Saint Francis basketball legend Norm Van Lier will be honored on Feb. 15 prior to the men’s basketball team’s game against Wagner that evening.
This tribute comes nearly 15 years after his death on Feb. 26, 2009.
Van Lier began his Saint Francis career in 1966 after a standout four years at Midland High School in western Pennsylvania, where he helped lead his team to a 28-0 record and a state championship as a senior.
Van Lier was the epitome of a two-way player. He was a standout defensive guard who scored 1,410 points during his collegiate career in Loretto from 1966-69. As a senior with the Flash, he averaged 21.0 ppg.
In his career at SFU, he averaged 18.8 ppg and 10.3 rpg. As a junior in 1967-68, he set a then school record for assists.
“People hated when he played you because you knew he was going to be up on (defense on) you all game,” said Art Hunter, a former teammate of Van Lier’s at Saint Francis and one of the organizers of the tribute to the former Flash star.
“He would make you a better player through how hard he played. No one could play as hard as Norm – it was impossible.”
After graduating from Saint Francis in 1969, Van Lier played 10 seasons in the NBA with the Chicago Bulls, Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks. He averaged 11.8 points per game in the NBA and played in the league’s all-star game three times.
During his pro career, Van Lier was an NBA all-defense selection eight times. He led the league in assists in 1970-71 while playing for the Royals. He retired in 1979 with NBA career totals of 8,770 points and 5,217 assists.
Many NBA pundits argue that Van Lier and former Bulls teammate and Utah Jazz coach Jerry Sloan combined to form the best defensive backcourt in league history when they played for Chicago from 1971-76.
A point guard, Van Lier consistently demonstrated the same intensity in off-season workouts at Midland and Saint Francis as he did in NBA playoff games.
“He was a really good all-around player, from shooting to defense to rebounding,” said Bob Moore, a Saint Francis alumnus and fellow organizer of the tribute later this month.
“Defensively in his time period (in the NBA), he was as good as anybody.”
Van Lier was inducted into the Saint Francis Athletics Hall of Fame in 1999. His jersey number 12 is retired at the University.
