College basketball's first 1,000 point scorer was born on this day in 1900. John Roosma played for Ernest Blood, the legendary coach of Passaic High in New Jersey who coached teams that only lost one game in a decade and once won 159 straight games. While there, General Douglas MacArthur recruited Roosma to play at West Point.
Roosma led the Black Knights to a 73-13 record during his career, and was part of a 33-game winning streak. He also became the first player to score 1,000 points at the college level, finishing his career with 1,126.
He was enshrined in the Naismith Hall of Fame in 1961, and the Army Most Valuable Player Award is given in his honor.
It's Damon Stoudamire's birthday, born in Portland, Oregon in 1973. Stoudamire starred for Wilson High School in Portland, leading them to two State Titles. He was a two-time Oregon player of the year, and was a Converse All American.
He began what has become a trend – star players from Oregon spurning the home state Universities – and instead accepted a scholarship to Arizona. There, playing for Lute Olson, he became one of the most decorated players in Arizona history. He was a three-time All Pac-10 players, and as a senior was a consensus 1st Team All American.
Stoudamire helped lead the Wildcats to a combined 101-24 record (.808 winning percentage), two Pac-12 Conference crowns (1993, 1994), four NCAA Tournament appearances (1992-95) and one NCAA Final Four (1994 in Charlotte). He served as the team's co-captain in the 1993-94 and 1994-95 seasons.
Stoudamire is one of only two players (Gary Payton is the other) in Pac-12 Conference history to score over 1,800 points, dish out over 600 assists and pull down over 400 rebounds in a career. He still ranks on the Arizona basketball career charts for scoring (6th with 1,849 points), assists (3rd with 663) and steals (8th with 174).
He became the 7th overall pick in the NBA draft.
Stoudamire is currently an assistant coach at Memphis.
Other birthdays include: Walt Kirk 1924 (Illinois), Bob Naber 1929 (Louisville), Paul Nolen 1929 (Texas Tech), Brian Heaney 1946 (Acadia), Earl Cureton 1957 (Robert Morris and Detroit), Kennard Winchester 1966 (James Madison), Chris Gatling 1967 (Pitt and ODU), Steve Scheffler 1967 (Purdue), Ed Stokes 1971 (Arizona), Sean Lampley 1979 (Cal), Chris Wilcox 1982 (Maryland)
