Joseph Wayne Ruklick ( ; August 3, 1938 – September 17, 2020) 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 court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the

Philadelphia Warriors The history of the Golden State Warriors began in Philadelphia in 1946. In 1962, the franchise was relocated to San Francisco, California and became known as the San Francisco Warriors until 1971, when its name was changed to the current Golden St ...

of 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). He played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Northwestern Wildcats The Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, located in Evanston, Illinois. Northwestern is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern ...

and was an All-American in 1959. Ruklick was selected by Philadelphia in the second round of the

1959 NBA draft The 1959 NBA draft was the 13th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 31, 1959, before the 1959–60 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...

. He was known for passing the ball for the

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: * Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a b ...

on Warriors teammate

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely reg ...

's final score en route to his NBA record 100-point game.Berkow, Ira
"PRO BASKETBALL; A Footnote To History After 40 Years"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', July 2, 2002. Accessed November 1, 2007. "Ruklick's contribution to the record? He threw the pass to Chamberlain with 46 seconds left in the game for the basket that resulted in the 99th and 100th points."

Early life

Ruklick was born in Chicago, but he moved to an orphanage in

Princeton, Illinois Princeton is a city in and the county seat of Bureau County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,832 at the 2020 census. Princeton is part of the Ottawa Micropolitan Statistical Area. Due to its location where Interstate 80 meets the ...

, after his mother was diagnosed with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

when he was 11. He attended

Princeton High School Princeton High School may refer to: * Princeton High School (Illinois), Princeton, Illinois * Princeton Community High School, Princeton, Indiana * Princeton High School (Minnesota), Princeton, Minnesota * Princeton Junior-Senior High School, Princ ...

, leading the team to consecutive state tournaments in 1954 and 1955.

College career

Ruklick attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Chart ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, Downtown Chicago, ...

. He played three seasons with the

Wildcats The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while the ...

, leading the team in both scoring and

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

each year. Ruklick averaged 23 points and 13 rebounds as a senior in 1958–59, when he was named a third-team All-American by 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 ...

and

National Association of Basketball Coaches The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, is an American organization of men's college basketball coaches. It was founded in 1927 by Phog Allen, head men's basketball coach at the University ...

. He finished with career averages of 19.9 points and 13.2 rebounds per game. Ruklick guarded

in his first collegiate game with

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to ...

in 1956. Chamberlain had 52 points and 31 rebounds, and his scoring total remains a Kansas single-game record. Ruklick countered with 22 points but fouled out with 9:30 remaining in the game. "I held him to 52", quipped Ruklick in 2002.

Professional career

Ruklick was selected by the

in the second round of the

with the ninth overall pick. In teammate

Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game Wilt Chamberlain set the single-game scoring record in the National Basketball Association (NBA) by scoring 100 points for the Philadelphia Warriors in a 169–147 win over the New York Knicks on March 2, 1962, at Hershey Sports Arena ...

, he got the assist for Wilt's 100th point and played eight minutes. Late in the game after Chamberlain has already scored 100, Ruklick missed two

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the restricted area. Free throws ...

s, stating afterwards that he intentionally missed the second in hopes that Chamberlain might rebound it and get 102 points. After Ruklick's third season with the Warriors, the team moved to San Francisco. Averaging only 3.5 points and eight minutes per game in his career as a backup to Chamberlain, he asked to be traded in order to play more. However, the team refused. According to Ruklick, owner

Eddie Gottlieb Edward Gottlieb (born Isadore Gottlieb; September 15, 1898 – December 7, 1979) was a Jewish-Ukrainian professional basketball coach and executive. Nicknamed "Mr. Basketball" and "The Mogul", he was the first coach and manager of the Philadelphi ...

told him, "We need you next year. Fans won't buy tickets if you have too many Negroes." Ruklick left the team over moral objections.

Career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Source:

Later years

After his NBA career, Ruklick worked in investment banking. He received a graduate degree from Northwestern University's

Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications is a constituent school of Northwestern University that offers both undergraduate and graduate programs. It frequently ranks as the top school of journalism in the Unite ...

at the age of 50. He worked at newspapers including ''

The Galesburg Register-Mail ''The Register-Mail'' is an American daily newspaper published in Galesburg, Illinois. The paper was owned by the Pritchard family from 1896 to 1989, when it was sold to the ''Journal Star (Peoria), Journal Star''. Copley Press bought both papers ...

'' and later ''

The Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

'', where he was the only white among the African-American newspaper's 22-person editorial staff. Ruklick lived in Evanston, and frequently attended Northwestern games while reporting for the ''Aurora Voice''. He died of natural causes at 82 on September 17, 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruklick, Joe 1938 births 2020 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Illinois Businesspeople from Evanston, Illinois Centers (basketball) Journalists from Illinois Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball players People from Princeton, Illinois Philadelphia Warriors draft picks Philadelphia Warriors players Power forwards (basketball)