Bill Closs

Bill Tom Closs (January 8, 1922 – June 6, 2011) was an American basketball player. He played collegiately for Rice University. In his final year, he led the Southwest Conference in scoring and was All-American in 1943. In 1971 he was inducted into the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame, and in 2003 his basketball jersey was retired.

Bill Closs
Closs, circa 1947
Personal information
Born(1922-01-08)January 8, 1922
Edge, Texas
DiedJune 6, 2011(2011-06-06) (aged 89)
Palo Alto, California
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Listed weight195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High schoolHearne (Hearne, Texas)
CollegeRice (1940–1943)
Playing career1949–1952
PositionSmall forward
Number11, 16, 14
Career history
1946–1948Indianapolis Kautskys
1948–1950Anderson Packers
1950–1951Philadelphia Warriors
1951–1952Fort Wayne Pistons
Career highlights and awards
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

He joined the Marine Reserve while still at Rice, and was posted in the Fleet Marine Force Pacific Headquarters in Oahu, Hawaii in 1944.

Closs started professional basketball with Indianapolis in 1946. He played for the Anderson Packers (1948–50), Philadelphia Warriors (1950–51) and Fort Wayne Pistons (1951–52) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 186 games. Following the conclusion of his professional basketball career, Closs enjoyed over 35 years of success in the sporting goods industry.

Closs died on June 6, 2011.[1]

Career statistics
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

NBA

Source[2]

Regular season
Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1949–50 Anderson 64 .315 .718 2.5 11.8
1950–51 Philadelphia 65 .320 .744 6.2 1.7 8.8
1951–52 Fort Wayne 57 19.6 .308 .682 3.6 1.3 6.1
Career 186 19.6 .315 .718 5.0 1.9 9.0

Playoffs
Year Team GP MPG FG% FT% RPG APG PPG
1950 Anderson 8 .303 .833 1.8 11.4
1951 Philadelphia 2 .250 .600 4.0 2.5 3.5
1952 Fort Wayne 1 21.0 .167 1.000 8.0 4.0 5.0
Career 11 21.0 .293 .816 5.3 2.1 9.4

References
  1. Rice Remembers Bill Tom Closs Archived 2011-07-08 at the Wayback Machine, accessed June 17, 2011
  2. "Bill Closs". Basketball Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved 7 April 2023.


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