Dominick Anthony Flora (June 12, 1935 – July 5, 2021) was an
All-American
The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...
college basketball standout at
Washington and Lee University
Washington and Lee University (Washington and Lee or W&L) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Lexington, Virginia, United States. Established in 1749 as Augusta Academy, it is among ...
(W&L), located in
Lexington, Virginia
Lexington is an Independent city (United States)#Virginia, independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 7,320. It is the county seat of Rockbridge County, Virg ...
.
Flora played for the W&L Generals from 1954–55 to
1957–58.
[ Dom Flora was a native of ]Jersey City
Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous , New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
and played high school football, baseball, and basketball for William L. Dickinson High School.[
A ]point guard
The point guard (PG), also called the one or the point, is one of the Basketball positions, five positions in a regulation basketball game.
A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position and is usually the shortest player ...
, Flora was an explosive scorer whose accurate jump shot and crisp ball-handling ability helped him average 21 points per game for his career.[ He was able to score despite being double– and triple–teamed by opposing defenses, and his aggressive style of play led him to become one of the most prolific ]free throw
In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...
shooters in NCAA
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...
Division I history.[ He shot 696-for-954 (73.0%) in 109 career games played.][
As a ]senior
Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to:
* Senior (name), a surname ...
in 1957–58, Flora was named the Southern Conference Player of the Year, the Virginia Big Six Player of the Year, and a First Team All-America selection by the Helms Foundation
The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...
that also included NBA all-time legends Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman Chamberlain ( ; August21, 1936 – October12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player. Standing tall, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons. He was enshrin ...
, Oscar Robertson
Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson played ...
, and Elgin Baylor
Elgin Gay Baylor ( ; September 16, 1934 – March 22, 2021) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and executive. He played 14 seasons as a forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lak ...
.[ He also earned his second straight First Team All-]Southern Conference
The Southern Conference (SoCon) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I. Southern Conference College football, football teams c ...
selection.[ When his career ended, Flora finished with 2,310 points, which at the time was the fifth–highest total in NCAA history.][
Dom was also a standout on the baseball diamond playing baseball all four years while at W&L after turning down a contract from the ]New York Giants (baseball)
The New York Giants were a Major League Baseball team in the National League (baseball), National League that began play in the season as the New York Gothams and became known as the Giants in . They continued as the New York Giants until the ...
MLB team.[
Dom was drafted by the ]Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...
in the 1958 NBA draft
The NBA draft is the National Basketball Association's (NBA) annual event, dating back to 1947 BAA draft, 1947, in which the teams in the league can Draft (sports), draft players who declare for the draft and that are Eligibility for the NBA dr ...
(31st overall pick). That team already had Bob Cousy
Robert Joseph Cousy ( , born August 9, 1928) is an American former professional basketball player. He played point guard for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963, and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals during the 1969–70 season. A 13-time NBA ...
, Bill Russell
William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played Center (basketball), center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was t ...
, Bill Sharman
William Walton Sharman (May 25, 1926 – October 25, 2013) was an American professional basketball player and coach. He is mostly known for his time with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s, partnering with Bob Cousy in what was then consider ...
, and Tom Heinsohn
Thomas William Heinsohn (August 26, 1934 – November 9, 2020) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and broadcaster. He was associated with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for six decades as a pl ...
(and would go on to win the NBA championship in 1959). Dom was traded after the pre-season camp to The Akron Goodyear Wingfoots
The Akron Goodyear Wingfoots are one of the oldest basketball teams in the United States. They were founded in 1918, by the workers at the Goodyear Tire Company, in Akron, Ohio. The teams, while giving workers recreation, also helped to promote ...
as part of the prestigious National Industrial Basketball League
The National Industrial Basketball League was founded in 1947 to enable U.S. mill workers a chance to compete in basketball. The league was founded by the industrial teams (teams sponsored by the large companies and made up of their employees) bel ...
in Akron, OH
Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...
from 1958 to 1960.
He eventually moved from playing into the front office including being a Sales and Marketing Executive for the Portland Thunder
The Portland Steel were a professional arena football team based in Portland, Oregon and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team started as the Portland Thunder, joining the AFL in 2014 as an expansion team along with the Los Ange ...
of the World Football League
The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 in sports, 1974 and most of its second in 1975 in sports, 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a w ...
, Director of Marketing for the New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to
* New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada)
* New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Indepen ...
in the North American Soccer League
The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to
1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...
(including the 1977 championship team led by soccer superstar Pelé
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...
), as well as General Manager for the Cleveland Force of the National Indoor Soccer League
The National Indoor Soccer League (NISL) was an indoor soccer league plagued with internal controversy that began play in 2021 and was based in the Southeast United States. The league fielded men's and women's divisions. On March 24, 2021, the ...
.
Bill Brill, a sports writer for '' The Roanoke Times & World News'', once wrote about Flora:
“Flora left the fans gasping with one bit of razzle-dazzle, on which he dribbled with his left hand, jumped into the air, switched the ball behind his back to his right hand, and made a jump shot. It was worth the price of admission.”
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flora, Dom
1935 births
2021 deaths
Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players
American men's basketball players
Basketball players from Jersey City, New Jersey
Boston Celtics draft picks
Point guards
Washington and Lee Generals men's basketball players
William L. Dickinson High School alumni