Roger Phegley

[Tommy]

So my buddy that I go to games with literally knows every player that has ever been a Brave and he pointed out Roger Phegley to me. You've probably seen his name as one of the retired numbers on the banner on the wall, and heck, he's from East Peoria, so most of you probably have seen him at games and knew who he was anyways. But for me, I didn't know that he was a regular at the games and wouldn't have known him by seeing him, but once he was pointed out to me, I had to get a picture with him being one of the greatest Braves of all time, but I didn't realize just how great he was.

After I got the picture with him, I sat down this morning and thought I'd look up some of his stats and wow, I had no idea just how dominating this guy was. 3rd all-time scorer on the Braves all-time scorer list, and the highest rated guy on the list that didn't play with the 3 point line (even higher than Chet Walker!). Didn't see every game he played on the list, but I saw one where he scored 48 (with no 3 pointers, that is craziness) against UNLV and he had 15 games of 30 points or more and was 5th on the all-time average scoring list with 20/game.

My dad was taking me to games since I was about 8 years old, so there's a good chance I had the privilege to see this guy play live and don't even remember it!

Anyhow, I know most of you folks here are super fans and probably know more about the history of BU basketball than I do (he is on the all-century team), but I just wanted to share this for my own sake more than anything else. It was exciting to get a picture with an all-time great of BU, but after looking up just how great he was, it makes it just that much sweeter.

I'd love to hear any personal stories anyone might have of seeing him play. Apparently he was quite a baseball player, too? Would love to hear some memories about this guy as my interest has really piqued.

[capecod]

remembering Roger Phegley

3rd team All American
1977 Missouri Valley Conference POY
1st Rd draft choice (14th player selected) by the Washington Bullets

Played in the NBA for 6 season..then in Europe for awhile

In 1979, I lived in NYC at 18th St & 7th Ave.

It was a relatively short walk for me-15 blocks straight up 7th Ave to Madison Sq Garden.
I made that trip more than a few times.

I recall seeing an early season game between the Knicks and the Bullets(1979-80 season).....I may have gone to the game anyway-but remember specifically, having been a Braves fan all my life, wanting to watch Phegley....IIRC, I had seen him play once before in the Garden as a rookie the previous year...but Roger barely played that day.

But this game was different (see box score linked below).

Roger scored 35 pts that night(his best ever NBA game)-albeit the Bullets lost in OT to the Knicks....note that among Phegley's teammates on the Bullets were Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes!

https://www.basketball-reference.com...910130NYK.html

[Tommy]

Thanks capecod! That is good stuff, and how lucky you were to see him play that game!

[wily coyote]

So my buddy that I go to games with literally knows every player that has ever been a Brave and he pointed out Roger Phegley to me. You've probably seen his name as one of the retired numbers on the banner on the wall, and heck, he's from East Peoria, so most of you probably have seen him at games and knew who he was anyways. But for me, I didn't know that he was a regular at the games and wouldn't have known him by seeing him, but once he was pointed out to me, I had to get a picture with him being one of the greatest Braves of all time, but I didn't realize just how great he was.

After I got the picture with him, I sat down this morning and thought I'd look up some of his stats and wow, I had no idea just how dominating this guy was. 3rd all-time scorer on the Braves all-time scorer list, and the highest rated guy on the list that didn't play with the 3 point line (even higher than Chet Walker!). Didn't see every game he played on the list, but I saw one where he scored 48 (with no 3 pointers, that is craziness) against UNLV and he had 15 games of 30 points or more and was 5th on the all-time average scoring list with 20/game.

My dad was taking me to games since I was about 8 years old, so there's a good chance I had the privilege to see this guy play live and don't even remember it!

Anyhow, I know most of you folks here are super fans and probably know more about the history of BU basketball than I do (he is on the all-century team), but I just wanted to share this for my own sake more than anything else. It was exciting to get a picture with an all-time great of BU, but after looking up just how great he was, it makes it just that much sweeter.

I'd love to hear any personal stories anyone might have of seeing him play. Apparently he was quite a baseball player, too? Would love to hear some memories about this guy as my interest has really piqued.

Tommy, glad you got to meet him. He truly was one of our all time greats. I was fortunate enough to officiate HS games he played in his Sr. year. Obviously he was very good in HS but actually came to BU to play baseball. I also officiated several of his pre season games at BU when they were allowed to play at High Schools. Most people probably don't remember those games but it was allowed way back when. Can't do that now. I've been a season ticket holder for the better part of 52 years. I've seen a lot of talent in BU uniforms and Roger ranks right up there with the best.

[Da Coach]

Roger was a terrific player at Bradley.
College stats- https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...phegley-1.html

As many people know, Roger was a star pitcher at East Peoria HS and he turned down an offer to sign with the Cincinnati Reds to attend Bradley on a baseball scholarship. He was also a terrific basketball player as well at East Peoria HS. His first year at Bradley, Joe Stowell saw him playing in preseason open-gym pickup games, and wanted him on the basketball team. It took a little coaxing, but the baseball coach eventually agreed. In 1974-75 (Roger's freshman season), although freshmen were eligible to play varsity by then, Bradley still had a freshman team. Roger started out playing both in the freshmen games and the varsity games, as did his freshman classmate Bobby Humbles. As the season progressed, Roger became a valuable player on the varsity team, and stopped playing on the freshman team. He went on a basketball scholarship his sophomore year and skipped playing baseball, though he did go back and play on the baseball team as a junior, but not as a senior. As a freshman, he played in 26 varsity games initially as a reserve but then eventually as a starter and averaged 8.1 ppg. As a sophomore, he started every game and averaged 17.3 ppg and he shot 52% from the field, which is terrific for a guard (he played forward as a freshman). His junior season he was named team co-captain along with Humbles, and stepped up his scoring after the departure of Big Mike Davis who graduated the previous year. Roger averaged 27.4 ppg (28.6 ppg in conference play) on only 18 shot attempts per game, and shot 55.6% as a junior. He lead the team in scoring in 24 of the team's 27 games, and only once scored less than 20 in a game he was limited to 19 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble. He also averaged 6.9 rpg, and was named the Missouri Valley Player of the Year as a junior.
And his senior season he averaged 27.6 ppg on only 18 shot attempts per game, and was named an All-American. However, he was edged out as MVC Player of the Year by someone named Larry Bird. Phegley went on to a pro career in the NBA and in Europe-

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/pheglro01.html

After Roger retired from pro basketball, he settled back in the Peoria area and has had a successful career in the insurance business. He has been a loyal Bradley fan and season ticket holder since 1986-

https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-phegley-79657131

Roger has had his #45 retired by Bradley.
Here are some of Roger's accomplishments-

https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/roger-phegley/5983

He is in the Bradley Hall of Fame, and in 2015 was inducted into the MVC Hall of Fame-

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

[houstonbrave]

One of the things I remember about Roger was his Free Throws. His career percentage of 85.5% is #1 in BU history. He was automatic.

In the what might have been category-in Roger's Sophomore season we had a freshman from Brazil named Marcel de Souza. He averaged 14 ppg and 4.5 rpg, but he returned home to Brazil after his freshman year and went on to become one of the greats in Brazilian history playing in the Olympics etc. Two more years of Phegley, de Souza, and Humbles would have been incredible. Those were already really high scoring (and not great defense) years-we averaged 83 ppg and had a 13-13 record.

[Tommy]

he was edged out as MVC Player of the Year by someone named Larry Bird.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/p/pheglro01.html

Wily Coyote and Coach, thanks so much for the input. That was a lot of great and interesting information!

And as for that Bird fellow - never heard of him, but he's no Roger Phegley!

[Tommy]

Thanks houstonbrave, that is an interesting tidbit I hadn't heard before!

[Chico]

You never heard of Larry Bird? How’d you get to be a Senior Member? One of the all time greats.

[Time Out]

I’m sure Tommy was joking, come on.

[Da Coach]

Here are the Top 20 career scorers in Missouri Valley Conference history. 4 of them are from Bradley.
Roger Phegley ranks 14th. Pretty good for a kid who started as a walk-on. Plus, as was mentioned, he played prior to the 3-point rule (went into effect in 1986-87 season), and when college teams only played 26 or 27 games in a season (Roger played 24, 27, 26 & 26 in his four seasons). For comparison, Bradley played 35 games last season, and some teams play as many as 40.

[Tommy]

I’m sure Tommy was joking, come on.

Lol, thanks for having my back, Time Out, and yes, tongue in cheek!

Coach, thanks for posting that list. That has some real big names on it and nice to see Hersey at the top!

[Chico]

Time Out, I think I was too. Come on.