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erving_julius

Julius Erving

  • Player
  • Seasons: 1969-70, 1970-71
  • Number: 32
  • Position: F
  • Weight: 190
  • Hometown: Roosevelt NY
  • High School: Roosevelt
  • Pre School: none
  • Transfer From: none
  • Birthdate: February 22, 1950

More of our original Erving content can be found here: http://umasshoops.com/history/alumni/julius_erving/

At UMass

  • Sixteen 30+ point games out of 52 played with the varsity team.
  • His career average of 20.2 rebounds per game still stands as 9th-best in NCAA Division I history.1)
  • Left school after his Junior season for professional opportunities, but completed his bachelor's degree in 1986, when he also received an honorary doctorate of laws.
  • His #32 was retired in 1988.2)

1970-71 Junior year

  • Even with the secret fully out about Erving being UM's #1 weapon, he still tallied 26.9 points and 19.5 rebounds per game.
  • Played 38.1 minutes per game, which ranks fifth-most in UM program history, through the end of the 2020-21 season.3)

1969-70 Sophomore year

Erving 1969-70 roster photo

  • Dominated with 25.7 points and 20.9 rebounds per game.
  • Played 38.8 minutes per game, which still stands as most-ever in UM program history, through at least the end of the 2020-21 season.4)
  • Hit 19 free throws vs. New Hampshire (3/2), which still stands as most-ever in a UM game, through at least the end of the 2020-21 season.

1968-69 Freshman year

  • Played with UM's freshman team, as freshmen were not varsity eligible, per NCAA rules of the time.
  • Wore jersey #42 this season
  • Scored 11 points and brought down 14 rebounds in the season opener against AIC, while recovering from a broken thumb.

Erving pose.  Photo apparently from the UMass archives, courtesy @DrJStuff on Twitter

Statistics

SeasonGPMinAvgFGFGAFG%FTFTAFT%ReboundsAvgPFAPtsAvg
1968-69Freshman team, stats did not count towards Varsity
1969-702596938.8238468.509167230.72652220.9638964325.7
1970-7127102938.1286609.470155206.75252719.5679972726.9
Career52199838.45241077.487322436.739104920.2130188137026.3

Game Log

Julius Erving does a posed finger spin in The Cage Box score data from the era is hard to come by. Stats drawn from media report archives.

DateOpponentUMOppPointsRebounds
12/2/1969Providence908527285)
12/6/1969Vermont90732515
12/9/1969Rhode Island (OT)73772014
12/13/1969New Hampshire76563326
12/16/1969Connecticut71882023
12/19/1969at AIC7273
12/28/1969vs Catholic Univ7051
12/29/1969vs Gannon7263
1/17/1970at Pennsylvania (#15)6575
1/21/1970at Fordham6162376)20
1/24/1970at Iona8682
1/28/1970Boston Univ103683427
1/31/1970Northeastern90623027
2/3/1970at Boston College76832619
2/5/1970Rider82673020
2/7/1970at Vermont93592518
2/10/1970Holy Cross83662425
2/14/1970at Connecticut71652023
2/17/1970at Rhode Island83743020
2/19/1970Springfield82762224
2/21/1970at Maine84662228
2/25/1970at St. Anselm946322
2/28/1970Maine10371
3/2/1970at New Hampshire9275377)
3/14/1970vs Marquette (#8)55621814
DateOpponentUMOppPointsRebounds
12/1/1970St. Anselm98633223
12/5/1970at Vermont (OT)79682714
12/10/1970at Rhode Island (OT)80762924
12/12/1970New Hampshire89532818
12/15/1970at Connecticut74682720
12/18/1970AIC93403118
12/22/1970Hofstra87602717
12/28/1970vs Fairfield95822826
12/29/1970vs St. Michael's945933308)
12/30/1970vs Colgate79673120
1/21/1971at Boston Univ77632216
1/23/1971at Providence72731917
1/27/1971Fordham798730?
1/30/1971Northeastern61472826
2/2/1971at Holy Cross60583218
2/4/1971Iona92512917
2/6/1971Vermont86512620
2/9/1971Boston College85772416
2/13/1971Connecticut89672322
2/16/1971at Springfield62631823
2/19/1971Rhode Island83713022
2/20/1971Maine8557??
2/22/1971Syracuse867136329)
2/27/1971vs George Washington70653517
3/1/1971at New Hampshire63601923
3/4/1971at Maine84712514
3/20/1971North Carolina (#13)4990139

Articles

Post-UMass

June 2013: Interview with the New York Times
Fall 2012: UMass Magazine catches up with Erving
2000: ESPN SportsCentury show on Erving. Clip of his introduction at a Sixers game.
1987: The New Jersey Nets retire jersey #32 for Erving, who played three seasons for the franchise.10)11)

Erving's Nets jersey retirement. His UMass coach, Jack Leaman, is in the lower-right.

Was a teammate of Al Skinner for 175 games in pro ball, mostly with the Nets.12)13) Together they won the ABA title in 1976.14)

Skinner and Erving with the Nets

1972: The net-ripping, backboard-shaking, mind-blowing Dr. J. (Sports Illustrated 12/11/1972)

Pre-UMass

erving_julius.txt · Last modified: 2023/11/26 10:28 by mikeuma