Luther Rackley Jr. (June 11, 1946 - November 19, 2017) 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 who played six seasons in 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), and the

American Basketball Association The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major professional basketball league that operated for nine seasons from 1967 to 1976. The upstart ABA operated in direct competition with the more established National Basketball Association thr ...

(ABA).

Early life

Rackley was born in

Bainbridge, Georgia Bainbridge is a city in Decatur County, Georgia, United States. The city is the county seat of Decatur County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 14,468, up from 12,697 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the ...

and grew up in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

, where he attended Troy High School. In his senior season at Troy, Rackley led the team in scoring and rebounding as the Flying Horses went 22–0. The team earned a ranking of No. 1 in the nation from a

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical ...

scout, and Rackley was named All-American. During his junior and senior seasons, Troy won 38 of 40 games, two Class A league championships and a pair of Section II Class A titles. The entire team was inducted into the Capital District Hall of Fame in 2011.

College career

Rackley played college basketball at

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier had an enrollment of approximately 5,600 undergraduate an ...

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. As a sophomore starting center, he averaged 15.0 points and 12.6 rebounds per game. He had a season-high 25 points against both the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

and

St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure University is a private university, private Franciscan university in St. Bonaventure, New York. It has 2,760 undergraduate and graduate students. The Order of Friars Minor, Franciscans established the university in 1858. In ath ...

and its All-American center

Bob Lanier Robert Jerry Lanier Jr. (September 10, 1948 – May 10, 2022) was an American professional basketball player. He played center (basketball), center for the Detroit Pistons and the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). L ...

. Against the

University of Detroit The University of Detroit Mercy is a private Catholic university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is sponsored by both the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) and the Sisters of Mercy. The university was founded in 1877 and is the largest Catho ...

, he posted 24 points and 19 rebounds, and he snared 25 rebounds against the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a Private university, private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary (Marianists), Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the U ...

. In his junior season he was limited to seven games due to ineligibility due to his grades, and averaged 9.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. As a senior, Rackley came on strong with team-leading 17.5 points, 14.0 rebounds, and a .552 field goal percentage. He had a career-high 29 points in two games. Rackley earned a bachelor's degree in American Government and Political Science. He was inducted into the Xavier University Athletic Hall of Fame in 1982.

Professional career

Rackley was selected in the third round (37th overall) of the

1969 NBA draft The 1969 NBA draft was the 23rd annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 7 and May 7, 1969, before the 1969–70 season. In this draft, fourteen NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college ba ...

by the

Cincinnati Royals 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 Pacific Division of the Western Conference. The Kings are the ...

and by the

Minnesota Pipers Minnesota ( ) is a state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the south, and Nor ...

. He signed with the NBA's Royals. In his rookie season of 1969–70, he served primarily as the backup to starting center Connie Dierking, playing 66 games and averaging 19 minutes per game, 7.6 points and 5.7 rebounds. On May 11, 1970, he was drafted by the

Cleveland Cavaliers The Cleveland Cavaliers, often referred to as the Cavs, are an American professional basketball team based in Cleveland. The Cavaliers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Divis ...

in the NBA expansion draft. In 1970–71 for the Cavs, he averaged just over 19 minutes per game, again averaging 7.6 points along with 5.3 rebounds per game. In 1971–72, his third season, he played nine games for the Cavaliers, then on November 15, 1971, he was traded to the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

. He remained a backup center, and for the season averaged 3.6 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. During the 1972–73 season, he played one game for the Knicks before being waived. He signed with the

Memphis Tams. There, he played in 57 games, averaging 7.3 points and 5.0 rebounds. The Knicks would go on to win the 1973 championship. On September 28, 1973, he was claimed off waivers by the

Philadelphia 76ers The Philadelphia 76ers, also known colloquially as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Atlan ...

. He played nine games before being waived on November 28, 1973. Rackley played in the

Eastern Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA), originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association, was a men's professional basketball m ...

(EBA) for the Cherry Hill Rookies, Scranton Apollos and

Wilkes-Barre Barons The Wilkes-Barre Barons were a basketball team from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The Barons played between 1933 and 1980 in different United States, American sports league, leagues. The team won 11 titles during this time, including while playin ...

from 1973 to 1978. He was selected to the All-EBA first team in 1974.

Personal life

Rackley earned his real-estate license and worked as a real-estate broker in New York City. He served as Vice President of

Walt Frazier Walter "Clyde" Frazier Jr. (born March 29, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association (NBA). As their floor general and top perimeter defender, he led the New York Knicks to the franchise's o ...

Enterprises and organized teams consisting of NBA players to play all over the world. He served as an NBA scout and owned a casting office for commercials and films. He spent several years as a teacher in the

White Plains, New York White Plains is a city in and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is an inner suburb of New York City, and a commercial hub of Westchester County, a densely populated suburban county that is home to about one milli ...

school system. He also acted in two movies, '' The Last Dinosaur'' and ''

The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh ''The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh'' is a 1979 American sports/fantasy comedy film directed by Gilbert Moses and coproduced by David Dashev and Gary Stromberg. It was produced by Lorimar and distributed by United Artists. The film was shot on lo ...

'' and was a member of the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

. Rackley also appeared in several television commercials. Rackley lived in

Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

following his retirement. He was

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Death

Luther Rackley died on Sunday, November 19, 2017, in

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan ...

Career statistics

NBA/ABA

Source

Regular season

Playoffs

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rackley, Luther 1946 births 2017 deaths 20th-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen African-American Catholics African-American male actors American men's basketball players Basketball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Basketball players from New York (state) Centers (basketball) Cincinnati Royals draft picks Cincinnati Royals players Cleveland Cavaliers players Male actors from Georgia (U.S. state) Male actors from New York (state) Memphis Tams players Minnesota Pipers draft picks New York Knicks players People from Bainbridge, Georgia Philadelphia 76ers players Pittsburgh Pipers draft picks Sportspeople from Troy, New York Wilkes-Barre Barons players Xavier Musketeers men's basketball players