Ben "Red" Kramer (May 14, 1913 – February 3, 1999) was an American standout basketball player for

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university in Brooklyn and Brookville, New York, United States. The university enrolls over 16,000 students and offers over 500 academic programs at its main campuses, LIU Brooklyn and LIU Post on Long I ...

(LIU) during the 1930s, a time in which LIU was a national power. Kramer played for

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

coach

Clair Bee Clair Francis Bee (March 2, 1896 – May 20, 1983) was an American basketball coach who led the team at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York to undefeated seasons in 1936 and 1939, as well as two National Invitation Tournament titles in 1 ...

from 1933–34 to 1936–37, and in his four seasons the team finished with records of 26–1, 24–2, 26–0, and 29–3, respectively. At one point Long Island had a 43-game win streak, which was snapped by

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

and their star player

Hank Luisetti Angelo-Giuseppi "Hank" Luisetti (June 16, 1916 – December 17, 2002) was an American college basketball player. He is considered to be one of the great innovators of the sport. In an era that featured the traditional two-handed set shot, Luise ...

College

Kramer, a , 200 lb. (91 kg)

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

, helped Long Island gain respect both in the

New York City metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

as well as in the national scene. Most schools during this era did not allow

freshmen A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary school, post-se ...

to play varsity sports in college—although there was no set rule against it—but Clair Bee did, which allowed Kramer and LIU to remain dominant. In 1935–36, the Blackbirds finished undefeated at 26–0 and were named mythical "Eastern champions" since neither the

National Invitation Tournament The National Invitation Tournament (NIT) is an annual men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Since 2023, all rounds of the tournament are played at various sites across the country whi ...

(NIT) nor the NCAA Tournament existed yet. The following season, Kramer's last in college, he was named the

Haggerty Award __NOTOC__ The Lt. Frank J. Haggerty Award is given to the top men's college basketball player from an NCAA Division I school in the New York metropolitan area. The Haggerty Award is presented by the Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MB ...

winner which is given annually to the best men's basketball player in the New York City metropolitan area. At the time, it was the second year in the award's existence, and teammate

Jules Bender Jules Bender (1914 – January 13, 1982) was an American collegiate and professional basketball player. He was an All-American at Long Island University, leading the Blackbirds to a 103–6 record over his career. Bender was a native of Brookl ...

had won it the year before.

Professional

After college, Kramer played in the first major professional basketball league, the American Basketball League. In 1938–39 he played for the

Kingston Colonials The Kingston Colonials were an American basketball team based in Kingston, New Jersey Kingston is an unincorporated community and census designated place (CDP) along the border of South Brunswick Township in Middlesex County and Franklin ...

, then spent the next three seasons with the Washington Heurich Brewers. Kramer was the league's fifth-leading scorer all three of those seasons while averaging 4.2 points per game. After his time with the Brewers, he played five more seasons of professional basketball. In 1945–46, his best season, he played for the

Wilmington Bombers The Wilmington Blue Bombers were an American basketball team based in Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington is the List of municipalities in Delaware, most populous city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina ...

and appeared in 15 games. The Bombers finished third in the league with a 14–14 record but lost in the playoffs. Kramer's final season came in 1946–47 while playing for the Troy Celtics, although he appeared in only three games.

References

# # {{DEFAULTSORT:Kramer, Ben 1913 births 1999 deaths 20th-century American Jews All-American college men's basketball players American Basketball League (1925–1955) players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) head coaches Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) players Basketball coaches from New York (state) Basketball players from New York (state) Forwards (basketball) Guards (basketball) Jewish American basketball players Jews from Massachusetts LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's basketball players Original Celtics players Sportspeople from Chelsea, Massachusetts Jewish American basketball coaches Jews from New York (state)