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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

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 ...

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). 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 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 one of two private universities in the conference, the other ...

and 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 ...

in 1959. Ruklick was selected by Philadelphia in the second round of the 1959 NBA draft. He was known for passing the ball for the assist on Warriors teammate

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain ( ; August21, 1936 – October12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player. Standing tall, he played Center (basketball), center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 seasons. He was enshrin ...

'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'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', 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, Illinois, Ottawa Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area, Micropolitan Statistic ...

, after his mother was diagnosed with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

when he was 11. He attended Princeton High School, leading the team to consecutive state tournaments in 1954 and 1955.

College career

Ruklick attended

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

. 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 th ...

, 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

by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

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, the men's basketball head coach for the Univ ...

. 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 landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

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 1959 NBA draft 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 i ...

, 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 Philadelph ...

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 (branded as Northwestern Medill; formally the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications) is the journalism school of Northwestern University. It offers both undergraduate and graduat ...

at the age of 50. He worked at newspapers including '' The Galesburg Register-Mail'' 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 20th-century American sportsmen