STATISTICS & HISTORY
Matty Begovich was a member of the St.John’s University “Wonder Five” team for two seasons from 1929 through 1931. During his second year, Begovich also played professional basketball under an assumed name in the Pennsylvania State Basketball League. The following season, Begovich offically turned pro along with St.John’s teammates Allie Schuckman, Mac Kinsbrunner, Mac Posnack and Rip as as the Brooklyn Jewels, then after three seasons renamed themselves the New York Jewels, although they continued to play all home games in Brooklyn. In six seasons, they reached three finals and won one championship, the 1932-33 Metropolitan Basketball. After retiring from pro basketball, Begovich worked for the FBI and was an salesexecuti at U.S. Steel. Begovich became one of the best-known referees of the era. He was a fixture at Madison Square Garden games for 21 years where he officiated five N.I.T. finals from 1946-51. Begovich also refereed ABL pro basketball games from 1938-1946.
| MATTY BEGOVICH | Height: | 6:05 | Weight: | 205 | College: | St.John’s(NY)’31 | |||||
| Mathew William Begovich | Born: Oct 2, 1910 | Died: Nov 20, 1966 | Hometown: | New York, NY | |||||||
| REGULAR SEASON RECORD | |||||||||||
| Year | Team | League | GA | FGM | FTM | FTA | PCT. | AST | PTS | AVG | Union (NY)’27 |
| 1928-29 | St.John’s (Frosh) | College | |||||||||
| 1929-30 | St.John’s | College | |||||||||
| 1930-31 | St.John’s | College | |||||||||
| 1930-31 | Honesdale | PSL | 18 | 50 | 57 | 157 | 8.7 | ||||
| 1931-32 | Brooklyn Jewels | MBL | 14 | 22 | 12 | 56 | 4.0 | ||||
| 1931-32 | Dunsmore | PSL | 5 | 31 | 30 | 92 | 18.4 | ||||
| 1932-33 | Brooklyn Jewels | MBL | 36 | 32 | 18 | 82 | 2.3 | ||||
| 1932-33 | Philadelpia Moose | ESBL | 12 | 10 | 17 | 37 | 3.1 | ||||
| 1932-33 | Wilkes Barre-Freeland | PSL | 8 | 10 | 17 | 37 | 4.6 | ||||
| 1933-34 | Brooklyn Jewels | ABL | 35 | 37 | 29 | 103 | 2.9 | ||||
| 1933-34 | Tunkhannock | PSL | 19 | 39 | 30 | 108 | 5.7 | ||||
| 1934-35 | New York | ABL | 39 | 34 | 46 | 114 | 2.9 | ||||
| 1934-35 | Tunkhannock | PSL | 11 | 23 | 25 | 71 | 6.5 | ||||
| 1934-35 | Atlantic City | EBL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | ||||
| 1935-36 | New York | ABL | 38 | 28 | 17 | 73 | 1.9 | ||||
| 1936-37 | New York Jewels | ABL | 33 | 29 | 23 | 81 | 2.5 | ||||
| 1937-38 | New Haven/New York Jewels | ABL | 35 | 26 | 19 | 71 | 2.0 | ||||
| 1938-39 | Wilkes-Barre–New York | ABL | 3 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 2.0 | ||||
| 1938-39 | Lebanon | TCL | 15 | 43 | 50 | 136 | 9.1 | ||||
| Major League Totals | 245 | 220 | 183 | 623 | 2.5 | ||||||
| PLAYOFF RECORD | |||||||||||
| Year | Team | League | GA | FGM | FTM | FTA | PCT. | AST | PTS | AVG | |
| 1931-32 | Dunsmore | PSL | 8 | 22 | 31 | 75 | 9.4 | ||||
| 1932-33 | Brooklyn Jewels | MBL | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1.0 | ||||
| 1933-34 | Tunkhannock | PSL | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | ||||
| 1934-35 | New York | ABL | 5 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 1.4 | ||||
| 1937-38 | New York Jewels | ABL | 6 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 1.0 | ||||
| Major League Totals | 13 | 2 | 11 | 15 | 1.2 | ||||||