height_ft death_date statvalue birth_date career_start years death_place draft_year team number college statlabel name high_school weight_lb birth_place draft_team career_end position draft_round letter height_in bbr article_title
6 08 november 2014 2,135 -rrb- 548 -lrb- 2.4 apg -rrb- -lrb- 9.5 ppg -rrb- 834 -lrb- 4.6 rpg 12 september 1928 1949 1949 start -- 1955 end newport beach , california 1949 new york knicks 9 , 18 colgate -lrb- 1945 -- 1949 -rrb- points rebounds assists ernie vandeweghe oceanside -lrb- oceanside , new york -rrb- 195 montreal , quebec new york knicks 1956 guard / small forward 3 v 3 vandeer01 ernie vandeweghe

ernie vandeweghe

ernest maurice `` ernie '' vandeweghe jr. -lrb- september 12 , 1928 -- november 8 , 2014 -rrb- was an united states air force veteran and professional basketball player .
he was best known for playing for the new york knicks of the nba and for the athletic successes of his family .
he and his wife colleen kay hutchins -lrb- miss america for 1952 -rrb- were the parents of former nba all-star -lrb- and former new jersey nets coach -rrb- kiki vandeweghe and grandfather of tennis professional coco vandeweghe .
in his youth , vandeweghe played football , basketball and baseball for oceanside high school on long island where he was also a member of the omega gamma delta fraternity .
a 6 ' 3 '' guard , vandeweghe played collegiately for the colgate university raiders , where he was an all-american .
he was drafted by the knicks in the 1949 baa draft , and played in the nba for six seasons .
after retiring from the nba in 1956 , vandeweghe served as a physician for the air force ; while stationed overseas in germany .
besides kiki , he had three other children who were world-class athletes : daughter tauna won a u.s. national swimming championship in the backstroke -lrb- and competed in the 1976 summer olympics -rrb- , son bruk medalled in beach volleyball in the 1994 goodwill games , and daughter heather was captain of the u.s. national women 's polo team and followed in her father 's footsteps through medical school to become a physician .
vandeweghe served as chairman of the president 's council on physical fitness and sports , and served on the olympic sports commission under president gerald ford , where he assisted with development of two key pieces of sports legislation -- title ix and the 1976 amateur athletic act .
he has also been a senior vice president with focus partners llc , a new york-based financial services firm , and a consultant with the united states golf and fitness association .
he occasionally provided commentary for several sports publications .
he died at the age of 86 on november 8 , 2014 .
