Ray Ragelis

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Ray Ragelis

| image =

| width =

| caption =

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 4

| weight_lb = 205

| birth_date = {{birth date|1928|12|10}}

| birth_place = East Chicago, Indiana, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1983|09|19|1928|12|10}}

| death_place = East Chicago, Indiana, U.S.

| high_school = {{nowrap|Washington (East Chicago, Indiana)}}

| college = Northwestern (1948–1951)

| draft_year = 1951

| draft_round = 2

| draft_pick = 17

| draft_team = Rochester Royals

| career_start = 1951

| career_end = 1952

| career_number = 18

| career_position = Small forward / power forward

| coach_start =

| coach_end =

| years1 = {{nbay|1951|full=y}}

| team1 = Rochester Royals

| cyears1 = 1954–1955

| cteam1 = Lake Forest

| highlights =

Third-team All-American – Look (1951)
First-team All-Big Ten (1951)

| stats_league = NBA

| stat1label = Points

| stat1value = 68 (1.3 ppg)

| stat2label = Rebounds

| stat2value = 76 (1.5 rpg)

| stat3label = Assists

| stat3value = 31 (0.6 apg)

}}

Raymond Ernest Ragelis (December 10, 1928 – September 19, 1983) was an American professional basketball player of Lithuanian descent. He played one season in the National Basketball Association (NBA) after an All-American college career at Northwestern University.

Early years

Ragelis was born on December 10, 1928, to a family of Lithuanian immigrants.{{cite web |last1=McKinlay |first1=Archibald |title=Ragelis rewrote the record books at ECW without fanfare |url=https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/ragelis-rewrote-the-record-books-at-ecw-without-fanfare/article_65281d06-2b0d-5264-b112-d322c3f6584e.html |website=nwitimes.com |accessdate=March 6, 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306101003/https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/ragelis-rewrote-the-record-books-at-ecw-without-fanfare/article_65281d06-2b0d-5264-b112-d322c3f6584e.html |archivedate=March 6, 2019 |date=October 11, 2009}}{{cite web |title="Iš viršaus": pirmasis lietuvis NBA lygoje – 40 metų iki Marčiulionio? |url=https://www.delfi.lt/nba/is-virsaus/is-virsaus-pirmasis-lietuvis-nba-lygoje-40-metu-iki-marciulionio.d?id=79940667 |website=DELFI |accessdate=March 6, 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306101150/https://www.delfi.lt/nba/is-virsaus/is-virsaus-pirmasis-lietuvis-nba-lygoje-40-metu-iki-marciulionio.d?id=79940667 |archivedate=March 6, 2019 |language=lt-LT |date=December 25, 2018}} He attended the Washington High School in East Chicago, Indiana,{{cite web |title=Ray Ragelis NBA stats |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/ragelra01.html |website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference, LLC |accessdate=4 August 2023}} playing for Johnnie Baratto; he led the Senators to the State Finals in 1947. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.{{cite web |title=Ray Ragelis |url=https://www.hoopshall.com/hall-of-fame/ray-ragelis/?query=name.eq.Ray%20Ragelis&xsearch_id=HallofFame2_Last_Name&xsearch[0]=Ray%20Ragelis&back=HallofFame2 |website=hoopshall.com |accessdate=March 6, 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306102000/https://www.hoopshall.com/hall-of-fame/ray-ragelis/?query=name.eq.Ray%20Ragelis&xsearch_id=HallofFame2_Last_Name&xsearch[0]=Ray%20Ragelis&back=HallofFame2 |archivedate=March 6, 2019}}

College and professional career

Ragelis played for the Northwestern Wildcats. He was the first player in university's history to score 1,000 career points, and led the team in scoring for two years.{{cite web |title=2018-19 Northwestern Wildcats men's basketball media guide |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/nusports.com/documents/2018/10/10/1819_B1G_MD_Guide.pdf#page=96 |website=nusports.com |accessdate=March 6, 2019 |page=96}} Ragelis led the Big Ten Conference in scoring during the 1950–51 season, averaging 19.1 points, which earned him All-American honours. He was the last player from university's basketball program to lead the conference in scoring until John Shurna in 2012.{{cite web |title=NU Sports - Ray Ragelis - Class of 1951 - Hall of Fame - Northwestern University |url=https://nusports.com/hof.aspx?hof=10&path=&kiosk= |website=nusports.com |accessdate=March 6, 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306104259/https://nusports.com/hof.aspx?hof=10&path=&kiosk= |archivedate=March 6, 2019}}

A {{height|ft=6|in=4}} and {{convert|205|lb|kg|abbr=on}} forward from Northwestern University, Ragelis was selected in the second round of the 1951 NBA draft by the Rochester Royals. He played one season with Rochester, coming off the bench in 51 of the 66 games and averaging 1.3 points per game, 1.5 rebounds per game, and 0.6 assists per game. The Royals lost to the Minneapolis Lakers in the Division Finals of the 1952 NBA Playoffs.{{cite web |title=1951-52 NBA Season Summary |url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_1952.html |website=Basketball-Reference.com |accessdate=March 6, 2019}}

Later years

After his NBA career, Ragelis joined the military for two years and later started coaching. He first coached at Lake Forest College, and later served as an assistant coach at Northwestern University. After three years as assistant coach at Northwestern University, he became the head coach at Washington High School. Ragelis died on September 19, 1983, in West Side Veterans Hospital in East Chicago, Indiana.{{cite web |last1=Heise |first1=Kenan |title=Ray Ragelis, NBA player, Obituary, Chicago Tribune, September 23, 1983 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13889009/ray_ragelis_nba_player_obituary/ |website=Newspapers.com |accessdate=March 6, 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306101438/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/13889009/ray_ragelis_nba_player_obituary/ |archivedate=March 6, 2019 |date=September 23, 1983}}

Career statistics

=NBA=

Source

==Regular season==

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !FT% !RPG !APG !PPG
style="text-align:left;" \|{{nbay\|1951}} \| style="text-align:left;" \|Rochester \|51 \|6.6 \|.260 \|.621 \|1.5 \|.6 \|1.3

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"

Year

!Team

!GP

!MPG

!FG%

!FT%

!RPG

!APG

!PPG

style="text-align:left;" |{{nbay|1951}}

| style="text-align:left;" |Rochester

|51

|6.6

|.260

|.621

|1.5

|.6

|1.3

==Playoffs==

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !FT% !RPG !APG !PPG
style="text-align:left;" \|1952 \| style="text-align:left;" \|Rochester \|3 \|2.3 \|.000 \|– \|.3 \|.3 \|.0