A 5'11" guard/forward known as "Billy the Bullet” Gabor played at Syracuse University during the 1940s. He averaged 12.1 points per game during his freshman year before joining the United States Army Air Corps in 1943. He returned to Syracuse in 1945 and played three more seasons, finishing with a (then) team-record 1,344 career points. Gabor's jersey was retired by Syracuse University on March 1, 2009.

 

When Gabor first starting playing basketball at Syracuse there was a Freshmen and Varsity Team. He started all the freshmen games and then would suit up for the Varsity game. Gabor started his first game on Varsity against Cornell in 1942-43 season and scored 22 points. He started every game after that.

 

Gabor holds many school records including:

    •    Only person to ever lead the team in scoring all four years

    •    First to score 400 points in a single season

    •    First to score over 1,000 points in a career

 

He held the all-time scoring record until Dave Bing broke it. On May 1, 2009, Gabor was invited back to the Carrier Dome to retire his jersey, number 17.

 

Gabor spent his professional career with the Syracuse Nationals of the National Basketball League and later the National Basketball Association. He played with Syracuse until injuries forced him into retirement in 1955. In his NBA career, Gabor averaged 9.8 points per game and logged one NBA All-Star Game appearance. He won a league championship with Syracuse in 1955.

 

(Above biographical info courtesy of Wikipedia)

 

Career Highlights

1940-42 Varsity basketball, Binghamton Central High School

1945 Army Air Corp, Lieutenant

1946-47 All-American, Syracuse University

1946-47 Set university records for career scoring (1,131 points) single season scoring (409 points), and single game scoring (36 points against Oswego and Temple)

1948 Helm’s Foundation All-American Team

1948 East-West College All-Star team

1949 Signed with Syracuse Nationals

1949 Rookie NBA All-Star Team

1953 NBA All-Star Team

1955 Played on Syracuse Nats NBA championship team

1962 -63 SU Varsity Club President

1972 New York State P.H.S.A.A Hall of Fame

1974 First Vie Hanson Medal of Excellence Award SU Hardwood Club

2019 Recognized by the NBA’s Retired Players Association as the oldest living former NBA player at the age of 97 (born 5/13/22) He died June 14th 2019. Click HERE to read more.

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