Ernest A. Calverley (January 30, 1924 – October 20, 2003) 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. He was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

while playing for the

University of Rhode Island The University of Rhode Island (URI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Kingston, Rhode Island, United States. It is the flagship public research as well as the land-grant university of Rhode Island. The univer ...

. He played professionally with the

Providence Steamrollers The Providence Steamrollers were a Basketball Association of America team based in Providence, Rhode Island. As of 2025, the Steamrollers were the last professional sports franchise from one of the Big Four leagues to be based in Rhode Island. ...

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 ...

for three seasons from 1946 to 1949. Calverley led the league in assists and was an

All-BAA Second Team The All-NBA Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor bestowed on the best players in the league following every NBA season. The voting is conducted by a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. The team has been sel ...

selection in his first season in the league.

College career

Calverley was retroactively declared the men's basketball season scoring leader for 1944. But Calverley was most notable for one particular shot. Dubbed the "shot heard round the world", it was a midcourt shot from 62 feet away, as time expired at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

in the 1946 National Invitation Tournament against

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

to tie the game and send it to overtime. Even after 50 years, he stated that he didn't think it was going to go in, as he had to make sure it did not hit the scoreboard while shooting with both hands. Rhode Island State (now known as the

) would win 82–79 in overtime to send them to the semifinal round. The Rams would eventually lose in the NIT final against

Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. Nicknamed the "Baron of the Bluegrass", he coached the University of Kentucky Wildcats to four NCAA Division I men's basketball tournam ...

Kentucky Wildcats The Kentucky Wildcats are the men's and women's intercollegiate athletic squads of the University of Kentucky (UK), a founding member of the Southeastern Conference. The Kentucky Wildcats is the student body of the University of Kentucky. 30, ...

by one point. Not soon after, Calverley would join the BAA.

Professional career

Calverley led in assists per game in the league's first and second years, while playing for his home state team, the

. In his rookie season, Calverley was selected to the

. In his career, he missed only three games (one for each season). He had a 70.7% free throw percentage, which contrasted with his 29.1% lifetime field goal percentage. He was drafted by the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), ...

from the Providence Steamrollers in the dispersal draft in 1949 after the team disbanded. A month later, he was put on waivers, and he never played again.

Later life

He later returned to URI to coach the Rams and led them to two

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, branded as March Madness, or The Big Dance, is a single-elimination tournament played in the United States to determine the men's college basketball national champion of the NCAA Division I, Di ...

appearances in 1961 and 1966, losing both times in the first round. Calverely died of complications of an infection after insertion of a pacemaker on October 20, 2003.

BAA career statistics

Regular season

References

External links

*
Ernie Calverley obituary
''New York Times'', 29 October 2003 (retrieved 3 April 2015). 1924 births 2003 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Rhode Island Basketball players from Rhode Island College men's basketball head coaches in the United States Point guards Providence Friars men's basketball coaches Providence Steamrollers players Rhode Island Rams men's basketball coaches Rhode Island Rams men's basketball players Sportspeople from Pawtucket, Rhode Island 20th-century American sportsmen {{US-basketball-coach-stub