For years he was the first player off the bench and soon became recognized as the NBA's best sixth man. At six-feet, five-inches tall and 205 pounds, he entered the league as a defensive standout and was the heir to Frank Ramsey as the Celtics' sixth man. Havlicek began his career with the Celtics as a reserve player even though he was one of the best players on the team. Havlicek remained on the Browns' roster until the final cut. He was also chosen in the seventh round of the National Football League draft as a wide receiver by the Cleveland Browns despite never having An All-American and team captain in 1962, Havlicek led the Buckeyes to a 26–2 record and a third consecutive trip to the NCAA championship game.Īfter college, Havlicek was a first-round draft selection in 1962 for the Boston Celtics. In his first college season, Havlicek led Ohio State to a 25–3 record and the NCAA championship with a victory over Cincinnati. Playing under Hall of Fame coach Fred Taylor and with teammates (and future Hall of Famers) Jerry Lucas and Bob Knight, the Buckeyes compiled a three-year record of 78–6 and won three Big Ten titles from 1960 to 1962.ĭuring that three-year span, the Buckeyes reached the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championship game each year, winning the title in 1960 and finishing as runner-up in 19.

His outstanding high school athletic career produced nearly eighty college scholarship offers, most of them for football, at which he excelled as quarterback.Īfter a brilliant high school career, Havlicek enrolled at Ohio State University, where he was the centerpiece of that school's greatest era of basketball success. Although he averaged nearly thirty points a game, Havlicek was better known for his defensive ability. Known as the 'Bridgeport H-Bomb,' Havlicek set a state scoring record by tallying forty points in a single basketball game. An outstanding athlete, Havlicek was an all-state selection in basketball, football, and baseball. Havlicek attended Bridgeport High School, where he was a teammate and neighbor of future Hall of Fame baseball pitcher Phil Niekro. Running became his passion, and his stamina and conditioning would become his trademark during his career. When Havlicek was six years old, he discovered a talent for running and would run nonstop between mileposts along the highway. His parents owned a grocery store in nearby Dillonsville, where Havlicek helped out on the weekends. Havlicek's father came to the United States from Czechoslovakia at age eleven and his mother was of Croatian decent. Many of Lansing's 700 residents were employed in nearby coal mines and steel mills. Havlicek, the youngest of Frank and Amanda Havlicek's three children, was born in Martins Ferry, Ohio, but spent his childhood in Lansing, Ohio. 8 April 1940 in Martins Ferry, Ohio), basketball player who played his entire sixteen-year career with the Boston Celtics and retired as one of the greatest players in National Basketball Association (NBA) history.

Joseph havlik knox news sentinel