Dean Meminger ✝

Meminger was born in Walterboro, South Carolina, and came to Harlem, New York, with his family as a seventh-grader. He starred at Rice High School in New York City as well as making a name for himself on the playgrounds at West 135th Street.\n', ' Meminger attended Marquette University, where he played for coach Al McGuire with the then-Warriors. He helped Marquette win the 1970 National Invitational Tournament. Marquette\'s 1970 team was ranked 8th in the country and was invited to the NCAA tournament. Following a dispute whether to play in the Mid-East or Mid-West Regional, Marquette declined the bid and opted to play in the NIT, where the team outclassed the field. The NCAA was so incensed by Marquette, it instituted a rule that forced an NCAA Division I team to accept an NCAA bid over an NIT bid. A subsequent antitrust case brought by the NIT against the NCAA over this issue was later settled out of court. Meminger was also the MVP of the 1970 National Invitation Tournament, in which Marquette beat Pete Maravich and LSU 101-79 in the semi-finals before defeating St. John\'s 65-53 in the title game. He never during varsity career lost a home game.\n', ' Meminger was drafted in the first round (16th overall) of the 1971 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks, with whom he played from 1971 to 1974 and 1976-1977. As a rookie reserve guard in 1971-72, Meminger averaged 4.6 points in 15 minutes per game, followed by 5.7 points in 18 minutes per game in 1972-73. In that season, Meminger helped the Knicks win their second-ever NBA championship. Playing on a team which featured star guards Walt Frazier, Earl Monroe and Dick Barnett, in Game 7 of the 1973 Eastern Conference finals he replaced Monroe in the second quarter, frustrated the hot-shooting Boston Celtics guard Jo Jo White and scored 13 points. After knocking the Celtics out of the playoffs, the Knicks beat the Los Angeles Lakers for the title. In the postseason, Meminger played in all 17 games for the Knicks, making 31 of 56 field goal attempts for a team-leading .554 percentage.\n', "