Harry Gallatin

Harry Junior "The Horse" Gallatin (April 26, 1927 – October 7, 2015) was an American professional basketball player and coach. Gallatin played nine seasons for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1948 to 1957, as well as one season with the Detroit Pistons in the 1957–58 season. Gallatin led the NBA in rebounding and was named to the All-NBA First Team in 1954. The following year, he was named to the All-NBA Second Team. For his career, Gallatin played in seven NBA All-Star Games. A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, he is also a member of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, the SIU Edwardsville Athletics Hall of Fame, the Truman State University Athletics Hall of Fame, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, two Illinois Basketball Halls of Fame, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Hall of Fame, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Hall of Fame, and the SIU Salukis Hall of Fame.

Early life Harry Junior "The Horse" Gallatin was born on April 26, 1927, in Roxana, Illinois, where he grew up. Gallatin had taken interest in all sports and has been quoted as saying, "Competition has always been my cup of tea." His drive for competition was amplified during his first year in high school as he attended Wood River High School from 1940 to 1941. Since Roxana and some other outlying communities like Bethalto had no high school of their own at the time, all the athletes in the area attended Wood River, thus increasing the level of competition among them for varsity positions. The following year, however, Roxana got its own high school. He graduated from Roxana High School in 1944, and was granted a basketball scholarship by Northeast Missouri State Teachers' College (now known as Truman State University). But after graduating from Roxana High School, he enlisted in the United States Navy and served until the end of World War II.

College career At Northeast Missouri, Gallatin averaged 12.9 points per game and lead his team to a 59–4 record and two appearances in the NAIA tournament.

Professional basketball career On July 1, 1947, Gallatin was drafted by the Baltimore Bullets in the 4th round of the 1947 BAA Draft.

New York Knicks (1948–1957) On May 10, 1948, the New York Knicks selected Gallatin in the 1948 BAA draft. "It was a dream come true. I really didn't know what to expect; it was my first plane ride, from St. Louis to New York. Here I am a boy from Wood River, a country boy, and going to the Big Apple", Gallatin explained. "All I knew was that I loved to play basketball, and the Knicks had taken me with their number one choice. So I knew that they thought I had the kind of abilities they were looking for." For his career, he averaged 11.9 rebounds per game. Gallatin still holds the Knick team record of consecutive games played, with 610.

Detroit Pistons (1957–1958) After nine strong years with the Knicks, Gallatin was traded to the Detroit Pistons with Richard Atha and Nathaniel Clifton for Mel Hutchins and Charlie Tyra on April 3, 1957.

Professional baseball career Minor leagues In addition to basketball, Gallatin also played baseball. He played two seasons of varsity baseball at Northeast Missouri.

Coaching career Southern Illinois (1958–1962) After his retirement from playing in 1958, Gallatin became the head coach of the Southern Illinois University Salukis. In four seasons there, he led his teams to a 69–35 record and post-season tournament appearances every year. The 1961–62 team made it to the NCAA Small College (now Division II) Tournament semifinals before barely losing to eventual champion Mount St. Mary's College 58–57, then took third place by beating Nebraska Wesleyan University 98–81.

St. Louis Hawks (1962–1965) Gallatin returned to the NBA in 1962 as coach of the St. Louis Hawks. In his first season, he led the Hawks to the division finals and was named NBA Coach of the Year. The 1963–64 season saw the Hawks again advance to the division finals. The eighth coach since the franchise's arrival in St. Louis in 1955, he was fired on December 28, 1964, despite the Hawks being in second place in the NBA Western Division. He was replaced by Richie Guerin.

New York Knicks (1965–1966) Gallatin returned to New York to coach the Knicks which were developing into a championship team, but the pieces were not yet all in place and Gallatin left the Knicks and the NBA midway through the 1965–66 season.

SIU Edwardsville (1967–1970) Gallatin became Assistant Dean of Students at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 1966, then the first athletic director and basketball coach in 1967. He remained at SIUE until his retirement in 1992, where he also taught in the physical education department and was the SIUE Cougars's men's golf coach for 24 years, leading that team to qualify for the NCAA Division II championships 18 times and finish in the top 10 six times.

After his retirement from coaching, Gallatin remained active and enthusiastic, while continuing to live in Edwardsville, Illinois. and was also named to nine other Halls of Fame. In 2011, the New York Knicks honored him in their second "Legends Night Awards" along with other former Knicks stars Dick Barnett, Earl Monroe, Mark Jackson, John Starks and Allan Houston, and in May 2015, the Knicks added him to Madison Square Garden's Walk of Fame.

Death Harry Gallatin died on October 7, 2015, following surgery. He was survived by Beverly Hull Gallatin, his wife since 1949; their sons, Steve, Jim, and Bill; his sister, Eileen Palmer; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.

Legacy On June 24, 2013, Gallatin took part as the SIUE athletics department broke ground for a new golf training facility. Following approval by the SIU Board of Trustees, it was officially named the Harry Gallatin Golf Training Facility. The facility, initially proposed as an on-campus venue, was moved when Sunset Hills Country Club (SHCC) in Edwardsville.offered to partner in the endeavor. The approximately $500,000, 1,840-square-foot facility was opened to SIUE students and SHCC members on December 10, 2019.

BAA/NBA career statistics

Regular season Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG 1948–49 New York 52 – .328 .710 – 1.2 8.3 1949–50 New York 68 – .396 .757 – 0.8 11.8 1950–51 New York 66 – .416 .732 12.1 2.7 12.8 1951–52 New York 66 29.3 .442 .806 10.0 3.4 11.2 1952–53 New York 70 33.3 .444 .700 13.1 1.8 12.4 1953–54 New York 72 37.4 .404 .784 15.3* 2.1 13.2 1954–55 New York 72 35.4 .384 .814 13.8 2.4 14.6 1955–56 New York 72 33.0 .386 .787 10.3 2.3 13.9 1956–57 New York 72 27.0 .406 .800 10.1 1.2 15.0 1957–58 Detroit 72 27.6 .379 .787 10.4 1.2 14.9Career 682 31.9 .398 .773 11.9 1.8 13.0

Playoffs Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG 1949 New York 6 – .357 .821 – 1.7 12.0 1950 New York 5 – .385 .781 – 1.2 13.0 1951 New York 14 – .350 .770 11.6 1.9 11.8 1952 New York 14 33.6 .410 .773 9.6 1.4 10.8 1953 New York 11 27.5 .419 .746 10.9 1.4 10.5 1954 New York 4 37.8 .457 .710 15.3 1.5 13.5 1955 New York 3 36.0 .452 .773 14.7 2.3 18.3 1958 Detroit 7 26.0 .368 .703 10.0 1.6 12.9Career 64 31.2 .390 .761 11.2 1.6 12.0

Head coaching record NBA

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