Stephen Sullivan (July 20, 1944 – August 27, 2014) 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. Sullivan played collegiately for the

Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball The Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball program represents Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop o ...

team and was the 14th overall pick in the 1967 NBA draft by the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

. The

Pittsburgh Pipers Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the 67th-most populous city in the U.S., with a population of 302,9 ...

also drafted Sullivan in the 1967 ABA Draft. Sullivan was a member of the

USA Basketball USA Basketball (USAB) is a non-profit organization and the governing body for basketball in the United States. The organization represents the United States in FIBA, and the men's and women's national basketball teams in the United States ...

gold medal teams of the 1967 Pan American Games and 1967 World University Games.

Early life

Born in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

and raised in

East Orange, New Jersey East Orange is a City (New Jersey), city in Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's population was 69,612, an increase of 5,342 (+8.3%) from the 2010 United States ...

, Sullivan attended Essex Catholic High School, graduating in 1963. He then enrolled at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

College basketball career

Sullivan suffered a severe ankle injury and averaged only 7.1 points over 18 games in his first varsity season (1964–65) at Georgetown. In 1965–66 he led the team in scoring (15.1) and rebounding (9.7).Georgetown Basketball History: The Top 100 - 34. Steve Sullivan

. Accessed March 24, 2018. "Sullivan, who turned down 42 college offers to attend Georgetown, starred at the former Essex Catholic HS in East Orange NJ." In 1966–67, Sullivan scored in double figures in 21 of 23 games, scored 20 or more points 10 times and averaged 18.6 points and 11.8 rebounds a game. That season, Sullivan had 33 points and 17 rebounds against

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

, 26 points with 23 rebounds against

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

, and had 18 points and 16 rebounds against

Seton Hall Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizab ...

in his final game. Sullivan is one of only seven Georgetown players ever to lead the team in scoring and rebounding in consecutive seasons. Sullivan graduated from Georgetown as the school's seventh all–time scorer, second all–time rebounder, and was the highest NBA draft pick to date in program history. Sullivan remained the highest Georgetown NBA pick until Sleepy Floyd was the 13th pick of the 1982 NBA draft. Both were surpassed when

Patrick Ewing Patrick Aloysius Ewing Sr. (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American basketball coach and former professional player who is a basketball ambassador for the New York Knicks of the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played most o ...

was the 1st overall pick of the

1985 NBA draft The 1985–86 NBA season, 1985 NBA draft took place on June 18, 1985. It was also the first NBA draft of the "NBA draft lottery, lottery" era. It was also around this time where the league decreased the amount of rounds the draft spent, with the ...

. Sullivan was selected as a member of the USA Basketball gold medal teams of the 1967 Pan American Games and 1968 World University Games. The USA Team for the Pan Am Games captured the gold medal by going 9–0 with the gold medal game victory over

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The 1967 World University team also won the gold medal, going 7–0 and defeating Brazil 91–38 in the gold medal game. Sullivan averaged 7.2 points in the Games. Sullivan's teammates on both squads included his future Detroit fellow draft pick Sonny Dove, Jo Jo White and Wes Unseld.

Professional career

Sullivan was drafted by the ABA's

in the 1967 ABA Draft. Pittsburgh had just signed

Connie Hawkins Cornelius Lance "Connie" Hawkins (July 17, 1942 – October 6, 2017) was an American professional basketball player. A New York City playground legend, "the Hawk" was to play basketball for the Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball, Iowa Hawkeyes but wa ...

at power forward, so Sullivan waited for the NBA draft that summer. Selected 14th in the draft by the

in an overall draft that included

Earl Monroe Vernon Earl Monroe (born November 21, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player. He played for two teams, the Baltimore Bullets and the New York Knicks, during his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Both teams ...

Pat Riley Patrick James Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, former coach, and former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has been the team president of the Miami Heat since 1995, and he also se ...

, Clem Haskins, Walt Frazier, and

Phil Jackson Philip Douglas Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Jackson is a 13-time NBA champion, having won two as a player and 11 as ...

, the Pistons had two of the first four overall picks. The Pistons drafted

Jimmy Walker James John Walker (June 19, 1881November 18, 1946), known colloquially as Jimmy Walker and Beau James, was an American attorney, lyricist, and Democratic Party politician who served as the 97th mayor of New York City from 1926 until his resign ...

with the first overall pick, then drafted Sonny Dove with the 4th overall pick. The Pistons eventually opted to keep Dove on the roster over Sullivan. Later, Sullivan spent nine years professionally playing in Italy and Spain, receiving numerous MVP awards.

Death

After living and working for 45 years in Spain, Italy and England, Sullivan passed away in London, England on August 27, 2014, surrounded by his family.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Steve 1944 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American sportsmen American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1967 Pan American Games Basketball players from Essex County, New Jersey Basketball players from Newark, New Jersey Detroit Pistons draft picks Essex Catholic High School alumni Forwards (basketball) FISU World University Games gold medalists for the United States Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball players Medalists at the 1967 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1967 Summer Universiade Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in basketball Pittsburgh Pipers draft picks Sportspeople from East Orange, New Jersey Summer World University Games medalists in basketball