Red Mihalik

Zigmund John "Red" Mihalik (September 22, 1916 – September 25, 1996) was an American basketball player and referee of Polish descent. Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986, he was then inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame at St. Mary's College in Orchard Lake, Michigan on June 13, 1996.[1]

Red Mihalik
Personal information
Born(1916-09-22)September 22, 1916
Ford City, Pennsylvania
DiedOctober 25, 1996(1996-10-25) (aged 80)
Ford City, Pennsylvania
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High schoolFord City (Ford City, Pennsylvania)
PositionGuard
Number6
Career history
1946Pittsburgh Ironmen
1946–1947Youngstown Bears
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Basketball Hall of Fame

Biography

Born thirty miles north of Pittsburgh in Ford City, Pennsylvania as Zigmund Mihalik[2] on September 22, 1916, Mihalik played basketball as a youth and subsequently took up refereeing when officials for a high school game failed to show up.

During the 1940s, the 6'1" Mihalik played professionally for the Pittsburgh Ironmen of the Basketball Association of America and the Youngstown Bears of the National Basketball League.

He then embarked upon a long officiating career, working games for the NBA, NCAA, and Summer Olympics in Tokyo in 1964 and in Mexico City in 1968,[3] and was deemed the best official of the game on all levels in the 1950s by Dell Publications until an on-court knee injury forced him into retirement in 1972.[4]

Mihalik was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.[5][6]

Death

Mihalik died from cancer at the age of eighty on September 25, 1996 in Ford City.[7][8]

BAA career statistics
Legend
  GP Games played
 FG%  Field-goal percentage
 FT%  Free-throw percentage
 APG  Assists per game
 PPG  Points per game

Regular season
Year Team GP FG% FT% APG PPG
1946–47 Pittsburgh 7.333.000.0.9
Career 7.333.000.0.9

References
  1. "Tanana, two others named to Polish-American hall." Detroit, Michigan: Detroit Free Press, March 22, 1996, p. 22 (subscription required).
  2. "Red Mihalik" (obituary). Lancaster, Ohio: Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, September 28, 1996, p. 5 (subscription required).
  3. "Red Mihalik" (obituary). Dayton, Ohio: Dayton Daily News, September 28, 1996, p. 17 (subscription required).
  4. "NPASHF | Red Mihalik".
  5. "NPASHF | Red Mihalik".
  6. "Tanana, two others named to Polish-American hall," Detroit Free Press, March 22, 1996.
  7. "Red Mihalik" (obituary), Dayton Daily News, September 28, 1996.
  8. "Red Mihalik" (obituary), Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, September 28, 1996.
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