Eddie Mast (October 3, 1948 – October 18, 1994) was an American professional

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 who played for the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

and

Atlanta 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 (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

of 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 ...

(NBA).

Early life and education

Mast was born October 3, 1948, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. He 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

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

between 1966 and 1969. He grabbed 22 rebounds to help the Owls beat

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

and win the 1969 National Invitation Tournament.

Professional career

Mast entered the

1969 NBA draft The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college ba ...

and was selected by the

in the 3rd round with the 40th overall selection. He was not offered a contract, however, and played a season for the

Allentown Jets The Allentown Jets were a minor league basketball team that played in the Eastern Professional Basketball League (later the Eastern Basketball Association and Continental Basketball Association) from 1958 to 1981. The team was one of the most suc ...

in the

Eastern Professional Basketball League The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

, where he was named Rookie of the Year and selected to the All-EPBL Second Team. He won an EPBL championship with the Jets in 1970. He eventually signed with the Knicks in September 1970. After playing sparingly for two seasons, Mast was traded to the

in October 1972 for a second round pick in the

1973 NBA draft The 1973 NBA draft was the 27th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24 and May 5, 1973, before the 1973–74 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college baske ...

. He wasn't much more successful for the Hawks, posting 2.8 points on average with 42 per cent field goal accuracy and lacking the muscle under the boards to take more than 3.2 rebounds a game. He was released by the team in July 1973. Rejoining the Knicks during the 1974 offseason, but was cut in September before league's season begann. Mast played for the Belgium Lions of the

European Professional Basketball League The European Professional Basketball League (EPBL) was a professional basketball league held in Europe in 1975. Despite being played in five European countries (Belgium, Israel, Spain, Switzerland and West Germany) it was for the most part owned ...

in early 1975. He joined the

Kentucky Colonels The Kentucky Colonels were an American professional basketball team based in Louisville, Kentucky. They competed in the American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1967 to 1976. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky Colonels. The Colo ...

of the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

in September 1975. He was waived a month later before playing a game for the Colonels. Mast ultimately spent most of his career in the Eastern League, which was later renamed the Continental Basketball Association. He won EBA championships with the Jets in 1975 and 1976. He was selected to the All-EBA First Team in 1976 and All-EBA/CBA Second Team in 1977 and 1979. He served as player coach for the Lehigh Valley Jets (formerly the Allentown Jets) until they folded in 1981.

Post-professional basketball career

Following his retirement as a player, Mast served as sales executive and partner for World Timber Corp. in

Easton, Pennsylvania Easton is a city in and the county seat of Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River and the Delawa ...

, after previously working as a salesman for Martin Guitar in

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

. He served as boys basketball head coach at

Louis E. Dieruff High School Louis E. Dieruff High School, typically referred to as Dieruff High School, is a large, urban public high school in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is located at 815 North Irving Street in Allentown. The school serves students in grades nine through 1 ...

Allentown, Pennsylvania Allentown (Pennsylvania Dutch language, Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Allenschteddel'', ''Allenschtadt'', or ''Ellsdaun'') is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh County, it is the List o ...

, from 1983 to 1985. He also coached Easton Catholic Youth Organization boys and girls basketball teams.

Death

Mast died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on October 18, 1994, while playing a pick-up game of basketball at the Kirby Field House on the campus of

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...

. He was said to suffer from

Pete Maravich Peter Press Maravich ( ; June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player. He starred in college at Louisiana State University's Tigers basketball team; his father, Press Mar ...

syndrome. Aged 46 at the time of his passing, he had a wife and five children.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" !Year !Team !GP !GS !MPG !FG% !FT% !RPG !APG !PPG , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, 30 , , 0 , , 5.5 , , .379 , , .550 , , 1.9 , , .1 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 40 , , 0 , , 6.8 , , .348 , , .610 , , 1.8 , , .3 , , 2.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, 42 , , , , 10.6 , , .424 , , .633 , , 3.2 , , .9 , , 2.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 112 , , 0 , , 7.9 , , .385 , , .604 , , 2.4 , , .5 , , 2.5

Playoffs

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" !Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !FT% !RPG !APG !PPG , - , style="text-align:left;",

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3 , , 3.7 , , .400 , , – , , 1.0 , , .0 , , 1.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 9 , , 2.6 , , .571 , , .200 , , .8 , , .1 , , 1.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4 , , 3.8 , , 1.000 , , – , , 1.3 , , .3 , , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 16 , , 3.1 , , .647 , , .200 , , .9 , , .1 , , 1.4

References

External links

Eddie Mast profile
at RealGM.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Mast, Eddie 1948 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Atlanta Hawks players Basketball coaches from Pennsylvania Basketball players from Philadelphia Continental Basketball Association coaches High school basketball coaches in the United States Louis E. Dieruff High School alumni New York Knicks draft picks New York Knicks players Oakland Oaks draft picks Power forwards Temple Owls men's basketball players Washington Caps draft picks