Murray Wier

Murray Wier

Wier from the 1947Hawkeye
Personal information
Born	(1926-12-12)December 12, 1926 Grandview, Iowa,U.S.
Died	April 6, 2016(2016-04-06)(aged 89) Georgetown, Texas,U.S.
Listed height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Listed weight	155 lb (70 kg)
Career information
High school	Muscatine(Muscatine, Iowa)
College	Iowa(1945–1948)
BAA draft	1948:— round, —
Selected by theFort Wayne Pistons
Playing career	1948–1951
Position	Guard
Number	17
Career history
1948–1950	Tri-Cities Blackhawks
1950–1951	Waterloo Hawks
Career highlights and awards
Consensus first-teamAll-American(1948) NCAA season scoring leader(1948) First-team All-Big Ten(1948)
Career NBA statistics
Points	429 (7.7 ppg)
Assists	107 (1.9 apg)
Games played	56
Statsat NBA.com
Statsat Basketball-Reference.com

Murray Neal Wier(December 12, 1926 – April 6, 2016), nicknamed "Rampaging Redhead" and "Wizard Wier,"was an American professional basketball player for theTri-Cities Blackhawks(now the present-dayAtlanta Hawks) and theWaterloo Hawks.He is better known for his standout college career at theUniversity of Iowa,however, when in 1947–48 he was named a consensus first teamAll-Americanand was also the inauguralNational Collegiate Athletic Association(NCAA) Major College scoring leader at 21.0 points per game.

Early life

Wier was born inGrandview, Iowa.He attended Grandview High School from hisfreshmanthroughjunioryears before moving toMuscatine, Iowa.He then spent hissenioryear in 1943–44 atMuscatine High School,from which he graduated.He led Muscatine High School to a district championship with a 50–37 win over their archrival, Davenport High School, and was named a first team all-state selection by theDes Moines Registerand Iowa Daily Press Association. After his breakout senior season, University of Iowa head men's basketball coachPops Harrisonoffered him a full scholarship to play for theHawkeyes.

Career

College

Harrison made Wier a four-year starter at Iowa.In his freshman season of 1944–45, the Hawkeyes won theBig Ten Conferenceseason championship.Wier was a 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m), 155 lb (70 kg)guardbut played more of a hybrid position, utilizing his dribbling and shooting guard abilities while technically lining up as aforward.The Hawkeyes were fairly successful over the rest of Wier's career and eventually finished second to theMichigan Wolverinesfor the conference championship during his senior season in 1947–48.

Wier led the Hawkeyes in scoring in both his junior and senior years at 15.1 and 21.0 points per game (ppg), respectively.Like he did in high school, he had a breakout senior year. His 21.0 ppgled the NCAA in scoringen route to Wier becoming the first officially recognized Major College division scoring leader.In the process, he set a then-Big Ten record of 272 points in conference play, was a first team all-conference selection and was also dubbed the Big Ten's Most Valuable Player.He capped his career off by being named aconsensus first team All-American.

Professional

Wier was drafted 48th overall in the1948 Basketball Association of America Draftby theFort Wayne Pistons.Although he was drafted by the Pistons, he did not play for them. He began his career in 1948 with theTri-Cities Blackhawks,who originally played in theNational Basketball League(NBL). Before the1949–50 season,the BAA and NBL merged to form the present-dayNBA.In1949–50,Wier's second season with the Blackhawks, he played forRed Auerbach,who would later win 10 NBA titles as a head coach.After three years with the Blackhawks, Wier then spent one final season playing professional basketball when he joined theWaterloo Hawksof theNational Professional Basketball League.When the league folded, his basketball career as a player ended.

Later life

After professional basketball, Wier became an assistant coach atWaterloo East High Schoolfor the boys' basketball team. He was the head coach for 24 years and compiled an overall record of 374 wins versus 140 losses, including winning the state championship in 1974.That same season he was named the Iowa State Coach of the Year.Weir was also the head men's tennis coach for 10 years before retiring in 1989. Aside from coaching, Wier also served as the high school's athletic director for 34 years.

Wier lived inGeorgetown, Texasin a retirement community calledSun City Texas.He was a member of the NBA Retired Players Association.Wier died on April 6, 2016.

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goalpercentage	3P%	3-point field goalpercentage	FT%	Free throwpercentage
RPG	Reboundsper game	APG	Assistsper game	SPG	Stealsper game
BPG	Blocksper game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

NBA

Source

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	FG%	FT%	APG	PPG
1949–50	Tri-Cities	56	.327	.693	1.9	7.7

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	FG%	FT%	APG	PPG
1949–50	Tri-Cities	3	.333	.500	.0	3.3

See also

• List of shortest players in National Basketball Association history