Basketball players from Indiana

Cliff_Barker

Clifford "Cliff" Eugene Barker (January 15, 1921 – March 17, 1998) was an American basketball player who won the gold medal with the USA national basketball team at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and two national championships at the University of Kentucky.

While at the University of Kentucky, Barker was an All-SEC (Second Team) and All-SEC Tournament guard during the 1947–48 and 1948–49 seasons.
A member of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, Barker was a B-17 Flying Fortress gunner and spent 16 months as a prisoner-of-war.

Howie_Williams_(basketball)

Howard Earl "Howie" Williams (October 29, 1927 – December 25, 2004) was an American basketball player who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics. Williams played collegiately at Purdue University where he was a 2x All-Big Ten guard (1948–49, 1949–50); he was selected as the Purdue team MVP in his junior and senior seasons and as Team Captain in 1949-50; posting a career total of 735 points (10.0 game avg). He led the Big Ten Conference in Free Throw Percentage (85.7%) for the 1948-49 season.
He was a 3rd Round pick of the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950 NBA draft but chose instead to sign a contract with the Peoria Caterpillars of the American Athletic Union and the National Industrial Basketball League. The Caterpillars finished 4th in the NIBL but won the National AAU title (the first of three consecutive titles), knocking off the regular season champions, the Phillips Oilers in the semi-finals on Williams last second bucket. Williams and the rest of the Caterpillar team defeated the NCAA Champion Kansas Jayhawks in the AAU Title game. Following the title game, the Los Angeles Times named Williams the AAU Player of the Year; Williams then led Peoria to another AAU National title in 1953.
The 1952 win placed Williams as well as Peoria teammates; Ronald Bontemps, Marcus Freiberger, Frank McCabe and Dan Pippin on the U.S. Olympic squad. That team, led by fellow native Hoosier Clyde Lovellette won the gold medal. He played all eight games and finished #8 in scoring for the squad.
Williams spent four seasons playing for the Caterpillars and finished with 1,235 career points, eighth on their career scoring list.
He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame in 1991. He died in Phoenix, Arizona in 2004; following a 35-year career with the Caterpillar Corporation.

George_Pearcy

George William "Wig" Pearcy (July 2, 1919 – September 14, 1992) was an American professional basketball player. He played in 37 games for the Detroit Falcons of the Basketball Association of America in the 1946–47 season. He recorded 94 points, 13 assists, and 68 personal fouls in his career. George is the older brother of Henry Pearcy, who also played for the Falcons that season.

Dale_Morey

Dale E. Morey (December 1, 1918 – May 14, 2002) was an American amateur golfer and professional basketball player. In basketball, he played in the National Basketball League for the Anderson Duffey Packers during the 1946–47 season. In golf, he won 261 tournaments and made nine holes-in-one in his career.

Bobby_Plump

Bobby Gene Plump (born September 9, 1936) is a member of the Milan High School basketball team, who won the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) state tournament in 1954. Plump was selected Indiana's coveted "Mr. Basketball" in 1954, the award bestowed upon Indiana's most outstanding senior basketball player as voted on by the press. Plump was also named one of the most noteworthy Hoosiers of the 20th century by Indianapolis Monthly Magazine. He was also one of the 50 greatest sports figures from Indiana in the 20th century, according to Sports Illustrated.
After graduating from Butler University, Plump played three years for the Phillips 66ers of the National Industrial Basketball League. Following his professional sports career with Phillips 66, he began working in the life insurance and financial consulting industry. "Plump's Last Shot," a restaurant in the Broad Ripple neighborhood of Indianapolis, Indiana, honors him and is currently run by his son Jonathan.
Bobby Plump and his Milan High School teammates were part of the inspiration behind the 1986 film Hoosiers, starring Gene Hackman as coach of the fictitious Hickory Huskers. Hickory's star player, Jimmy Chitwood, takes his last-second shot in the championship game from the same spot Plump did in the 1954 state final.

William_Perigo

William J. Perigo (September 17, 1911 – February 7, 1990) was an American basketball player and coach. He played college basketball for Western Michigan University from 1931 to 1934 and professional basketball for the Indianapolis Kautskys from 1934 to 1936. Perigo also worked as a basketball coach for more than 25 years. He was the basketball coach at Benton Harbor High School for 13 years and led the team to the Michigan Class A state championship in 1941. He was the head basketball coach at Western Michigan University (1949–1952) and the University of Michigan (1952–1960). In 1983, he was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.

Bob_Prewitt

Bob Prewitt (July 26, 1924 – May 3, 2018) was an American college basketball coach. He was the head coach at Southern Methodist University from 1967 to 1975.Prewitt served in the Army Air Corps before enrolling at SMU in 1947. He served as team captain for the 1948-49 season, and was an All-Conference pick. Prewitt joined the coaching staff as an assistant in 1949 and helped the team to its first Final Four in 1956. In 1967, he became head coach, and led the team to a Southwest Conference regular-season title in 1972. He died on May 3, 2018, in Dallas, Texas at age 93.