LeRoy Ellis, former NBA player, dies
Houston Rockets' Kevin Kunnert (20) knocks the ball away from Philadelphia 76ers' LeRoy Ellis (25) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Philadelphia. (Feb. 13, 1976) Credit: AP
LeRoy Ellis, who played 14 years in the NBA after a standout career at St. John's, has died of prostate cancer. He was 72.
St. John's announced yesterday that Ellis died Saturday in Portland, Ore., after a long battle with cancer.
Ellis was a native New Yorker, born in Brooklyn, and played at St. John's from 1959-62. He still holds the school's single-season record for rebounding with an average of 16.5 in his junior year, and the record for most rebounds in a game with 30 against NYU on Dec. 30, 1961.
"For a big guy, he was awfully quick. You can never catch him," St. John's Hall of Fame coach Lou Carnesecca said. "He had a soft touch and was a good rebounder. He was a quiet guy, you never knew he was around. But when he was on the court, you always knew." He was drafted sixth overall by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1962.
Ellis appeared in 1,048 NBA games with the Lakers, Baltimore, Portland and Philadelphia.
-- AP
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