds 251 (3.8 rpg)
Assists 551 (4.4 apg)
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing the  United States
Gold 1948 London Team competition

Ralph Milton Beard Jr. (December 2, 1927 – November 29, 2007) was an American collegiate and professional basketball player. He won two NCAA national basketball championships at the University of Kentucky and played two years in the National Basketball Association prior to being barred for life for his participation in the 1951 point shaving scandal.

Early life

Beard was born in Hardinsburg, Kentucky. Beard grew up in Louisville and attended Louisville Male High School. He later cited the family's finances as a reason he took money from gamblers. His mother worked as a cleaning lady after his father left the family.

College career

He was a member of Adolph Rupp's "Fabulous Five" University of Kentucky basketball team, with Alex Groza, Wallace Jones, Cliff Barker, and Kenny Rollins. Beard won a gold medal in the 1948 Summer Olympics with the Fabulous Five and the Phillips 66ers.

Professional career

Indianapolis Olympians (1949–1951)

Ralph-Beard-jersey
A jersey honoring Beard hangs in Rupp Arena.

Taken in the second round of the 1949 NBA draft, Beard played two seasons with the Indianapolis Olympians and averaged 15.9 points and 4.4 assists per game.

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
1949–50 Indianapolis 60 .363 .762 3.9 14.9
1950–51 Indianapolis 66 .368 .775 3.8 4.8 16.8
Career 126 .366 .770 3.8 4.4 15.9
All-Star 1 .375 .000 3.0 2.0 6.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1950 Indianapolis 5 .314 .786 4.4 13.2
1951 Indianapolis 3 .443 .706 4.0 4.3 22.0
Career 8 .374 .756 4.0 4.4 16.5

Personal life

Later in life, the University of Kentucky welcomed Beard back. The school retired his jersey and invited him to speak to players about point shaving.

In 1985, he was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame.

Beard died on November 29, 2007, at his Louisville, Kentucky home.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Ralph Beard para niños

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