Chester Giermak

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Chet Giermak
College The College of William & Mary
Conference Southern (present day CAA)
Sport Basketball
Position Center
Jersey # 32 (retired)
Nickname Spider
Career 1946 – 1950
Height 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Weight
Nationality USA
Born May 25, 1928
High school Lindblom High School

Chester Frank "Chet" Giermak was an All-American college basketball player for the William & Mary Tribe men's basketball team from 1946-1950.[1]

[edit] High school

Prior to matriculating at The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, Giermak attended Lindblom College Preparatory High School in Chicago, Illinois, where he was a four year stand-out center on the basketball team.[2] In 1945, Giermak's senior year, he led Lindblom to the semi-finals of the All-Chicago high school basketball tournament and earned Second Team All-City for the center position.[3] In April 1945, Chet enlisted into the Navy, where he spent the next 14 months serving as a corpsman.[3]

[edit] College of William & Mary

After arriving on William & Mary's campus in September 1946, one year removed from high school, Chet Giermak was not a heralded basketball prospect. He began his collegiate career as a walk-on player, asking for a uniform from varsity coach Dick Gallagher (whom he later credited with teaching him "the finer points of the game").[4][3] He made the junior varsity team but did not stay on it long. During the team's first intra-squad game, Gallagher noticed Chet's ability and immediately promoted him to the Tribe's varsity team.[4]

Over the next four seasons, Giermak was consistently the nation's top scorer or close to it, using his lanky frame and deadly hookshot to amass a myriad of points.[3][4][1][3] He recorded back-to-back seasons during his junior and senior years where he averaged 20+ points (21.8 & 20.8, respectively).[5] On January 13, 1949, Chet scored 45 points against the University of Baltimore, establishing a new Blow Gymnasium record.[6] This total set the all-time Virginia state collegiate mark, plus the national, conference and state individual single game marks for that 1948-49 basketball season.[6] All of those records have since been broken. Seton Hall University's coach and basketball legend John "Honey" Russell once praised Chet's abilities by noting, "[t]his Giermak is better than Tony Lavelli."[1]

Chester Giermak's 111-game career and its achievements earned him a spot into the William & Mary Hall of Fame.[5] He is ranked among the all-time statistical leaders in many categories,[5] and some of Giermak's more notable accomplishments include:[1][5][3][7]

  • 4 years All-State
  • 3 seasons All-Southern Conference
  • 2 years as team captain
  • Numerous All-America honors
  • 2,052 career points (school record)
  • 740 single season points in 1948-49 (school record)
  • His jersey number (#32) was retired years later

In the 1950 NBA Draft, the Rochester Royals selected Giermak as their ninth pick in the 4th round (45th overall)[8] Though he was drafted, Chet never made the team's final cut and thus never played in an actual NBA game.

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d William & Mary Flat Hat student newspaper; March 7, 1950 issue. Accessed April 2, 2008.
  2. ^ William & Mary Flat Hat student newspaper; December 13, 1949 issue. Accessed April 2, 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d e f William & Mary Flat Hat student newspaper; February 4, 1947 issue. Accessed April 2, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c William & Mary Flat Hat student newspaper; February 3, 1948 issue. Accessed April 2, 2008.
  5. ^ a b c d 2007-08 W&M men's basketball media guide. Accessed April 2, 2008.
  6. ^ a b William & Mary Flat Hat student newspaper; January 18, 1949 issue. Accessed April 2, 2008.
  7. ^ VaSID Div. I Men's Basketball Records. Accessed April 2, 2008.
  8. ^ 1950 NBA Draft on Basketballreference.com. Accessed April 2, 2008.