Basketball Hall of Famer Al Cervi, player and coach for Syracuse Nationals, dies at age 92

Associated Press

Last update: November 10, 2009 - 11:22 AM

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Al Cervi (SUR'-vee), a pro basketball star who coached the Syracuse Nationals to the 1955 NBA championship, has died in upstate New York at age 92.

The 5-foot-11-inch Cervi was one of the strongest backcourt players of the 1940s and 1950s. Nicknamed "Digger," he was the 1947 National Basketball League scoring champion and MVP as a guard for the Rochester Royals.

He became a player-coach for the Syracuse Nationals in 1948, continuing in that role after the team joined the NBA. He retired as a player in 1953 but coached the Nats until 1957.

He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985.

A Buffalo native, Cervi died at a hospice in Rochester on Monday.

The Anthony Funeral Chapel in Brighton, N.Y., says he is survived by his wife of 68 years, Ruth; a son; two daughters; and four grandchildren.

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