high_school height_ft weight_lbs years death_date death_place nationality career_end position team article_title height_in nickname birth_date college name career_start
shady grove -lrb- shady grove , kentucky -rrb- 6 210 1941 -- 1949 1948 -- 1949 1949 -- 1950 25 november 2012 marion , kentucky american 1950 power forward / center fort wayne pistons indianapolis jets baltimore bullets carlisle towery
 5 blackie , big boy 20 june 1920 western kentucky -lrb- 1938 -- 1941 -rrb- carlisle towery 1941
carlisle towery

william carlisle towery -lrb- june 20 , 1920 -- november 25 , 2012 -rrb- , nicknamed `` blackie '' or `` big boy '' , was an american basketball player .
a 6 ' 5 '' -lrb- 1.96 m -rrb- forward-center , towery played for the western kentucky university hilltoppers from 1938 to 1941 .
he was a two-time all-america selection and the first hilltopper to score 1,000 points .
he also led the hilltoppers to three southern intercollegiate athletic association titles .
after graduating , towery began his professional career with the fort wayne zollner pistons of the national basketball league .
he played three seasons with the pistons before entering military service in world war ii , where he earned a bronze star as an infantryman .
he then returned to the pistons in 1946 , and remained with the team as they joined the basketball association of america -lrb- the modern nba -rrb- in 1948 .
towery spent half a season with the pistons in the baa , and later served stints for the indianapolis jets and baltimore bullets .
when he retired from basketball in 1950 , he had scored 2,317 combined nbl/nba points .
in 2003 , western kentucky university retired his # 42 college jersey .
he became the sixth hilltopper to receive such honors .
towery died on november 25 , 2012 at the age of 92 .
