Irving Torgoff (March 6, 1917 – October 21, 1993) 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.

Early life

Torgoff was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, and played basketball at Tilden High School.

Education

He attended

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 ...

from 1935 to 1939 and was a two-time

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 ...

for coach Clair Bee. In 1939, Torgoff led LIU to an undefeated record and a

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 ...

championship over

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

. At the end of the season, he was named the winner of 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 ...

as the top collegiate player in the New York City area.

Career

After graduating, Torgoff played professional basketball with the Detroit Eagles of the National Basketball League, the Philadelphia Sphas of the American Basketball League, and the Washington Capitols, Baltimore Bullets, and Philadelphia Warriors 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 ...

. Red Auerbach, who coached the Capitols before gaining fame as coach of 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), ...

, said of Torgoff, "He was really the first player who became known as a sixth man in basketball. Torgoff was the kind of player who could come off the bench and was as good as any of the starters. He could turn a whole game around. He was one of the great players." Irving Torgoff, 75, a Star Player In Early Days of Pro Basketball
Retrieved on August 26, 2008. He has the lowest career shooting percentage of any player with at least 1,000 shot attempts at 24.6%. After his basketball career ended, Torgoff sold fabrics and yarn. He died of a heart attack in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

, in 1993.

BAA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torgoff, Irv 1917 births 1993 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) players Detroit Eagles players LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds men's basketball players Philadelphia Sphas players Philadelphia Warriors players Basketball players from Brooklyn Washington Capitols players Samuel J. Tilden High School alumni American men's basketball players Forwards (basketball) 20th-century American Jews