Ray Ragelis

Ray Ragelis
Personal information
Born(1928-12-10)December 10, 1928
East Chicago, Indiana, U.S.
DiedSeptember 19, 1983(1983-09-19) (aged 54)
East Chicago, Indiana, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight205 lb (93 kg)
Career information
High schoolWashington (East Chicago, Indiana)
CollegeNorthwestern (1948–1951)
NBA draft1951: 2nd round, 17th overall pick
Selected by the Rochester Royals
Playing career1951–1952
PositionSmall forward / power forward
Number18
Career history
As player:
1951–1952Rochester Royals
As coach:
1954–1955Lake Forest
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points68 (1.3 ppg)
Rebounds76 (1.5 rpg)
Assists31 (0.6 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Raymond Ernest Ragelis (December 10, 1928 – September 19, 1983) was an American professional basketball player of Lithuanian descent. He played one season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after an All-American college career at Northwestern University.

Early years

Ragelis was born on December 10, 1928, to a family of Lithuanian immigrants.[1][2] He attended the Washington High School in East Chicago, Indiana,[3] playing for Johnnie Baratto; he led the Senators to the State Finals in 1947. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.[4]

College and professional career

Ragelis played for the Northwestern Wildcats. He was the first player in university's history to score 1,000 career points, and led the team in scoring for two years.[5] Ragelis led the Big Ten Conference in scoring during the 1950–51 season, averaging 19.1 points, which earned him All-American honours. He was the last player from university's basketball program to lead the conference in scoring until John Shurna in 2012.[6]

A 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) and 205 lb (93 kg) forward from Northwestern University, Ragelis was selected in the second round of the 1951 NBA draft by the Rochester Royals. He played one season with Rochester, coming off the bench in 51 of the 66 games and averaging 1.3 points per game, 1.5 rebounds per game, and 0.6 assists per game.[3] The Royals lost to the Minneapolis Lakers in the Division Finals of the 1952 NBA Playoffs.[7]

Later years

After his NBA career, Ragelis joined the military for two years and later started coaching. He first coached at Lake Forest College, and later served as an assistant coach at Northwestern University. After three years as assistant coach at Northwestern University, he became the head coach at Washington High School. Ragelis died on September 19, 1983, in West Side Veterans Hospital in East Chicago, Indiana.[8]

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[3]

Regular season

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1951–52 Rochester 51 6.6 .260 .621 1.5 .6 1.3

Playoffs

Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1952 Rochester 3 2.3 .000 – .3 .3 .0

References

  1. ^ McKinlay, Archibald (October 11, 2009). "Ragelis rewrote the record books at ECW without fanfare". nwitimes.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  2. ^ ""Iš viršaus": pirmasis lietuvis NBA lygoje – 40 metų iki Marčiulionio?". DELFI (in Lithuanian). December 25, 2018. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Ray Ragelis NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved August 4, 2023.
  4. ^ "Ray Ragelis". hoopshall.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  5. ^ "2018-19 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball media guide" (PDF). nusports.com. p. 96. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  6. ^ "NU Sports - Ray Ragelis - Class of 1951 - Hall of Fame - Northwestern University". nusports.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  7. ^ "1951-52 NBA Season Summary". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  8. ^ Heise, Kenan (September 23, 1983). "Ray Ragelis, NBA player, Obituary, Chicago Tribune, September 23, 1983". Newspapers.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2019. Retrieved March 6, 2019.


Stub icon

This biographical article relating to a United States basketball player, coach, or other figure born in the 1920s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.