Woody Sauldsberry

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Woody Sauldsberry bigraphy, stories - American basketball player

Woody Sauldsberry : biography

11 July 1934 – 03 September 2007

Woodrow "Woody" Sauldsberry Jr. (July 11, 1935 – September 2007) was an American National Basketball Association player.

Sauldsberry was born in Winnsboro, Louisiana and graduated from Compton Union High School where he was the star of his basketball team and then went on to attend Texas Southern University. In 1957, he was drafted in Round 8 by the Philadelphia Warriors (now the Golden State Warriors). The following year in 1958, he was named the league’s Rookie of the Year — the second African American ever to win the award and becoming the lowest overall draft pick ever to win the award, a record he still holds. In 1959, he played in the NBA All-Star Game. Later in his career he played for the St. Louis Hawks, Chicago Zephyrs and Boston Celtics.

During the 1960s, Sauldsberry was part of the Harlem Globetrotters.