page_title: Joe Bergman
section_title: College career
hierarchical_section_title: Joe Bergman / College career
caption_attribution_description: English: Joe Bergman tips the ball in for the Creighton Bluejays.
context_page_description: Joseph Bergman is an American former basketball player and psychiatrist. He was a highly recruited prospect while playing at St. Mary's High School in his hometown of Clinton, Iowa, and is considered one of Iowa's best high school basketball players. Bergman played collegiately for the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Creighton Bluejays. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Royals of the National Basketball Association but elected to pursue a career in psychiatry over playing professional basketball. Bergman worked at Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, New Hampshire, for 24 years until his retirement in 2015.
context_section_description: Bergman sat out his freshman season with the Hawkeyes in 1966–67. While at the University of Iowa, he developed an interest in psychology and childhood development and volunteered at a university program for children with disabilities. On the court, Bergman struggled during his sophomore season and failed to find a consistent role with the team, while he considered head coach Ralph Miller "terrible". He elected to transfer to the Creighton Bluejays after only having played 12 games with the Hawkeyes.
  Bergman began playing for the Bluejays during the 1968–69 season, but again had a troubled start and did not find himself a valued contributor until the 1969–70 season when he averaged 10.5 points and 7 rebounds per game. At the conclusion of the season, he was selected by the San Francisco Warriors in the seventh round of the 1970 NBA draft and the Kentucky Colonels in the 1970 ABA draft. However, Bergman still had a semester left of eligibility and elected to return to the Bluejays in an attempt to earn a higher draft selection for the 1971 NBA draft. After the first semester finished, Bergman stayed at Creighton University and began graduate work in psychology. Bluejays head coach Eddie Sutton believed that Bergman would have great potential as a professional player due to his shooting and defensive abilities, calling him the "finest defensive player" and "the most energetic hustler". Bergman graduated in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in political science and a minor in psychology.
caption: Bergman with the Creighton Bluejays in 1970
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