American basketball player Ernie DiGregorio DiGregorio playing for the Buffalo Braves Personal information Born| (1951-01-15) January 15, 1951 (age 71) North Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. Listed height| 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Listed weight| 180 lb (82 kg) Career information High school| North Providence (North Providence, Rhode Island) College| Providence (1970–1973) NBA draft| 1973 / Round: 1 / Pick: 3rd overall Selected by the Buffalo Braves Playing career| 1973–1978 Position| Point guard Number| 15, 7 Career history 1973–1977| Buffalo Braves 1977–1978| Los Angeles Lakers 1978| Boston Celtics Career highlights and awards * NBA Rookie of the Year (1974) * NBA All-Rookie First Team (1974) * NBA assists leader (1974) * Consensus first-team All-American (1973) Career NBA statistics Points| 2,997 (9.6 ppg) Rebounds| 610 (2.0 rpg) Assists| 1,594 (5.1 apg) Stats at NBA.com Stats at Basketball-Reference.com College Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted in 2019 Ernest DiGregorio (born January 15, 1951), also known as "Ernie D.", is an American former professional basketball player. He was named NBA Rookie of the Year in the 1973–74 season and shares the NBA rookie record for assists in a single game with 25. Due to a severe knee injury suffered early in DiGregorio's professional career, he played only five NBA seasons. A 1973 NCAA All-American at Providence, DiGregorio was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019. ## Contents * 1 Early life * 2 College and NBA career * 2.1 Buffalo Braves (1973–1977) * 2.2 Los Angeles Lakers (1977–1978) * 2.3 Boston Celtics (1978) * 3 Honors * 4 NBA career statistics * 4.1 Regular season * 4.2 Playoffs * 4.3 College statistics * 5 See also * 6 References * 7 External links ## Early life[edit] DiGregorio played on the 1968 Rhode Island (Class B) champions at North Providence High School. ## College and NBA career[edit] He and Marvin Barnes led Coach Dave Gavitt's Providence team to a Final Four appearance in the 1973 NCAA Tournament in DiGregorio's senior season, where they eventually lost to Memphis State, but only after Barnes sustained a knee injury that forced an early exit. After playing for the Providence College Friars, DiGregorio played on a college all-star team, and along with Bill Walton, led the U.S. in defeating a Soviet team in an exhibition game, which helped heal the still-open wound of the United States' loss in the 1972 Summer Olympic finals. ### Buffalo Braves (1973–1977)[edit] Ernie "D" was drafted by the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association but opted instead for the NBA. He was selected third overall by the Buffalo Braves in the 1973 NBA draft out of Providence College, and won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in 1973–74 after averaging 15.2 points and leading the league in both free throw percentage and assists per game.[1] DiGregorio still holds the NBA rookie record for assists in a single game with 25 (a record now shared with Nate McMillan).[2] He would never again come close to that level of production, but managed to have a decent NBA career, most of which he spent with the Braves.[citation needed] During the 1976–77 season, DiGregorio led the league in free throw percentage a second time, with a then-NBA record 94.5%.[3] In 1977, he joined fellow NBA stars Julius Erving, Rick Barry, Wilt Chamberlain, and Pete Maravich, in endorsing Spalding's line of rubber basketballs, with a signature "Ernie D." ball making up part of the collection.[4] ### Los Angeles Lakers (1977–1978)[edit] Before the 1977–78 season, DiGregorio was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, and played in a Lakers' uniform in only 25 games before being waived. ### Boston Celtics (1978)[edit] The Boston Celtics signed him as a free agent but he played only sparingly for the rest of the season. He would not play in the NBA again, although he did not formally retire until 1981.[citation needed] ## Honors[edit] * In 1999, DiGregorio was elected to the National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame.[5] * DiGregorio was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019. ## NBA career statistics[edit] Legend GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | | | | | FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high ### Regular season[edit] Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | | | | | | | | | | | | 1973–74 | Buffalo | 81 | — | 35.9 | .421 | — | .902* | 2.7 | 8.2* | 0.7 | 0.1 | 15.2 1974–75 | Buffalo | 31 | — | 23.0 | .440 | — | .778 | 1.5 | 4.9 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 7.8 1975–76 | Buffalo | 67 | — | 20.4 | .384 | — | .915 | 1.7 | 4.0 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 6.7 1976–77 | Buffalo | 81 | — | 28.0 | .417 | — | .945* | 2.3 | 4.7 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 10.7 1977–78 | L.A. Lakers | 25 | — | 13.3 | .410 | — | .800 | 0.9 | 2.8 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 3.9 1977–78 | Boston | 27 | — | 10.1 | .431 | — | .923 | 1.0 | 2.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 3.9 Career | 312 | — | 25.2 | .415 | — | .902 | 2.0 | 5.1 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 9.6 ### Playoffs[edit] Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | | | | | | | | | | | | 1974 | Buffalo | 6 | — | 40.0 | .430 | — | .889 | 2.7 | 8.7 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 13.7 1976 | Buffalo | 9 | — | 24.1 | .484 | — | 1.000 | 1.4 | 5.0 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 7.6 Career | 15 | — | 30.5 | .453 | — | .941 | 1.9 | 6.5 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 10.0 ### College statistics[edit] Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG | | | | | | | | | | | | 1970–71 | Providence | 28 | — | 36.2 | .481 | — | .830 | 4.0 | 6.5 | — | — | 18.6 1971–72 | Providence | 27 | — | 38.0 | .436 | — | .802 | 3.0 | 7.9 | — | — | 17.7 1972–73 | Providence | 31 | — | 36.0 | .478 | — | .802 | 3.2 | 8.6 | — | — | 24.5 Career | 86 | — | 36.7 | .468 | — | .812 | 3.4 | 7.7 | — | — | 20.5 ## See also[edit] * List of National Basketball Association players with most assists in a game ## References[edit] 1. ^ Rhoden, William C. (March 2, 1996). "Sports of The Times;Ernie D Has Found A New Game". The New York Times. 2. ^ "NBA.com Coaches:Nate McMillan". Retrieved 2008-11-02. 3. ^ "HickokSports.com NBA Annual Statistical Leaders: Free Throw Percentage". Archived from the original on 2014-03-14. Retrieved 2008-11-02. 4. ^ "Spalding Presents Street Ball, with Rick Barry and Dr. J!" advertisements on the back of Marvel and DC comic books, 1977. 5. ^ "Ernie DiGregorio". National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame website. Archived from the original on 2011-06-16. Retrieved 2010-02-04. ## External links[edit] * Career statistics and player information from NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com Links to related articles * v * t * e 1973 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans First Team| * Doug Collins * Ernie DiGregorio * Bo Lamar * Ed Ratleff * David Thompson * Bill Walton * Keith Wilkes Second Team| * Jim Brewer * Tommy Burleson * Larry Finch * Kevin Joyce * Tom McMillen * Kermit Washington * v * t * e 1973 NBA draft First round| * Doug Collins * Jim Brewer * Ernie DiGregorio * Mike Green * Kermit Washington * Ed Ratleff * Ron Behagen * Mike Bantom * Dwight Jones * John Brown * Kevin Joyce * Kevin Kunnert * Nick Weatherspoon * Mel Davis * Barry Parkhill * Swen Nater * Steve Downing * Raymond Lewis Second round| * Louie Nelson * Mike D'Antoni * Allan Bristow * George McGinnis * Billy Schaeffer * Kevin Stacom * Larry McNeill * Allan Hornyak * Tom Ingelsby * Patrick McFarland * Derrek Dickey * Wendell Hudson * Jim Chones * Caldwell Jones * Gary Melchionni * Pete Perry * Phil Hankinson * v * t * e NBA Rookie of the Year Award * 1953: Meineke * 1954: Felix * 1955: Pettit * 1956: Stokes * 1957: Heinsohn * 1958: Sauldsberry * 1959: Baylor * 1960: Chamberlain * 1961: Robertson * 1962: Bellamy * 1963: Dischinger * 1964: Lucas * 1965: Reed * 1966: Barry * 1967: Bing * 1968: Monroe * 1969: Unseld * 1970: Alcindor * 1971: Cowens & Petrie * 1972: Wicks * 1973: McAdoo * 1974: DiGregorio * 1975: Wilkes * 1976: Adams * 1977: Dantley * 1978: Davis * 1979: Ford * 1980: Bird * 1981: Griffith * 1982: Williams * 1983: Cummings * 1984: Sampson * 1985: Jordan * 1986: Ewing * 1987: Person * 1988: Jackson * 1989: Richmond * 1990: Robinson * 1991: Coleman * 1992: Johnson * 1993: O'Neal * 1994: Webber * 1995: Hill & Kidd * 1996: Stoudamire * 1997: Iverson * 1998: Duncan * 1999: Carter * 2000: Brand & Francis * 2001: Miller * 2002: Gasol * 2003: Stoudemire * 2004: James * 2005: Okafor * 2006: Paul * 2007: Roy * 2008: Durant * 2009: Rose * 2010: Evans * 2011: Griffin * 2012: Irving * 2013: Lillard * 2014: Carter-Williams * 2015: Wiggins * 2016: Towns * 2017: Brogdon * 2018: Simmons * 2019: Dončić * 2020: Morant * 2021: Ball * 2022: Barnes * v * t * e NBA annual assists leaders * 1947: Calverley * 1948: Dallmar * 1949: Davies * 1950: McGuire * 1951: Phillip * 1952: Phillip * 1953: Cousy * 1954: Cousy * 1955: Cousy * 1956: Cousy * 1957: Cousy * 1958: Cousy * 1959: Cousy * 1960: Cousy * 1961: Robertson * 1962: Robertson * 1963: Rodgers * 1964: Robertson * 1965: Robertson * 1966: Robertson * 1967: Rodgers * 1968: Chamberlain * 1969: Robertson * 1970: Wilkens * 1971: Van Lier * 1972: West * 1973: Archibald * 1974: DiGregorio * 1975: Porter * 1976: Watts * 1977: Buse * 1978: Porter * 1979: Porter * 1980: Richardson * 1981: Porter * 1982: Moore * 1983: Johnson * 1984: Johnson * 1985: Thomas * 1986: Johnson * 1987: Johnson * 1988: Stockton * 1989: Stockton * 1990: Stockton * 1991: Stockton * 1992: Stockton * 1993: Stockton * 1994: Stockton * 1995: Stockton * 1996: Stockton * 1997: Jackson * 1998: Strickland * 1999: Kidd * 2000: Kidd * 2001: Kidd * 2002: Miller * 2003: Kidd * 2004: Kidd * 2005: Nash * 2006: Nash * 2007: Nash * 2008: Paul * 2009: Paul * 2010: Nash * 2011: Nash * 2012: Rondo * 2013: Rondo * 2014: Paul * 2015: Paul * 2016: Rondo * 2017: Harden * 2018: Westbrook * 2019: Westbrook * 2020: James * 2021: Westbrook * 2022: Paul *[GP]: Games played *[GS]: Games started *[MPG]: Minutes per game *[FG%]: Field goal percentage *[3P%]: 3-point field-goal percentage *[FT%]: Free-throw percentage *[RPG]: Rebounds per game *[APG]: Assists per game *[SPG]: Steals per game *[BPG]: Blocks per game *[PPG]: Points per game *[v]: View this template *[t]: Discuss this template *[e]: Edit this template