Peoria basketball trivia

[Da Coach]

This is not strictly Bradley related, but Peoria basketball trivia-

Shaun Livingston is the only Peoria born player in the NBA.
He is also the Peoria born player who has played the most NBA games, and had the longest NBA career.
Shaun's career scoring average is 6.6 points per game, which ranks 2nd among Peoria-born NBA players.
But there have been several prior Peoria born NBA* players.

Here is some tough trivia:
Can anyone name:
-Who was the first player to play in the NBA that was born in Peoria?
-Who was the last Peoria born player to play in the NBA prior to Shaun Livingston?
-Which NBA player had the highest career scoring average among those born in Peoria?
-Which NBA player ranks 3rd in scoring average, behind Livingston and the person who is the answer to the previous question among those born in Peoria?
-Which Peoria born NBA player has the highest assist average?
-Which Peoria born NBA player has the highest rebounding average?

And one hint- Shaun Livingston is not the answer to any of the above questions.

Extra credit-
-How many Peoria born players have played in the NBA?
-Can anyone name them without looking them up?


*And remember, NBA records also include the full records of the old ABA.

I'll post the answers in a couple hours.

[tornado]

do players from the ABA count as their stats are included in all NBA stats?

There's one Peoria-born player who finished his NBA career with 100% FT shooting accuracy

[Dubl R 1]

Are we counting the old ABA or no?... maybe it doesn't matter

[Dubl R 1]

I'll say Al Smith as first to play in NBA/ABA

Frank Williams last to play before Shaun

And I'd say either Al Smith or AJ as highest scoring

[sam hannam]

Could Roger Phegley be the highest scoring?

[Da Coach]

I thought I had made it clear that ABA records counted because they are considered official NBA records. See the footnote in the original post-

*And remember, NBA records also include the full records of the old ABA.

Dubl R 1 has the following questions correct-
-Who was the first player to play in the NBA that was born in Peoria?
Correct answer is Al Smith, who played 337 games in the old ABA from 1972-1976

-Who was the last Peoria born player to play in the NBA prior to Shaun Livingston?
Correct answer is Frank Williams, who played in 86 games from 2003-2005

And we'll give Dubl R 1 this one, too, even though he hedged a little-
-Which NBA player had the highest career scoring average among those born in Peoria?
Al Smith's career 9.8 ppg scoring average is by far the highest average among Peoria born NBA'ers

[Da Coach]

Could Roger Phegley be the highest scoring?

That is interesting, because Roger Phegley is listed in the NBA records and on Wikipedia as having been born in East Peoria, not Peoria. It doesn't seem right, since I was living in Peoria at the time, and there was no facility I recall in East Peoria that was suitable for a woman to give birth. I do not know if that is a mistake, but he was not one of the Peoria born players I was including with this quiz. But regardless, he would not be the highest scoring anyway.
He played from 1979-1984 and averaged 8.7 ppg, which would rank just behind Al Smith's 9.8 ppg.

Does anyone know if Roger was really born in Peoria?

[Da Coach]

So we have a few correct answers-
-Who was the first player to play in the NBA that was born in Peoria?
Answer: Former Bradley great Al Smith

-Who was the last Peoria born player to play in the NBA prior to Shaun Livingston?
Answer: Former Manual and Illinois great Frank Williams

-Which NBA player had the highest career scoring average among those born in Peoria?
Answer: Al Smith who averaged 9.8 ppg in 5 seasons with the Denver Nuggets and Utah Stars from 1971-76

Dubl R 1 also mentioned A.J. Guyton in his post. A.J. is the correct answer to the next question:
-Which NBA player ranks 3rd in scoring average, behind Livingston and the person who is the answer to the previous question among those born in Peoria?
Answer: A.J. Guyton averaged 5.5 ppg in 3 seasons (2 with the Bulls and 1 brief stay with the GS Warriors)



The other questions not yet answered correctly:

-Which Peoria born NBA player has the highest assist average?
-Which Peoria born NBA player has the highest rebounding average?

Extra credit-
-How many Peoria born players have played in the NBA?
-Can anyone name them without looking them up?

[Da Coach]

Here are the other answers:

-Which Peoria born NBA player has the highest assist average?
Answer: Al Smith with a career average of 5.3 assists per game. Shaun Livingston's 3.2 assists per game is second best

-Which Peoria born NBA player has the highest rebounding average?
Answer: Acie Earl, who was born in Peoria, raised in Moline and went to Iowa, averaged 2.7 rpg in his NBA career that spanned 4 seasons. Al Smith's average of 2.6 rpg is second best.

Extra credit-
-How many Peoria born players have played in the NBA?
Answer: Just 7

-Can anyone name them without looking them up?
Answer- click on names to see bio info:
Frank Williams 2003-05, 86 games
Al Smith 1972-76, 337 games
Howard Nathan 1996, 5 games
Shaun Livingston 2005-17, 698 games
A.J. Guyton 2001-03, 80 games
Derek Grimm 1998, 9 games
Acie Earl 1993-97, 193 games

[tornado]

despite what is on the various websites, I have some strong suspicions that Roger Phegley and Doug Lee were both born in Peoria..

[Vent]

Roger was born in Peoria and I also believe Kevin McKenna was also. He played at Creighton and went to one of the Catholic grade schools in Peoria, if I remember correctly.

[Vent]

Al Williams was also born in Peoria, went to Manual and then to Drake. He also played in the ABA.

[Da Coach]

Roger was born in Peoria and I also believe Kevin McKenna was also. He played at Creighton and went to one of the Catholic grade schools in Peoria, if I remember correctly.

All I can say is, that there are several internet sites that list Roger Phegley's birthplace, and every one of them list East Peoria, Illinois.
Although in this old article, Roger is quoted as saying "I was born and raised in Peoria"-

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150306/SPORTS/150309472

But then he was speaking to the MVC HOF crowd and talking in general terms, since we know he was raised primarily in East Peoria, not Peoria. Though I also think it is likely he would have been born at one of the Peoria hospitals.

Kevin McKenna is listed in the NBA database as having been born in St. Paul, Minnesota. I do recall that his family lived for a while in Peoria.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mckenke01.html

[Da Coach]

Al Williams was also born in Peoria, went to Manual and then to Drake. He also played in the ABA.

Al Williams played just 11 games in the 1970-71 season for the old Kentucky Colonels. His page does not list a birthplace, but he was born in Peoria. Good memory!

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/w/willial01.html

I suspect there may be other older NBA players who were born in Peoria, and NBA records don't show their birthplace. Can anyone think of any other possibilities?

[NewOrleansBrave]

Acie Earl was born in Peoria.