Elected
to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1962, Barney Sedran is
considered
one of the great professional basketball players of the
1912-1925 era—decades before the term "superstar"was
coined.
Sedran, who stood 5’4” (1.62 meters) and weighed
115 pounds, played the equivalent of high school basketball
for the University Settlement House because he was too
small to make his DeWitt Clinton High School (Bronx, NY)
team.
The Settlement team won the 115-pound division championship
1905-1906, and the Metropolitan AAU title 1906-07.
At City
College of New York (CCNY), Sedran was the school’s
leading scorer for three consecutive seasons, 1909-1911,
and was named to various college all-star teams.
The smallest
player enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall
of Fame, “The Mighty Might of Basketball” turned
pro after leaving CCNY, teaming successfully and often
with 5’7” hall of famer (Naismith and IJSHOF)
Max Friedman. They were known as the “Heavenly Twins”.
In an era of barnstorming, short-lived leagues, and schedules
that often called for as many as three games a day, Sedran
is said to have been pro basketball’s highest paid
star.
His many teams of record include: Newburgh Tenths
1911-12 (Hudson Valley League), Utica Utes/Indians 1912-14
(New
York State), Carbondale Pioneers 1914-18 (Pennsylvania),
Brooklyn
Trolley Dodgers 1915-16 (Interstate), Kensington Jaspers
1915-17 (Pennsylvania), Jersey City Skeeters 1917-18
(Central), Scranton Miners 1918-19 (Pennsylvania), Albany
Senators
1919-20/1921-24 (New York), Passaic Athletic Association
1919-20 (Interstate),
Turners Falls Athletics 1919-20 (Interstate), New York
Whirlwinds 1919-21 (Eastern), Bridgeport Blue Ribbons
1920-21 (Central),
Trenton Tigers 1920-21 (Eastern), Easthampton Hampers
1920-22 (Interstate), Mohawk Indians 1921-2) (New York),
Cohoes
Cohosiers 1921-22 (New York), New York Giants 1921-22
(Eastern), Brooklyn
Dodgers 1921-23 (Metropolitan), Philadelphia DeNeri 1922-23
(Eastern), Yonkers Chippewas 1923-24 (Metropolitan),
Cleveland Rosenblums 1924-26 (American Basketball League),
Brooklyn
Jewels 1932-36 (Metropolitan), New York Whirlwinds 1936-38
(Metropolitan).
Among Sedran’s court highlights: He
led Newburgh in 1912, Utica 1913 to 1915, Carbondale in
1917, Easthampton
1920 and 1921, and Albany in 1921 to League championships.
After his Utica club won the 1913-14 New York State League
title, the Utes defeated Trenton, champions of the Eastern
League, to claim the World Professional Championship. Sedran
once scored 34 points on a court without backboards; another
time, 34 points shooting at rims without a net. He averaged
7.3 points per game during his career, with a single season
high 13.2 ppg in 1917.
As a pro coach, Sedran was player-coach
of the Passaic Athletic Association (1919-20) in the
Interstate League, and coach
of the following American Basketball League (ABL) teams:
Kingston Colonials (1938-40), Kate Smith Celtics (1938-40),
Troy Celtics (1939-41), Wilmington Blue Bombers (1941-45),
and New York Gothams (1945-46). The Kate Smith Celtics
won 1939 and 1940 ABL championships. Wilmington won ABL
titles
1941-42 and 1943-44. (NOTE: Depending upon the league,
basketball seasons often lap over from one year to another.
Other times
a season begins and ends in the same calendar year.)
Sedran’s
New York Whirlwind team of 1919-1921 is considered by
many to have been the greatest professional basketball
team of the first half of the 20th century.
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