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 Playmakers on basketball teams usually don’t become famous, but Norm Van Lier is a notable exception. He scored
only 855 points in his Midland High School career (where he played
with Simmie
Hill) but his playmaking
ability made him the sparkplug of the Leopards’ famous 1965 state
championship team. Although he was small for basketball at 6'-1",
Norm earned All State honors in his senior year as Midland went 28-0
under Coach Hank Kuzma. The Leopards blew away Steelton-Highspire, 90-61,
to cinch the PIAA crown. Proving that he could be a scoring machine
if needed, Norm averaged 18.8 points per game at
St Francis College of Loretto, Pennsylvania, and maintained his
reputation for versatility by averaging 10.9 rebounds and 11 assists
per game. Norm earned first team All East honors and All
American honorable mention during his junior and senior years at St
Francis. He began his professional basketball career in 1970 with
the Cincinnati Royals but was traded to the Chicago Bulls before the
1971-1972 season and had his best years there. In 1974, he became
the first Beaver Countian to play in the NBA All Star Game. Norm had
the two best games of his professional career in the 1975 NBA
playoffs: he scored 35 points in a Chicago win over Golden State and
42 points in a victory over Seattle. He was traded to the Milwaukee
Bucks for the 1978-1979 season and retired that year. During his ten
seasons in the NBA, Norm averaged 12.2 points per game and always
was among the league leaders in assists. As was the case in high
school and college, he compensated with speed hustle and precision
what he lacked in size. After retirement, Norm became a sports
commentator in Seattle. |
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