John Azary, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

    

John Azary

American college basketball standout at Columbia University between 1948 and 1951

Date of Birth: 14-Oct-1929

Place of Birth: New York City, New York, United States

Date of Death: 15-Sep-1981

Profession: basketball player

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Libra


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About John Azary

  • John Azary (October 14, 1929 – September 16, 1981) was an American standout basketball player for Columbia College (now Columbia University) between 1948–49 and 1950–51. Azary was born and raised in New York City.
  • At 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), he played the guard position, and when deciding on where to attend college, he chose to stay in the city to attend Columbia.
  • At the time, college freshmen were not eligible to play varsity sports, so Azary's career actually began when he was a sophomore in 1948–49.
  • In his first season, he scored 298 points in 20 games, which gave him a new school record for a first season scoring average at 14.9 points per game.
  • This average surpassed Walt Budko's mark, who had graduated just prior to Azary's first year.Despite being "undersized", Azary was routinely given the top defensive assignments against much taller players.
  • He even played against centers and used his aggressiveness and hustle to outplay them.
  • His head coach, Gordon Ridings, said of Azary, "I never saw a harder worker than John.
  • He once stayed an hour after practice taking foul shots because he had missed two out of ten free throws in the previous night’s game."In three seasons as a Lion he scored 1,037 points.
  • His finest season came as senior in 1950–51.
  • He captained Columbia as they rolled through the regular season undefeated, won the Eastern Intercollegiate League (modern day Ivy League) championship, and reached the Sweet 16 of the 1951 NCAA Tournament.
  • Azary was the recipient of the Haggerty Award, which has been given annually since 1935–36 to the top male collegiate basketball player in the New York City area.
  • He also capped his career with a second consecutive selection to the All-EIL First Team as well as NCAA All-American honors by various media outlets.After his collegiate career ended, the NBA's Boston Celtics chose him in that year's draft in the seventh round (66th overall).
  • He never played in the NBA; instead, Azary played in the American Basketball League and the Eastern Professional Basketball League.Azary died of a heart attack on September 16, 1981, at age 51.

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