John Carl Ridd (17 August 1929 – 29 March 2003) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

scholar of religion,

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, and activist.

Early life and basketball career

Carl Ridd was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

, Manitoba, on 17 August 1929, the son of Dwight Nugent Ridd. He began playing basketball at Westminster United Church and then for Gordon Bell High School. Ridd went on to play for the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Founded in 1877, it is the first university of Western Canada. Both by total student enrolment and campus area, the University of ...

from 1947 to 1951 where he was the leading scorer in North America College Basketball, averaging 25 points a game. In 1952 the

National Basketball Association 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 ...

Milwaukee Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at S ...

offered Ridd a contract. Ridd turned the offer down. Ridd was a starting member of the Canadian basketball team for the

1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1952 in Helsinki, Finland. After Japan declared in ...

in Helsinki, Finland. Ridd played in all six matches for the team, which was eliminated after the group stage in the 1952 tournament. Two years later, Ridd played in the 1954 World Championship in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he was the first and only Canadian to be chosen for the tournament's all-star team (2nd team All-Star). He recorded 37 points in one game at the World Championship, a Canadian tournament record that would last for 69 years, being broken by Dillon Brooks at the 2023 edition. Ridd was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980, and the Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum in 1983.

Death

On 29 March 2003 Ridd died from leukemia at the age of 74 years.

References

External links

mhs.mb.capassages.winnipegfreepress.comwinnipegfame.caprofileFrozenHoops.com
History of basketball in Canada. Selection of Top 100 Canadian players of all time

a
Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
1929 births 2003 deaths Basketball players at the 1952 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Winnipeg Canadian men's basketball players 1954 FIBA World Championship players Manitoba Bisons basketball players Manitoba Sports Hall of Fame inductees Olympic basketball players for Canada 20th-century Canadian sportsmen {{Canada-basketball-bio-stub