UD basketball legend Paxson Sr. dies at 81

Oct. 29--Jim Paxson Sr., a University of Dayton basketball legend who played two seasons in the NBA and saw two sons enjoy long NBA careers, died Tuesday at 81 in Dayton.

The Springfield native played high school basketball at Catholic Central and starred for the Flyers in the 1950s before playing professionally with the Minneapolis Lakers and Cincinnati Royals. He was inducted into the UD Hall of Fame in 1976.

"He was a hell of a teammate, the leader of a great basketball team and a lot of people will miss him," said WHIO broadcaster Bucky Bockhorn, who was a UD sophomore in 1955-56 when Paxson Sr. was a senior.

Dayton's all-time winningest coach, Don Donoher, was part of the freshman class that included Paxson Sr. in 1950-51, the first season for the UD Fieldhouse. Donoher later coached Paxson Sr.'s son Jim at UD.

Paxson Sr. had battled health problems for three or four years, Bockhorn and Donoher said. Donoher said Paxson Sr. died in his sleep at the Bethany Village retirement community.

"Jim was just an all-around wonderful person," Donoher said. "He was a major player in Dayton basketball history."

Paxson is survived by his wife, Jackie, and five kids: Jim, John, Michael, Molly and Maggie. Jim and John, both Alter High School graduates, played in the NBA and are members of the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame. Michael played college basketball at the University of Wyoming and Ohio University.

After his college career at Dayton, Paxson Sr.'s son Jim played nine seasons in the NBA with the Portland Trail Blazers and Boston Celtics. He's now the director of basketball operations with the Bulls.

John Paxson played at Notre Dame and then nine seasons in the NBA with the Spurs and Bulls. John is now the vice president of basketball operations for the Bulls.

"He was very proud of those kids and rightfully so," Bockhorn said. "He loved his family."

Freshmen didn't play during Paxson Sr.'s playing days. In his first two seasons on the court, in 1951-52 and 1952-53, he averaged 6.2 and 11.6 points. He was the team's top sixth man as a sophomore.

"Jim was just kind of raw (as a freshman)," Donoher said. "He just continued to grow. He grew physically. He was very talented. He played baseball. He could stand on the mound and he wasn't a pitcher, but he could actually throw right-handed or left-handed. He was very athletic. He passed those genes on to his kids."

After his sophomore year, Paxson Sr. was drafted into the Army during the Korean War. He spent two years in the Army and played with the Armed Forced All-Stars who won the Pan-Am games in Mexico in 1955 before returning for his final season in 1955-56. He averaged 15.5 points per game as a senior as the Flyers went 25-4 and lost to Louisville in the NIT championship game.

"(Hall of Fame sports writer) Ritter Collett used to say that's the best team Dayton ever had," Bockhorn said.

"They're in the argument," Donoher said. "They were ranked No. 2 in the nation. No other team's attained that ranking."

According to the Dayton men's basketball media guide in 1955-56, Paxson Sr. was nicknamed the "Power Tower." He was a 6-foot-6, 198-pound forward described as a tremendous rebounder, good ball handler and an outside shooter and good driver who could do it all on the floor.

Paxson Sr. finished his career with 956 points, ranking 47th in school history. He averaged 10.9 points per game. His son Jim ranks fifth in school history with 1,945 points.

After his UD career, Paxson played with the Lakers in 1956-57, averaging 6.3 points in 71 games. A year later, he averaged 9.8 points in 67 games with the Royals.

After basketball, Paxson Sr. worked in the insurance business and stayed close to UD.

"He was (former Athletic Director) Tom Frerick's right-hand man on so many initiatives throughout the course of UD history," Donoher said. "They were inseparable. Tom really leaned on Jim in so many ways."

At first, Paxson Sr. wasn't even an official employee of the university, said Gary McCans, longtime director of event services at UD. After he left the insurance business, Paxson Sr. went to work in an official capacity for UD and came up with the idea in the early 1980s for the Flyer Front Row, seats right behind press row for fans.

"I never knew a guy that loved the University of Dayton athletic department, the basketball team in particular, as much as he did," McCans said. "He was willing to jump in when we needed somebody to go out and be a salesman. He knew people throughout the community. If we needed something done, we knew we could call on Jim."

Paxson Sr. enjoyed Dayton's run to the Elite Eight last season and attended the annual preseason BBQ at Dr. Stephen Levitt's house in Kettering in September.

"He was excited about the program right up until the end," McCans said.

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