Basketball Hall of Famer Al Cervi, player and coach for Syracuse Nationals, dies at age 92
Associated Press
11/10/09 9:45 AM PST
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.
