Don Goldstein

Don Goldstein
Personal information
Born 1937/1938 (age 76–77)[1]
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight 190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school Tilden (Brooklyn, New York)
College Louisville (1956–1959)
NBA draft 1959 / Round: 2 / Pick: 8th overall
Selected by the Detroit Pistons
Position Forward
Career highlights and awards
  • Univ. of Louisville Hall of Fame (2000)

Donald "Don" Goldstein, known as "Red," is an American former college All American and Pan American Games champion basketball player.[2]

Early life

Goldstein is Jewish.[3] His mother died when he was four.[4] He grew up poor, in the Brooklyn ghetto of Brownsville, and attended Flatbush's Samuel J. Tilden High School, where he was an all-city basketball player and graduated in 1955.[5]

College and Pan American Games

He attended the University of Louisville on a scholarship that paid for room, board, and books, and played forward for the school from 1956–59.[6] He was 6' 5", and 190 pounds.[7][8] He said: "these guys never saw a Jew. They once asked me once with no malice how old I was when they cut off my horns. I never had a bad day [with my teammates]. I never heard one anti-Semitic remark in Louisville. If you could play, that was it."[9]

In 1959, Goldstein was named All-American and led Louisville to its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Final Four.[10] Goldstein averaged 21.4 points and 10.0 rebounds in the NCAA tournament, and was named to the All-Mideast Regional Team and the All-Tournament Team.[11][12]

That same year, he won a gold medal in basketball at the 1959 Pan American Games.[13]

In his three years at Louisville, Goldstein scored 1,019 points (the 10th Cardinal to score over 1,000 points) and had 838 rebounds (still 10th all-time in school history).[14]

Draft, and later life

Goldstein was the first pick in the second round (8th overall) of the Detroit Pistons in 1959, offered a $7,500 ($61,000 in current dollar terms) salary and a $500 ($4,000 in current dollar terms) signing bonus to buy a car, but he did not play in the NBA.[15] Instead, he went to dental school, and is currently a dentist on Long Island.[16] Today, he lives in Huntington, New York.[17]

Honors

In 1980, he was inducted into the Louisville Hall of Fame.[18] [19] The Basketball Old-Timers of America inducted him into its hall of fame. [20] His jersey was retired in January 2000.[21][22] In 2012 he was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame.[23] In 2014 he was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.[24][25]

References

  1. ↑ "From Drilling Shots To Drilling Teeth". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  2. ↑ "From Drilling Shots To Drilling Teeth". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  3. ↑ "From Drilling Shots To Drilling Teeth". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  4. ↑ "From Drilling Shots To Drilling Teeth". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  5. ↑ "From Drilling Shots To Drilling Teeth". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Don Goldstein Bio – GoCards.com – Official Website of University of Louisville Athletics". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  7. ↑
  8. ↑ "From Drilling Shots To Drilling Teeth". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  9. ↑ "From Drilling Shots To Drilling Teeth". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  10. ↑
  11. ↑
  12. ↑ "From Drilling Shots To Drilling Teeth". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  13. ↑
  14. ↑
  15. ↑
  16. ↑
  17. ↑ "Schwartz: National Jewish Sports Hall Of Fame Welcomes Its 2014 Class « CBS New York". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  18. ↑
  19. ↑ "From Drilling Shots To Drilling Teeth". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  20. ↑ "From Drilling Shots To Drilling Teeth". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  21. ↑
  22. ↑ "Cardinals Honor Four Former Men's Basketball Stars – GoCards.com – Official Website of University of Louisville Athletics". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  23. ↑ "From Drilling Shots To Drilling Teeth". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  24. ↑ "Schwartz: National Jewish Sports Hall Of Fame Welcomes Its 2014 Class « CBS New York". Retrieved September 18, 2014.
  25. ↑ "National Jewish Hall of Fame holds induction ceremony – Newsday". Newsday. Retrieved September 18, 2014.