Lawrence Findley Killick (May 31, 1922 – January 31, 2013) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. Killick was drafted in the first round of the

1947 BAA draft The 1947 BAA draft was the 1st draft of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which later became the National Basketball Association (NBA). The fledgling BAA held a joint draft with the established National Basketball League (NBL). Both le ...

as the 10th overall pick by the Baltimore Bullets, although he never ended up playing in the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...

, which was the forerunner to the modern

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United ...

Playing career

A native of Burlington, Vermont, Killick attended the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is among the oldest universities in the United ...

but had to split up his collegiate career due to his service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He was known as a good shooter, and in his staggered career at Vermont he scored 733 points,University of Vermont Athletic Hall of Fame: Lawrence F. Killick
Accessed on June 7, 2017. which for the era was a very high amount. Between stints at Vermont he played one season at Dartmouth while in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through ...

. Killick was the leading scorer of the 1946–47 Catamounts team which won the

Yankee Conference The Yankee Conference was a collegiate sports conference in the eastern United States. From 1947 to 1976, it sponsored competition in many sports, but was a football-only league from mid-1976 until its dissolution in 1996. It is essentially the a ...

regular season title, posting a 19–3 overall record under John C. Evans. The 19 wins was the highest win total ever for a Vermont team, and would not be surpassed until the 2001–02 season. Killick was selected to the East–West All-Star Game in his senior season at Vermont before being selected by the Bullets in the BAA draft. Killick played semi-professional basketball for the Glens Falls Commodores, which he also owned, in the New York State Professional League for two seasons Kirk, Al
History of the New York State Basketball League 1946–47 - 1948–49
Accessed on June 7, 2017. before moving on from the sport as a player. In the summer of 1956, Killick toured Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East with the recent NBA champion

Syracuse Nationals The Philadelphia 76ers are an American basketball team currently playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 76ers are third in NBA history in wins and playoff appearances. 1946� ...

as part of the first goodwill team sent abroad.

After basketball

He is also noted for inventing 'Little Kid Basketball' in 1952. "Equipment he designed made it possible for boys as young as six years old to become proficient in the game", according to his University of Vermont Hall of Fame entry. In 1999, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...

'' named him to their list of the Top 50 Vermont athletes of the 20th century, and was placed #25.Lawrence Killick Obituary

The Burlington Free Press ''The Burlington Free Press'' (sometimes referred to as "BFP" or "the Free Press") is a digital and print community news organization based in Burlington, Vermont, and owned by Gannett. It is one of the official "newspapers of record" for the S ...

. February 17, 2013. Accessed on June 7, 2017. In addition to being a member of the UVM Athletic Hall of Fame, he is also a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. In his post-basketball life, Killick worked in marketing and management of local and statewide companies in Rockledge, Florida.

References

1922 births 2013 deaths Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) draft picks Basketball players from Vermont American men's basketball players United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II Dartmouth Big Green men's basketball players People from Rockledge, Florida Sportspeople from Brevard County, Florida Sportspeople from Burlington, Vermont Vermont Catamounts men's basketball players {{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub