Ernest Maurice Vandeweghe Jr. (September 12, 1928 – November 8, 2014) was an American professional basketball player. Vandeweghe was best known for playing for the New York Knicks of the NBA and for the athletic successes of his family.

Ernie Vandeweghe
Vandeweghe as a senior at Colgate
Personal information
Born(1928-09-12)September 12, 1928
Montreal, Canada
DiedNovember 8, 2014(2014-11-08) (aged 86)
Newport Beach, California, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High schoolOceanside (Oceanside, New York)
CollegeColgate (1945–1949)
NBA draft1949: 3rd round
Selected by the New York Knicks
Playing career1949–1956
PositionShooting guard / small forward
Number9, 18
Career history
19491956New York Knicks
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points2,135 (9.5 ppg)
Rebounds834 (4.6 rpg)
Assists548 (2.4 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata

Personal life

edit

Vandeweghe and his wife Colleen Kay Hutchins (Miss America for 1952)[1] were the parents of former NBA All-Star Kiki VanDeWeghe and Olympic swimmer Tauna Vandeweghe, and grandparents of tennis professional Coco Vandeweghe.

Biography

edit

Born in Montreal, Vandeweghe moved to Long Island as a teenager and played football, basketball and baseball for Oceanside High School where he was also a member of the Omega Gamma Delta fraternity. A 6'3" guard, Vandeweghe played collegiately for the Colgate University Raiders, where he was an All-American. He was drafted by the Knicks in the 1949 BAA Draft, and played in the NBA for six seasons. [citation needed]

After retiring from the NBA in 1956, Vandeweghe served as a physician for the Air Force while stationed overseas in Germany. Besides Kiki, he had three other children who were successful athletes: daughter Tauna won a U.S. national swimming championship in the backstroke (and competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics), son Bruk medalled in beach volleyball in the 1994 Goodwill Games, and daughter Heather was captain of the U.S. national women's polo team and followed in her father's footsteps through medical school to become a physician. [citation needed]

Vandeweghe served as chairman of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and served on the Olympic Sports Commission under President Gerald Ford, where he assisted with the development of two key pieces of sports legislation – Title IX and the 1976 Amateur Athletic Act. He was also a senior vice president with Focus Partners LLC, a New York–based financial services firm, and a consultant with the United States Golf and Fitness Association. He occasionally provided commentary for several sports publications.

Vandeweghe died at the age of 86 on November 8, 2014.[2]

Career statistics

edit
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

Source[3]

Regular season

edit
Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1949–50 New York 42 .421 .664 1.9 10.0
1950–51 New York 44 .402 .701 4.4 2.8 7.7
1951–52 New York 57 26.4 .438 .775 4.6 2.9 9.2
1952–53 New York 61 28.6 .435 .766 5.6 2.4 12.0
1953–54 New York 15 18.1 .359 .806 1.3 1.9 6.6
1955–56 New York 5 15.4 .323 1.000 2.6 2.4 4.4
Career 224 26.1 .421 .740 4.6 2.4 9.5

Playoffs

edit
Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1950 New York 4 .346 .875 .8 8.0
1951 New York 14* .407 .730 4.7 2.4 7.2
1952 New York 14* 29.6 .432 .817 4.9 1.9 10.8
1953 New York 11 30.9 .438 .754 5.8 2.5 13.1
Career 43 30.2 .421 .782 5.1 2.1 10.0

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Miss America: 1952 Archived 2008-06-05 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Goldstein, Richard (November 9, 2014), "Ernie Vandeweghe, Knick and Physician, Dies at 86", The New York Times
  3. ^ "Ernie Vandeweghe NBA stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
edit