Randolph Owens (May 12, 1959 – December 1, 2015) was an American

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. He played the center and forward positions. He was drafted in the

1980 NBA draft The 1980 NBA draft was the 34th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on June 10, 1980, at the Sheraton Centre Hotel & Towers, before the 1980–81 season. In this draft, 23 NBA teams took turns selectin ...

in Round 6 by the

Indiana Pacers The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Ea ...

. He played in the

Continental 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 ...

for three years, in the

Israel Basketball Premier League Ligat HaAl (, lit., ''Supreme League or Premier League''), or the Israeli Basketball Premier League, is a professional basketball league in Israel and the highest level of basketball in the country. The league's name is abbreviated as either BSL ...

for five years, and in a number of other countries.

Biography

Owens was tall, and weighed . He attended Germantown High School in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Owens then attended Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science (now known as Thomas Jefferson University). He played basketball there. As a sophomore in 1978–1979, he was 19th in the

NCAA Division II NCAA Division II (D-II) is the intermediate-level division of competition in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). It offers an alternative to both the larger and better-funded Division I and to the scholarship-free environment ...

with a

field goal percentage Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the gene ...

of .588, and was a

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 ...

Division II Second Team All American. Owens entered the

as an Early Entrant. He was drafted in Round 6, as Pick 9, by the

, 124th overall. He played in the

for three years. Owens played for the Scranton Aces in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...

in 1980–81 (and was second in the CBA in points scored), Rochester Zeniths in

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

in 1981–82, and the

Maine Lumberjacks Maine Lumberjacks were an American minor league basketball team formed as an expansion team in 1978. The franchise played 17 seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA), calling six different cities home. The team was originally base ...

Bangor, Maine Bangor ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Penobscot County, Maine, United States. The city proper has a population of 31,753, making it the state's List of municipalities in Maine, third-most populous city, behind Portland, Maine, Portland ...

in 1982–83. Owens played basketball in Israel for five years, including for

Hapoel Holon Hapoel Holon Basketball Club (), is a professional basketball club based in Holon, Israel. The team plays in the Israeli Basketball Premier League (the top tier of Israeli basketball), and internationally in the Basketball Champions League. The ...

and

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

in the

. He also played in Spain, Argentina, and the Philippines. He died of cancer at the age of 56 in Philadelphia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Owens, Randy 1959 births 2015 deaths American expatriate basketball people in Argentina American expatriate basketball people in Israel American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players from Philadelphia Centers (basketball) Deaths from cancer in Pennsylvania Hapoel Holon B.C. players Indiana Pacers draft picks Israeli Basketball Premier League players Maccabi Haifa B.C. players Maine Lumberjacks players Jefferson Rams men's basketball players Power forwards Rochester Zeniths players 20th-century American sportsmen