Geoffrey Michael Petrie (born April 17, 1948) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. A native of

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

, he played professional basketball in the

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

(NBA) for the

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Con ...

where he won

NBA Rookie of the Year The National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) award given to the top rookie(s) of the regular season. Initiated following the 1952–53 NBA season, it confers the Eddie Go ...

in 1971. After retirement as a player he entered management, and was the President of Basketball Operations for the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

in the

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

until June 2013.

Early life

Geoff Petrie was born in

Darby, Pennsylvania Darby is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The borough is located along Darby Creek southwest of Center City Philadelphia. The borough of Darby is distinct from the nearby municipality of Darby Township. History Darby ...

, on April 17, 1948. He attended Springfield High School, in

Springfield, Pennsylvania Springfield Township, Pennsylvania may refer to: *Springfield Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania * Springfield Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania * Springfield Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania *Springfield Township, Erie County, Penns ...

, and played collegiate ball at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the n ...

. In Petrie's sophomore season at Princeton, the team was co-champion of the Ivy League with a 20–6 (12-3 Ivy) record. Despite the fact that Princeton had three of the five first-team All-Ivy team members, including Petrie plus second-team member John Hummer, they lost the one-game league playoff to the Jim McMillian–led 1968

Columbia Lions men's basketball The Columbia Lions basketball team is the basketball team that represents Columbia University in New York City. The school's team currently competes in the Ivy League. The team's last appearance in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament ...

team. That year the team rose to as high as 8th in the

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broa ...

. The following season, Petrie led the Ivy League in scoring (23.9 points/game in conference games), and the team accumulated a 19–7 (14–0) record, including an appearance in the

1969 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1969 NCAA University Division men's basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 8, 1969, and ended with the championship game on March ...

. They lost to St. John's in the tournament, but Petrie was again on the first-team All-Ivy squad. As a senior, Petrie was second-team All-Ivy, but the Tigers placed third in the conference to the undefeated (in Ivy League games) Corky Calhoun-led

Penn Quakers men's basketball The Penn Quakers men's basketball team is the college basketball program representing the University of Pennsylvania. As the twentieth-winningest men's basketball program of all-time, the team from Penn had its greatest success from 1966 to 2007 ...

team and McMillian's Lions. Although Princeton did not appear in the

1970 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament The 1970 NCAA University Division basketball tournament involved 25 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 7, 1970, and ended with the champio ...

, they hosted Penn's game. All three of his varsity years were spent under

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other Coach (sport), coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manage ...

Pete Carril Peter Joseph Carril (July 10, 1930 – August 15, 2022) was an American basketball coach. He is best known as head coach of Princeton University for 30 years and for his use of the "Princeton offense". He also coached at Lehigh University an ...

. Petrie was co-

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of the 1969–70 team with classmate Hummer. Petrie was All-East both as a junior and a senior. Petrie scored 1321 points in college, third in school history at the end of his career in 1970 and still seventh after the 2009–10 season. His 541 in 1968–69 was fourth to each of

Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. He served three terms as a Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey (1979–1997). He ran for the Democratic Party's nomination fo ...

's single-season totals until Brian Taylor moved him down to sixth where he still stands. He continued to rank fourth in school history with an 18.3 points/game average through the 2009–10 season. His 1969–70 single season average of 22.3 is sixth behind only Bradley and Taylor and his 20.8 average the prior year stands eighth. His 530 career

field goal A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ba ...

stands fourth on the school list behind Bradley

Kit Mueller Christopher J. "Kit" Mueller (born c. 1969) is a retired American basketball player. He played high school basketball in the Chicago metropolitan area for Downers Grove South High School. Subsequently, he starred for the Princeton Tigers men ...

and Craig Robinson. 216 field goals in 1968–69 ranks fifth behind Bradley and Taylor, while his 189 the following year ranks eighth. 17 made against Fordham, January 26, 1970, trails only Bradley's three best nights.

Professional career

Player

At 6'4" he could play either guard or forward positions and was a long range shooter. He played in two All-Star games and in 1971, the Trail Blazers' first year in existence, was named co- Rookie of the Year with 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 league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of ...

Dave Cowens David William Cowens ( ; born October 25, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and NBA head coach. At , he played the center position and occasionally played power forward. Cowens spent most of his playing career with the Bo ...

after averaging 24.8 points per game. The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

reported Petrie's salary during his rookie season was around $80,000. Until

Damon Stoudamire Damon Lamon Stoudamire (born September 3, 1973) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) The , point guard was selecte ...

's 54 point performance in 2005, Petrie held the Trail Blazers' individual scoring record for one game at 51 — a feat he accomplished twice. His jersey number, 45, was retired by the Trail Blazers. Following the 1975–76 NBA season he was traded to the

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 league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

in a transaction that landed Portland

Maurice Lucas Maurice Lucas (February 18, 1952 – October 31, 2010) was an American professional basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was a four-time NBA All-Star and won ...

. Petrie did not play any games for the Hawks after suffering a career-ending knee injury. Petrie is credited as the first NBA player to switch from

Converse Converse may refer to: Mathematics and logic * Converse (logic), the result of reversing the two parts of a definite or implicational statement ** Converse implication, the converse of a material implication ** Converse nonimplication, a logical ...

brand athletic shoe, which were popular in the 1970s, to Nike brand.

Post-playing career

Petrie worked in the private sector for several years after leaving the NBA, and in 1985 began working for the Trail Blazers. He worked as a commentator for Blazer radio broadcasts and several other positions before being hired as senior vice president for operations. He left Portland in 1994 and was hired by the

as president of basketball operations. As an executive he won the

NBA Executive of the Year Award The National Basketball Association's Executive of the Year Award is an annual award given since the 1972–73 NBA season, to the league's best general manager, president of basketball/business operations, or another high-ranking executive. Before ...

twice with the Kings, first in 1999 and again in 2001. On December 29, 2009, Petrie received a three-year extension as team president through the 2012–13 season. On June 17, 2013, Petrie was replaced as team president of the Kings by Pete D'Alessandro.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, 82 , , – , , 37.0 , , .443 , , – , , .722 , , 3.4 , , 4.8 , , – , , – , , 24.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 60 , , – , , 35.9 , , .417 , , – , , .789 , , 2.2 , , 4.1 , , – , , – , , 18.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , – , , 39.7 , , .464 , , – , , .778 , , 3.5 , , 4.4 , , – , , – , , 24.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 73 , , – , , 38.4 , , .481 , , – , , .853 , , 2.8 , , 4.3 , , 1.2 , , 0.2 , , 24.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 80 , , – , , 38.9 , , .456 , , – , , .839 , , 2.6 , , 5.3 , , 1.0 , , 0.2 , , 18.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 72 , , – , , 35.5 , , .461 , , – , , .829 , , 2.3 , , 4.6 , , 1.1 , , 0.1 , , 18.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 446 , , – , , 37.6 , , .455 , , – , , .805 , , 2.8 , , 4.6 , , 1.1 , , 0.1 , , 21.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", All-Star , 2 , , 1 , , 15.5 , , .214 , , – , , 1.000 , , 1.0 , , 2.5 , , 0.5 , , 0.0 , , 4.0

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petrie, Geoff 1948 births Living people American men's basketball players Basketball players from Pennsylvania National Basketball Association All-Stars National Basketball Association general managers National Basketball Association players with retired numbers People from Darby, Pennsylvania People from Springfield Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania Point guards Portland Trail Blazers draft picks Portland Trail Blazers executives Portland Trail Blazers players Princeton Tigers men's basketball players Sacramento Kings executives Shooting guards Sportspeople from Delaware County, Pennsylvania