Roger Kennedy Jorgensen (September 2, 1920 – October 3, 2010) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player. He played high school basketball at

Taylor Allderdice High School Taylor Allderdice High School is a public high school in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The school was established in 1927 and is part of the Pittsburgh Public Schools district. It was named for industrialist and S ...

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

where in 1938 he set the city high school record for most points in a season with 220 points, which stood until 1945. Jorgensen played

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

for the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facul ...

and

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

. His college career was interrupted by

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, with Jorgensen serving nearly four years in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. Following his stint in the Navy, Jorgensen initially signed with the East Pittsburgh Pirates in December 1946. Later that month, he joined the

Pittsburgh Ironmen The Pittsburgh Ironmen were a charter member of the Basketball Association of America (a forerunner of the National Basketball Association). The team was based in Pittsburgh and played at Duquesne Gardens. They ended their only season in the BAA i ...

of 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 merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

. The following season, he played for the Zanesville Pioneers.

Coaching career

Jorgensen was an assistant coach to Frankie Gustine at

Waynesburg College Waynesburg University is a private Christian university in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, United States. It was established in 1850 and offers undergraduate and graduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. The university enrolls aroun ...

from 1947 to 1949. In 1950, he was hired as the head coach of Waynesburg men's team.

Personal life

Jorgensen was the brother of former

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

player

Noble Jorgensen Noble Gordon "Jorgy" Jorgensen (May 18, 1925 – November 2, 1982) was an American professional basketball player. He was a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and other leagues. He was a member of Portland's first professional ...

and Byron Jorgensen who played college basketball for Ohio. His father was Charles Jorgensen, trainer of the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

BAA career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jorgensen, Roger 1920 births 2010 deaths American men's basketball players Centers (basketball) Forwards (basketball) Pittsburgh Ironmen players Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball players Ohio State Buckeyes men's basketball players Undrafted NBA players 20th-century American sportsmen