On this day in Boston Celtics history, guard Saul Mariaschin was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1924. Mariaschin played his college ball at Syracuse and Harvard University, the latter of which he also played baseball at as a teammate of future United States President George H.W. Bush.
He helped drive the Crimson to a 19-1 record and their sole NCAA Tournament appearance until the 2011-12 season with Jeremy Lin. The Brooklyn native was drafted 63rd in the 1947 Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league of the NBA) by the (now defunct) Washington Capitals, but he did not report to that team.
Instead, he signed with the Celtics, for whom he played one season. He was the last Harvard graduate to make an NBA or BAA postseason until Lin did it with the Houston Rockets in 2013. Mariaschin averaged 7.7 points and 1.4 assists per game. Rebounds were not yet tracked as a statistic.
The @nytimes profiles Saul Mariaschin AB’47, the last man to lead Harvard to the @NCAA Tournament http://t.co/HCgA2h2Mw1
— Harvard Alumni Association (@HarvardAlumni) April 29, 2013
