Today in Boston Celtics history, Richard “Rick” Preston Carlisle was born in Ogdensburg, New York in 1959. Carlisle played his NCAA basketball with Maine and Virginia, transferring from the former to the latter before leading Virginia to a Final Four loss to Hakeem Olajuwon’s Houston Cougars in 1984.

The former Cavalier was selected with the 70th overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft (there were several more rounds in that era), and would go on to help win a title with the team in 1986 in a reserve role before being waived by Boston in the fall of 1987.

Carlisle averaged 2.2 points and an assist per game as a Celtic, and is now the coach of the Indiana Pacers.

More birthdays

It is also the birthday of former Celtic shooting guard Rex Morgan, born this day in 1948 in Charleston, Illinois. An alum of Jacksonville University, Morgan was taken 21st overall in the 1970 NBA Draft and would play just 62 games over two seasons for the franchise. He averaged 2.8 points and 1.5 rebounds with the club.

Evan Turner shares today with them as his birthday, born in 1988 in Chicago, Illinois. Turner played collegiately at Ohio State, and was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers. He played for that club and the Indiana Pacers before the latter team declined his qualifying offer, leading Turner to sign with the Celtics.

He would parlay his improved play with the team into a $70 million deal with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2016, and averaged 10 points, 5 rebounds, as many assists, and a steal per game as a Celtic.

Debuts

Today is the date that 1953 draft selection of the Celtics Lou Tsioropoulos debuted for the team in 1956 after returning to Kentucky for a graduate season and then spending time in the U.S. Air Force.

It came in a 115-112 win over the New York Knicks that saw Tsioropoulos put up 5 points, 3 of which were earned at the line for a solid debut.

Rest in Peace

Finally, it is also the date of former Boston big man Hank Beenders’ passing in 2003. He played eight games for the Celtics in their Basketball Association of America (BAA – a precursor league to the NBA) days in the 1948-49 season.

Beenders logged 2.4 points per game in his time with the team in that stretch.

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