(Budd Bailey and Greg D. Tranter have written a book called "Buffalo Braves From A to Z," published by St. Johann Press. Early in the writing process, they wrote good-sized biographies of all 71 men who played a regular-season game for the Braves during their time in Buffalo from 1970 to 1978. Publishers weren't so enthusiastic about all of that material, so most (59) of the biographies were shortened to about 500 words. However, the authors hated to waste all of that material ... so they are presenting it here. It will appear three times a week. A bibliography is available upon request.)
Bill Hosket, Jr., had a tough act to follow when it came to basketball, as his father had a large pile of accomplishments. Yet Bill Jr. did just fine on his own merits – high school and college All-American, Olympic gold medalist, and a professional player. His last basketball stop was in Buffalo, as he was an expansion draft selection of the Braves and spent two seasons with that team.
Wilmer Frederick Hosket was born on December 20, 1946, in Dayton, Ohio to Ethel S. and Wilmer Clemons Hosket. His father played for one year in the NBL in 1937-38 for the Dayton Metropolitans following an All-American career at Ohio State and three high school state championships. Bill grew up in Dayton, Ohio with his two sisters, Diana Sue and Beverly Ann. Wilmer died of cancer four days after Christmas in 1957, when Bill was in fifth grade. Bill attended Belmont High School in Dayton. Some notable alumni from Belmont are Martin Bayless, a former defensive back for the Buffalo Bills, Bud Olson, a former NBA player, and Don May, a high school teammate and future teammate on the Braves.
May and Hosket led Belmont to the 1964 Ohio state basketball championship. They captured the championship in dominating fashion, winning the semifinals by 24 points and the final game by 29 points. Hosket was the leading scorer in the championship game with 23 points. The Bison finished the season 26-1; in the only loss, both Hosket and May fouled out. In one game, the two combined for 88 points with Hosket pouring in 50 and May 38. Hosket was named first-team All-Ohio, was the State Player of the Year, and was the MVP of the state tournament. At the conclusion of the season, Hosket played in the North-South high school All-Star game and he led the South to a 126-112 victory with 27 points. He participated in track in his senior year and won the city discus title.
Hosket also was a straight-A student and was third in his class of 335. He was a member of student council, Bison 15, and the National Honor Society. Bill had a tremendous focus on basketball since he was a tyke. “From the second grade up, I used to go with Father when he officiated at basketball games,” he said. His mother said, “When Bill was a little boy and was supposed to write an essay in school, he always wrote about basketball.” In his senior year in high school Bill said about his focus on basketball, “If you want to be good at something, you have to specialize. Very few athletes are good at two sports, especially beyond high school.”
After fielding 130 scholarship offers, Bill followed his father’s footsteps and chose Ohio State. He starred on the Buckeye freshman team during the 1964-65 season with a 31.3 scoring average and 18 rebounds per contest. At the conclusion of his freshman year Bill married his high school sweetheart, Patricia Ann Gujer, on June 19.
Hosket joined Fred Taylor’s varsity outfit for the 1965-66 season, and he led the team with an 18.3 scoring average while also contributing 13.1 rebounds per game, but the team struggled to an 11-13 record. He saved his best two performances for the last two games of his freshman year. His season high of 33 points came in a 94-89 win over Minnesota while hauling in 20 rebounds and then he poured in 32 points in a 92-86 loss to Purdue.
The Buckeyes improved slightly in Hosket’s junior year, and so did he. Ohio State finished 13-11 while Hosket increased his scoring average to 19.6 ppg. He injured his knee during the first drill of his junior year, less than 10 minutes into the first practice. Two weeks later he re-injured the knee. Hosket missed three games and was hobbled a few others with the injury. “That’s when I knew Bill Hosket was one heckuva guy,” Taylor said. “If you’d seen what he went through to build up the knee, the drill the trainer cooked up for him … an obstacle course of tires, wooden horses. The way he attacked those drills, we knew Bill Hosket was serious about his basketball game. He really wasn’t ready, but came into the Duke game midway through the season and played up a storm - on one leg.”
Once Hosket was healthy, his scoring average rose to almost 22 points. His season high was 32 points in an 81-80 loss to Iowa. He also had 29 and 27 points in losses to Northwestern and 28 points in a win over Purdue. At season’s end he was named Ohio State’s MVP and was elected captain for the 1967-68 season.
Hosket’s senior year was one to remember. He and the Buckeyes took a major step forward as they won the Big Ten championship and went all the way to the Final Four, finishing third in the country with a 21-8 record. Hosket led the team with a 20.1 scoring average. Ohio State and Iowa both finished 10-4 in the Big Ten to tie for first. The teams played the first playoff in 60 years in the Big Ten on March 12 and Ohio State pulled out a thrilling 85-81 victory on a neutral court (Purdue). Hosket led Ohio State in scoring with 24 points.
With the win over Iowa, the Buckeyes qualified for the NCAA tournament, their first appearance since 1962. Ohio State opened in a regional at the University of Kentucky. In their opening game the Buckeyes faced a pesky East Tennessee State team. Ohio State played a solid game with Hosket leading them to a 79-72 victory with 18 points and 20 rebounds. The Buckeyes advanced to play No. 4 ranked Kentucky on their home court, and they proceeded to upset the Dan Issel led Wildcats, 82-81. Hosket had 21 points and 12 rebounds. With the win Ohio State qualified for the Final Four.
The Buckeyes lost to North Carolina in the semifinals, 80-66. Hosket was held to 14 points. In those days, the two losers in the semifinals played for third place. Ohio State played the pre-tournament No. 1-ranked Houston Cougars with superstar Elvin Hayes, who had lost to UCLA. The Buckeyes upset the Cougars, 89-85, to finish third and cap off a great season and terrific career for Hosket. In his final college game Hosket scored 19 points and hauled down 17 rebounds to lead the Buckeyes to the four-point victory.
He was named to the All-Big Ten Academic team for the third straight year, and was named an Academic All-American. He was awarded the Big Ten’s Medal of Honor, recognizing both academic and athletic achievement. Bill led the team in scoring and rebounding in each of his three seasons at Ohio State, joining Jerry Lucas as the only Buckeye players to accomplish that feat. He left the Columbus, Ohio, school as the fourth-leading scorer in its history and the second most prolific rebounder. He was also honored by the NCAA with one of five post-graduate academic scholarship awards.
“Bill Hosket was the best basketball captain I ever had in my 10 years,” Taylor said. “He was the very finest. Bill was not aloof to the other kids … and particularly the underclassmen. Without me telling him, Bill would go to the underclassmen and talk to them when they needed talking to. He was aware of his responsibilities, social as well. Sure, basketball was his life, but he was able to maintain high academic standards and earn a graduate scholarship.”
Hosket was on his way to a pro basketball career. He was selected in the first round with pick No. 10 by the New York Knicks on April 3. Hosket was also a first-round selection of the ABA champion Pittsburgh Pipers, who were led by Connie Hawkins. A few short days following the NBA draft, on April 7, Hosket was thrilled to hear the news that he had been selected to represent the USA basketball team for the upcoming Olympics in Mexico City. He had gone through a rigorous Olympic trials process prior to the selection of the 12-man team.
Hosket attended summer school in 1968 to complete his bachelor’s degree in marketing. He missed the USA Olympic team’s pre-Olympic trip to Yugoslavia and Russia because of his academic commitments. Hosket joined the Olympic team in September for the final preparations before the games began in October.
Hosket joined an Olympic team with other college stars including Jo Jo White, Spencer Haywood, Ken Spain, Charlie Scott and Mike Silliman. The USA breezed into the quarterfinals with a perfect 6-0 record, as the closest game was a 15-point victory over Yugoslavia. The Americans were tested in the quarterfinals by a tough Puerto Rico squad that held the USA to its lowest point total in the games, 61, but still lost to the bigger USA team by five points. In the semifinals, the USA defeated Brazil, 75-63, with Hosket contributing 12 points. The USA had a rematch with Yugoslavia for the gold medal. Led by Haywood’s 23 points and White’s 14, the Americans turned back their opponents, 65-50. Hosket only contributed three points, but he was thrilled to be bringing a gold medal back to his home in Dayton, Ohio. He was the first person ever from Dayton to win an Olympic gold medal. Hosket finished the tournament as the fourth-leading scorer for the USA team at 8.6 points per game.
After winning gold at the Olympics, Hosket signed his first professional basketball contract. He joined the New York Knicks on October 30. Hosket said the reason he chose the Knicks over the ABA was “the NBA is the place to play.”
He was joining a club that was ready to make a move in the NBA with such young stars as Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Bill Bradley, Dick Barnett and fellow high school teammate Don May. Hosket missed the Knicks’ first eight games of the 1968-69 season because of his Olympic commitment. He made his NBA debut only two days after signing his contract. He played eight minutes against the Baltimore Bullets and made one free throw, for his first NBA point, in a 119-103 loss. Bill had his first double figure scoring game (10 points) in a 113-106 Knicks’ victory against the Seattle Supersonics on January 21, 1969. He scored his season high of 16 points in a 139-104 win over the Phoenix Suns.
The Knicks finished the regular season with a 54-28 record, good for third place in the NBA Eastern Division. Hosket averaged only seven minutes per game while scoring 2.6 points per game in 50 contests. New York swept the Baltimore Bullets in the first round of the playoffs but were defeated, 4 games to 2, by the NBA champion Boston Celtics. Hosket saw very limited action in the two playoff series, playing only 22 minutes in four games while scoring six points.
New York added Dave DeBusschere in the summer of 1969, and he turned out to be the missing piece for the Knicks. New York posted a league best 60-22 record in winning the NBA Eastern Division. The Knicks went onto the NBA championship, defeating the Bullets, Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs to bring home the franchise’s first-ever title. The championship will always be remembered for Game Seven and the courageous appearance of a badly injured Willis Reed. His appearance put the Madison Square Garden crowd into a frenzy and his first two baskets of the game spurred the Knicks onto a performance for the ages and a 113-99 victory. Hosket had the best seat in the house to watch the Knicks secure the championship.
Hosket had a similar role throughout the 1969-70 season that had the previous year, one of the last players off the bench. He averaged 6.5 minutes per game while only appearing in 36 contests and averaging 3.3 points. His best game of the season was a 6 for 6 shooting night while scoring 12 points in a 116-87 win over the Chicago Bulls. In the playoffs he appeared in only five games. But at the end of the season he was awarded an NBA championship ring and can always say he was part of the Knicks’ first-ever NBA title.
At the conclusion of the season and with the NBA expanding into Buffalo, Cleveland and Portland for the 1970-71 season, Hosket was a natural choice to be left exposed in the Expansion draft by the Knicks. The Braves picked Hosket along with teammate May.
Hosket was a backup forward on the Braves’ inaugural club. He appeared in Buffalo’s opening game against Cleveland on October 15, 1970, but did not score in his nine minutes of action in the Braves victory. Hosket was coming into his own in November, after recovering from tendonitis in his left ankle, when he put together the best three back-to-back games of his NBA career. He scored 17 points in a 12-point win over Cleveland, 16 points in a 134-118 victory over Atlanta, and a career-high 18 in an 8-point loss at Philadelphia. Hosket said after the Philadelphia game, “It’s much easier to play here, you can take chances, really go all out,” he said. “I always had to play cautiously in New York because one bad move could put you on the bench for two weeks.”
Just as things were coming together for Bill, he suffered a serious injury against Milwaukee on November 16. During a scramble for a rebound, Hosket ruptured his Achilles tendon and was lost for the season. His abbreviated first year with the Braves concluded with Bill appearing in only 13 games while averaging 8.1 points.
He was back with Buffalo for the 1971-72 season. He again was a back-up and was limited by injury. He played in 44 games while averaging 13.5 minutes per game and five points as the Braves again finished with a 22-60 record. His best games were two 14-point outputs in victories over Golden State and Chicago. But at the end of the season, Bill was done playing. He failed to report to the Braves training camp in September, deciding to retire from the game. His injuries - knee, ankle and Achilles - had caught up with him.
Following his professional basketball experience, Bill began a career in the paper industry. He still stayed very close to basketball, as he joined the Ohio State radio network as the analyst for Buckeyes basketball games his retirement from the NBA. He also served three terms on the US Olympic basketball committee, co-founded and ran the Buckeye basketball camp for more than 25 years, and was an analyst on ESPN Regional Television as part of the Big Ten package.
Hosket has received several honors over the years. He is a member of the Ohio State Hall of Fame, was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Silver Anniversary team in 1993, and was honored by the Ohio High School Athletic Association with its highest honor - the Ethics and Integrity Award in 2002. Bill was named as the President of the OHSAA Foundation and served as the Foundation’s first executive director. He is currently a principal at Hosket & Ulen, an Independent Insurance agency with offices in Dayton and Columbus, Ohio.
Bill and his wife Patty have three adult children and reside in Columbus, Ohio.
(Follow Budd on X.com via @WDX2BB)
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