Former Wildcat star Mike Maloy dies in Vienna
Mike Maloy (15) was an All American at Davidson. (Davidson Sports Information photo)
Mike Maloy in 1969, from Davidson College's "Quips and Cranks," 1969. (Davidson College Archives)
Mike Maloy, an All-American basketball star at Davidson College in the late 1960s who went on to play in the old American Basketball Association and in Europe, has died at the age of 59.
An Austrian Press Agency report published on the newspaper website DiePresse.com says Mr. Maloy died of what is described as a serious case of flu at his home in Vienna, where he worked as a teacher and coach at the American International School.
Mr. Maloy, a New York City native, was one of the first standout African American athletes at Davidson and one of the school’s all-time sports greats. He played at a time when the team was a fixture in post-season NCAA basketball tournaments. He once appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated (see below), and he was on the 1969 team that went to the semifinals of the NCAA tourney, barely losing to the University of North Carolina.
A 1968 Sports Illustrated cover titled "Challenge to UCLA" pictured Maloy (right) with Charlie Scott (UNC, front) and Mike Dasey (Kentucky).
After a standout career at Davidson, where he played under coaches Lefty Driessell and Terry Holland, Mr. Maloy was drafted in 1970 by the Boston Celtics. He left school before graduating. Instead of joining the Celtics, he decided to play instead for the Virginia Squires of the ABA. In 1976 he became the first American to play professionally in Austria, joining the team UBSC Vienna. He led that team to the championship four times, according to the APA report.
In 1980, he became an Austrian citizen, and played for the Austrian national team. He later became a coach and teacher.
Apart from his love of basketball, he also was a blues musician, playing bass in the Boring Blues Band (see links and audio below). In a comment posted on the website of Vienna’s Der Standard newspaper, one fan wrote: “This is also a great loss for the Boring Blues Band and for Klosterneuburg [little suburb town northwest of Vienna on the Danube] where he enriched not only sports, but also cultural life. The Summertime Blues Festival in Gamlitz will have to take place without him: hard to imagine!”
He is survived by a son, Ryan, and his former partner, Edith.
Mr. Maloy stood 6 feet 7 inches and played at 215 pounds, according to sports references.
According to an official biography from Davidson’s sports information department, Mr. Maloy led the Wildcats to three straight Southern Conference championships and three straight NCAA tournaments. In 1969, he averaged 24.6 points and 14.3 rebounds a game.
(Thanks to Marc Gignac of Davidson College Sports Information, Davidson archivist Jan Blodgett, and Davidson German professors Scott Denham and Burkhard Henke for translation help.)
LINKS
Boring Blues Band home page (German), www.boringbluesband.at
Here’s a photo of Mike Maloy with the band at the 2008 Gamlitz Blues Festival, CLICK HERE>
Listen to Mike and the band from a 1994 recording, by clicking the start button below.
(MP3 format. Can’t hear it? CLICK HERE> )
Oct. 31, 2007, The Davidsonian, Davidson College, by Will Bryan, “1969-70 marked the end of the glory years.”
Here are Mr. Maloy’s stats from his Davidson career (thanks to Marc Gignac, Davidson sports information director.)
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