 Ferrin from the 1948Utonian | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1925-07-29)July 29, 1925 Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. |
| Died | December 27, 2022(2022-12-27) (aged 97) |
| Listed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Listed weight | 180 lb (82 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Ogden (Ogden, Utah) |
| College | Utah (1943–1948) |
| BAA draft | 1948: 2nd round, 59th overall pick |
| Drafted by | Minneapolis Lakers |
| Playing career | 1948–1951 |
| Position | Small forward /shooting guard |
| Number | 18 |
| Career history | |
| 1948–1951 | Minneapolis Lakers |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Career BAA and NBA statistics | |
| Points | 1,037 (5.8 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 271 (4.0 rpg) |
| Assists | 202 (1.6 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
| Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame | |
Chariton Arnold Ferrin Jr. (July 29, 1925 − December 27, 2022) was an American professionalbasketball player, executive, and college athletics administrator. He playedcollege basketball for theUtah Utes and earnedAll-American honors four times. He won anNCAA championship in 1944, when he was named theNCAA tournament Most Outstanding Player (MOP). They added aNational Invitation Tournament (NIT) title in 1947. Ferrin played professionally with theMinneapolis Lakers in theBasketball Association of America (BAA) andNational Basketball Association (NBA). They won league titles in 1949 and 1950.
After his playing career, Ferrin was general manager of theUtah Stars of theAmerican Basketball Association (ABA) from 1972 through 1974. He served as theathletic director at his alma mater, theUniversity of Utah, from 1976 to 1985.
Ferrin was born inSalt Lake City.[1] His mother died when he was three years old. Afterwards, his father, Arn, became busy with work; he owned a service station and a small oil delivery company. As his time away from home for work grew, Arn decided to have his parents assume parental responsibilities for his son. When Ferrin was eleven, his father began dating, and eventually remarried. However, Arn had his son continue to live with his grandparents.[2]
At theUniversity of Utah, Ferrin won theNCAA tournament MOP award in1944, when theUtes wonthe NCAA championship overDartmouth with a 42–40 overtime win.[1] He scored 22 points in the game and was the first freshman to win the award.[3] In 1945, Ferrin averaged 17.5 points per game was named a consensus first-teamAll-American.[4] Following the end of the regular season, he and teammateFred Sheffield weredrafted into the armed forces, and were unavailable forthe NCAA tournament.[5][6] After a year in the Army,[4] Ferrin returned to help Utah win the1947 NIT and was a runner-up for the tournament'smost valuable player award.[7] At the time, the NIT was as prestigious as the fledgling NCAA tournament, if not more so.[8]
As a senior, Ferrin averaged 14.1 points per game,[1] and became the only four-timeAll-American at Utah,[1] including consensus second-team honors in 1944, 1947, and 1948.[4] HisNo. 22 wasretired by the school.[1]
Ferrin played professionally for three years with theMinneapolis Lakers from 1949 through 1951 under coachJohn Kundla. They won the BAA (later known as the NBA) championship in1949 and won theNBA championship in1950.[3] He was a top-five scorer on both championship teams,[9] averaging 7.3 points per game in1948–49 and 5.4 in1949–50.[10] Ferrin established his single-game career high of 22 points in his rookie year on February 19, 1949, in a win over theProvidence Steamrollers.[10][11] He ended his career with 1,037 total points and an average of 5.8 points per game for the Lakers.[10]
Ferrin was inducted into theNational Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008 and thePac-12 Conference Hall of Honor in 2012.[1][12]
After his playing career, Ferrin was a member of the Athletic Council at the University of Utah and was a radiocolor commentator for the school's basketball andfootball programs.[7] He was the general manager of theABA'sUtah Stars from 1972 to 1974.[7][13] He wasathletic director at the University of Utah from 1976 to 1985.[1] Under Ferrin, Utah won 10 national championships and 15 conference championships.[14] The Utes' gymnastics program won four national championships under coachGreg Marsden and their men's basketball team, led by coachJerry Pimm, advanced four times to the Sweet Sixteen of theNCAA tournament.[15]
Ferrin died of natural causes on December 27, 2022, at age 97.[1]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Won anNBA championship |
Source:[10]
| Year | Team | GP | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948–49† | Minneapolis | 47 | .344 | .664 | – | 1.6 | 7.3 |
| 1949–50† | Minneapolis | 63 | .333 | .697 | – | 1.5 | 5.4 |
| 1950–51 | Minneapolis | 68 | .319 | .695 | 4.0 | 1.6 | 5.2 |
| Career | 178 | .332 | .686 | 4.0 | 1.6 | 5.8 | |
| Year | Team | GP | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949† | Minneapolis | 10 | .338 | .667 | – | 2.1 | 8.2 |
| 1950† | Minneapolis | 12 | .340 | .552 | – | 2.5 | 6.8 |
| 1951 | Minneapolis | 7 | .333 | .944 | 4.7 | 2.3 | 5.9 |
| Career | 29 | .338 | .685 | 4.7 | 2.3 | 7.1 | |
· Basketball Reference