By Philip Newman
Zawoluk, 76, died Jan. 8 of a reported heart attack at the Pine Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Spring Valley, N.Y., according to a spokesman for the Sagala Mortuary, who said the body was cremated.Robert Michael Zawoluk was born Oct. 13, 1930 in Brooklyn and attended St. Francis Prep.Zawoluk, who was 6-foot-6 1Ú2, played in an era without shot clocks or three-point field goals and at a time when the game had fewer tall players whose agility matched their height.He played on St. John's teams in three consecutive National Invitational Tournaments in the old Madison Square Garden at 49th Street and Eighth Avenue in Manhattan.Zawoluk, called Zeke by his teammates, was renowned for his hook shot at a time when both Clyde Lovellette of Kansas and Bob Houbregs of the University of Washington, among others, also employed it. He averaged 20.1 points a game during his three years at St. John's during which he scored 1,826 points. Zawoluk maintained the scoring title until 1984 when Chris Mullin surpassed him with 2,440, although Mullin played four seasons. Under NCAA rules, freshmen were not eligible for the varsity in the early 1950s. Perhaps the finest hour for St. John's of Brooklyn, as they were then known (the school was in Williamsburg), was the 1951-52 season. St. John's included Solly Walker, the first African-American to wear the uniform of the Redmen, as they were known then.Other team members included Jack McMahon, Jim Davis, Dick Duckett, Ron MacGilvray, Jim Walsh, Jim McMorrow, Phil Sagona, Frank Giancontieri and Carl Peterson.The Redmen lost to Kentucky, among other opponents, in the early schedule but caught fire in late season play and the NCAA tournament, knocking off North Carolina State, Kentucky and Illinois (rated the nation's No.1 and No.2 teams) before falling to the Kansas Jayhawks, led by Lovellette, 80-63, in the NCAA title game in Seattle.”Showing the way for St. John's was senior center Bob “Zeke” Zawoluk, the handsome and graceful Redman ace with 20 points” wrote Bill Mayer in his account of the championship game in the Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World. Both Zawoluk and Ron MacGilvray were named to the NCAA tournament team.Zawoluk played for the Indianapolis Olympians and the Philadelphia Warriors following his college days but a leg injury curtailed his pro career.Following his basketball career, Zawoluk's life seemed to unravel at times including illness, alcohol and drug dependency and two brushes with the law.
