 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1927-04-26)April 26, 1927 Roxana, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | October 7, 2015(2015-10-07) (aged 88) Edwardsville, Illinois, U.S. |
| Listed height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) |
| Listed weight | 210 lb (95 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Roxana (Roxana, Illinois) |
| College | Truman (1946–1948) |
| BAA draft | 1948: – 4th round, – 40 overall |
| Drafted by | New York Knicks |
| Playing career | 1948–1958 |
| Position | Forward /center |
| Number | 11, 10 |
| Career history | |
Playing | |
| 1948–1957 | New York Knicks |
| 1957–1958 | Detroit Pistons |
Coaching | |
| 1958–1962 | Southern Illinois |
| 1962–1965 | St. Louis Hawks |
| 1965–1966 | New York Knicks |
| 1967–1970 | SIU Edwardsville |
| Career highlights | |
As player:
As coach: Halls of Fame: | |
| Career BAA / NBA statistics | |
| Points | 8,843 (13.0 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 6,684 (11.9 rpg) |
| Assists | 1,208 (1.8 apg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
| Basketball Hall of Fame | |
| Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame | |
Harry Junior "The Horse"Gallatin (April 26, 1927 – October 7, 2015) was an American professionalbasketball player and coach. Gallatin played nine seasons for theNew York Knicks in theNational Basketball Association (NBA) from1948 to1957, as well as one season with theDetroit Pistons in the1957–58 season. Gallatin led the NBA in rebounding and was named to theAll-NBA First Team in 1954. The following year, he was named to the All-NBA Second Team. For his career, Gallatin played in sevenNBA All-Star Games. A member of theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, he is also a member of theNational Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame, theSIU Edwardsville Athletics Hall of Fame, theTruman State University Athletics Hall of Fame, the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, two Illinois Basketball Halls of Fame, theMid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Hall of Fame, theNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Hall of Fame, and theSIU Salukis Hall of Fame.[1]
Harry Junior "The Horse" Gallatin was born on April 26, 1927, inRoxana, Illinois, where he grew up. Gallatin had taken interest in all sports and has been quoted as saying, "Competition has always been my cup of tea."[2] His drive for competition was amplified during his first year in high school as he attended Wood River High School from 1940 to 1941. Since Roxana and some other outlying communities likeBethalto had no high school of their own at the time, all the athletes in the area attended Wood River, thus increasing the level of competition among them for varsity positions. The following year, however, Roxana got its own high school. He graduated fromRoxana High School in 1944, and was granted a basketball scholarship by Northeast Missouri State Teachers' College (now known asTruman State University). But after graduating from Roxana High School, he enlisted in theUnited States Navy and served until the end of World War II.[3]
AtNortheast Missouri, Gallatin averaged 12.9 points per game and lead his team to a 59–4 record and two appearances in the NAIA tournament.[1] He earned his bachelor's degree from Northeast Missouri in only two years and would later receive his master's degree in physical education from theUniversity of Iowa in 1954.[4]
On July 1, 1947, Gallatin was drafted by theBaltimore Bullets in the 4th round of the1947 BAA Draft.
On May 10, 1948, theNew York Knicks selected Gallatin in the1948 BAA draft. "It was a dream come true. I really didn't know what to expect; it was my first plane ride, from St. Louis to New York. Here I am a boy from Wood River, a country boy, and going to the Big Apple", Gallatin explained. "All I knew was that I loved to play basketball, and the Knicks had taken me with their number one choice. So I knew that they thought I had the kind of abilities they were looking for."[2]
On March 21, 1949, Gallatin was drafted by the New York Knicks in the 2nd round (20th pick) of the1949 BAA Draft.
In his third year in the NBA, Gallatin was selected for thefirst NBA All-Star Game in 1951, and from 1951 to 1957 was chosen for seven consecutive NBA All-Star games. It was in the NBA where he earned the nickname "The Horse". He played his entire career as an undersized center at 6'6" and 215 lbs., but made up for it with tremendous physical strength. He played nine seasons for the New York Knicks, from 1948 to 1957. His best statistical year was in 1954, when he led the NBA in rebounding, averaging 15.3 rebounds per game. That same year, he was also named to theAll-NBA First Team. His most dominating single-game performance was on the last regular season game of the 1952–53 season. That night, against theFort Wayne Pistons, Gallatin pulled down 33 rebounds, a Knicks record which still stands today.[2] In the six seasons he played when rebounds were recorded, he was among the leaders in the league in rebounds per game.[5] For his career, he averaged 11.9 rebounds per game. Gallatin still holds the Knick team record of consecutive games played, with 610.[6]
After nine strong years with the Knicks, Gallatin was traded to theDetroit Pistons withRichard Atha andNathaniel Clifton forMel Hutchins andCharlie Tyra on April 3, 1957.[5] He played only one season for the Pistons before retiring as one of the most dominating post players of his era.[7]
In addition to basketball, Gallatin also played baseball. He played two seasons of varsity baseball at Northeast Missouri.[1] During the off-seasons between his first three seasons in the NBA, he played for the Class BDecatur, Illinois Cubs/Commodores of the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League, which was an affiliate of theChicago Cubs in 1949 and theCincinnati Reds in 1950. He appeared in 46 games in those two seasons, winning 7, losing 9 and batting .227 in 75 at-bats. After the 1950 baseball season, however, he made basketball his only professional sport.[2][8]
After his retirement from playing in 1958, Gallatin became the head coach of theSouthern Illinois UniversitySalukis. In four seasons there, he led his teams to a 69–35 record and post-season tournament appearances every year. The 1961–62 team made it to the NCAA Small College (now Division II) Tournament semifinals before barely losing to eventual championMount St. Mary's College 58–57, then took third place by beatingNebraska Wesleyan University 98–81.[9]
Gallatin returned to the NBA in 1962 as coach of theSt. Louis Hawks. In his first season, he led the Hawks to the division finals and was namedNBA Coach of the Year. The 1963–64 season saw the Hawks again advance to the division finals. The eighth coach since the franchise's arrival in St. Louis in 1955, he was fired on December 28, 1964, despite the Hawks being in second place in the NBA Western Division. He was replaced byRichie Guerin.[10]
Gallatin returned to New York to coach the Knicks which were developing into a championship team, but the pieces were not yet all in place and Gallatin left the Knicks and the NBA midway through the 1965–66 season.[11]
Gallatin became Assistant Dean of Students atSouthern Illinois University Edwardsville in 1966, then the first athletic director andbasketball coach in 1967. He remained at SIUE until his retirement in 1992, where he also taught in the physical education department and was theSIUE Cougars's men's golf coach for 24 years, leading that team to NCAA Division II championships 19 times and finishing in the top 10 six times.[12]
After his retirement from coaching, Gallatin remained active and enthusiastic, while continuing to live inEdwardsville, Illinois.[2] He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991,[13] and was also named to nine other Halls of Fame. In 2011, the New York Knicks honored him in their second "Legends Night Awards" along with other former Knicks stars Dick Barnett, Earl Monroe, Mark Jackson, John Starks and Allan Houston,[14] and in May 2015, the Knicks added him to Madison Square Garden's Walk of Fame.[15]
Harry Gallatin died on October 7, 2015, following surgery. He was survived by Beverly Hull Gallatin, his wife since 1949; their sons, Steve, Jim, and Bill; his sister, Eileen Palmer; eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.[16]
On June 24, 2013, Gallatin took part as the SIUE athletics department broke ground for a new golf training facility. Following approval by theSIU Board of Trustees, it was officially named the Harry Gallatin Golf Training Facility.[17] The facility, initially proposed as an on-campus venue, was moved when Sunset Hills Country Club (SHCC) in Edwardsville.offered to partner in the endeavor. The approximately $500,000, 1,840-square-foot facility was opened to SIUE students and SHCC members on December 10, 2019.[18]
| 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 |
| * | Led the league |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1948–49 | New York | 52 | – | .328 | .710 | – | 1.2 | 8.3 |
| 1949–50 | New York | 68 | – | .396 | .757 | – | 0.8 | 11.8 |
| 1950–51 | New York | 66 | – | .416 | .732 | 12.1 | 2.7 | 12.8 |
| 1951–52 | New York | 66 | 29.3 | .442 | .806 | 10.0 | 3.4 | 11.2 |
| 1952–53 | New York | 70 | 33.3 | .444 | .700 | 13.1 | 1.8 | 12.4 |
| 1953–54 | New York | 72 | 37.4 | .404 | .784 | 15.3* | 2.1 | 13.2 |
| 1954–55 | New York | 72 | 35.4 | .384 | .814 | 13.8 | 2.4 | 14.6 |
| 1955–56 | New York | 72 | 33.0 | .386 | .787 | 10.3 | 2.3 | 13.9 |
| 1956–57 | New York | 72 | 27.0 | .406 | .800 | 10.1 | 1.2 | 15.0 |
| 1957–58 | Detroit | 72 | 27.6 | .379 | .787 | 10.4 | 1.2 | 14.9 |
| Career | 682 | 31.9 | .398 | .773 | 11.9 | 1.8 | 13.0 | |
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | New York | 6 | – | .357 | .821 | – | 1.7 | 12.0 |
| 1950 | New York | 5 | – | .385 | .781 | – | 1.2 | 13.0 |
| 1951 | New York | 14 | – | .350 | .770 | 11.6 | 1.9 | 11.8 |
| 1952 | New York | 14 | 33.6 | .410 | .773 | 9.6 | 1.4 | 10.8 |
| 1953 | New York | 11 | 27.5 | .419 | .746 | 10.9 | 1.4 | 10.5 |
| 1954 | New York | 4 | 37.8 | .457 | .710 | 15.3 | 1.5 | 13.5 |
| 1955 | New York | 3 | 36.0 | .452 | .773 | 14.7 | 2.3 | 18.3 |
| 1958 | Detroit | 7 | 26.0 | .368 | .703 | 10.0 | 1.6 | 12.9 |
| Career | 64 | 31.2 | .390 | .761 | 11.2 | 1.6 | 12.0 | |
| Regular season | G | Games coached | W | Games won | L | Games lost | W–L % | Win–loss % |
| Playoffs | PG | Playoff games | PW | Playoff wins | PL | Playoff losses | PW–L % | Playoff win–loss % |
| Team | Year | G | W | L | W–L% | Finish | PG | PW | PL | PW–L% | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Hawks | 1962–63 | 80 | 48 | 32 | .600 | 2nd in West | 11 | 6 | 5 | .545 | Lost inDivision finals |
| St. Louis Hawks | 1963–64 | 80 | 46 | 34 | .575 | 2nd in West | 12 | 6 | 6 | .500 | Lost inDivision finals |
| St. Louis Hawks | 1964–65 | 33 | 17 | 16 | .515 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| New York Knicks | 1964–65 | 42 | 19 | 23 | .452 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| New York Knicks | 1965–66 | 21 | 6 | 15 | .286 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career total | 256 | 136 | 120 | .531 | 23 | 12 | 11 | .511 |
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Illinois Salukis(Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference)(1958–1962) | |||||||||
| 1958–59 | Southern Illinois | 17–10 | 9–3 | 2nd | NCAA College Division Regional Third Place | ||||
| 1959–60 | Southern Illinois | 20–9 | 9–3 | T–1st | NAIA First Round | ||||
| 1960–61 | Southern Illinois | 21–6 | 12–0 | 1st | NCAA College Division Regional Runner-up | ||||
| 1961–62 | Southern Illinois | 21–10 | 9–3 | 1st | NCAA College Division Third Place | ||||
| Southern Illinois: | 79–35 | 39–9 | |||||||
| SIU Edwardsville Cougars(NCAA College Division independent)(1967–1970) | |||||||||
| 1967–68 | SIU Edwardsville | 5–5 | |||||||
| 1968–69 | SIU Edwardsville | 7–10 | |||||||
| 1969–70 | SIU Edwardsville | 7–16 | |||||||
| SIU Edwardsville: | 19–31 | ||||||||
| Total: | 58–40 | ||||||||
National champion Postseason invitational champion | |||||||||