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Mark Workman

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Mark Workman
Personal information
Born(1930-03-10)March 10, 1930
Logan, West Virginia, U.S.
DiedDecember 21, 1983(1983-12-21) (aged 53)
Bradenton, Florida, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
High schoolCharleston (Charleston, West Virginia)
CollegeWest Virginia (1949–1952)
NBA draft1952: 1st round, 1st overall pick
Selected by the Milwaukee Hawks
Playing career1952–1954
PositionCenter
Number12, 24
Career history
1952Milwaukee Hawks
1952–1953Philadelphia Warriors
1953–1954Baltimore Bullets
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points386 (4.9 ppg)
Rebounds230 (2.9 rpg)
Assists44 (0.6 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

Mark Cecil Workman (born March 10, 1930 – December 21, 1983) was an American professional basketball player from Charleston, West Virginia. He played collegiately at West Virginia University. Workman was the first overall pick in the 1952 NBA draft, by the Milwaukee Hawks.

Early life

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Born in Logan, West Virginia, Workman moved from Logan to Charleston, West Virginia, in 10th grade, leading the Charleston High School Mountain Lions to the state title as a junior.[1] Workman averaged 32.8 points per game as a senior in 1948. He scored 63 points in a sectional tournament game that season.[2]

Workman (1952) and Hot Rod Hundley (1957 NBA draft) are the only No. 1 overall draft picks to come from the same high School.[3]

He also lettered in track, specializing in shot put, javelin, and discus. Upon graduation some local car dealers gave him a Chrysler New Yorker in order make the drive to Morgantown, becoming the first automobile in the Workman family.[1]

College career

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After graduating from Charleston High School, Workman enrolled at West Virginia University. There he led the Mountaineers from 1950 to 1952, scoring 1,469 career points (21.0 point-per-game average) under Coaches Lee Patton and Robert N. "Red" Brown.[4]

Workman averaged 26.1 points a game in 1950–1951. In 1951–1952, he averaged 23.1 points and 17.5 rebounds for the 23–4 Mountaineers.[5] Workman was a 1952 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, alongside Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductees Cliff Hagan, Clyde Lovellette and Bob Pettit, as well as major league baseball All-Star Dick Groat.[6][7][4]

His top scoring performance was 50 points against Salem College in 1951. He also scored 48 points against Washington and Jefferson College, and 44 points against George Washington University. He still holds the WVU single-game records for field goals (22), free throws (17), and points in a half (37), along with four of the top 10 scoring marks.

One of Workman's greatest accomplishments was winning the United States Basketball Writers Association Gold Star Award as the outstanding visiting player in the state of New York for the 1951–52 season for leading WVU to wins over New York University (100–75) and Niagara University (74–71), despite the New York press having labelled him "the Galloping Goon from West Virginia" the previous year.[1]

Workman also competed in Track and Field at West Virginia. He once beat future Olympic Champion Bob Mathias in the javelin. “Mark Workman was a very good athlete — not a goon as some people thought,” said Eddie Barrett, who was the WVU Sports Information Director at the time. “He also competed in varsity track and field.”[8]

Professional career

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Workman was the first overall pick in the 1952 NBA draft, selected by the Milwaukee Hawks, but went on a tour of Europe with the Harlem Globetrotters before playing two years for the NBA Philadelphia Warriors and Baltimore Bullets.

In 1952–1953, Workman played five games for Milwaukee and was traded on November 19, 1952, to the Philadelphia Warriors for Don Sunderlage. He averaged 5.3 points in 60 games for Philadelphia. In 1953–54, Workman played in 14 games for the Warriors, averaging 4.0 points and 3.6 rebounds.[7]

Personal

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After retiring from basketball, Workman became a salesman, bringing bowling to the Orient as a representative of the Brunswick Corporation. He later moved to Florida where he worked as a salesman for a mining company while enjoying his true love of fishing.[1][9]

Workman died at his home on December 21, 1983, after a long illness. He was survived by his wife, Jane.[10][2]

Honors

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Workman was inducted into the West Virginia Sports Writers Hall of Fame in 1974.

In 1994, Workman was inducted into the West Virginia University Sports Hall of Fame.[1]

In 2017, Workman was named an inaugural member of West Virginia University's Mountaineer Legends Society.[1][11]

Career statistics

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Legend
  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

NBA

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Source[7]

Regular season

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Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1952–53 Milwaukee 5 5.8 .294 .500 1.2 .2 2.2
1952–53 Philadelphia 60 16.7 .320 .622 3.1 .6 5.3
1953–54 Baltimore 14 10.8 .417 .600 2.6 .5 4.0
Career 79 14.9 .331 .618 2.9 .6 4.9

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Mark Workman (1994) – WVU Sports Hall of Fame". West Virginia University Athletics.
  2. ^ a b "Mark Workman, a former All-America basketball player at the..." UPI.
  3. ^ Tribune, Mike Helfgot, Special to the (June 26, 2014). "Jabari Parker to Bucks at No. 2: 'Excited to represent Chicago'". chicagotribune.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ^ a b "Mark Workman College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  5. ^ "1951–52 West Virginia Mountaineers Schedule and Results". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  6. ^ "NCAA College Basketball AP All-America Teams". Basketball-Reference.com.
  7. ^ a b c "Mark Workman NBA Stats". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  8. ^ Furfari, Mickey (September 5, 2006). "West Virginia's Workman once beat Mathias in javelin". Beckley Register-Herald.
  9. ^ "Blasts From the Past: What Did Basketball Stars Do in "Real World"?". collegehoopedia.com.
  10. ^ Upi (December 23, 1983). "Mark Workman". The New York Times.
  11. ^ Wvusports.com (September 28, 2017). "WVU basketball greats to be inducted into Mountaineer Legends Society". Times West Virginian.
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