Angelo “Ace Tramantan was a an all-state performer f0r Trenton High School on two consecutive  New Jersey State championship teams. His teammates included future professional star, Mike Bloom. Traumantan played professional basketball for a half-dozen seasons with all but five games in the minor leagues.

Johnny Townsend  attended Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis, Indiana, where he was twice named to the All-State basketball team.  He played collegiately for the University of Michigan  where he was named to the All-Big Ten team and led Michigan in scoring each year from 1936-1938. Townsend was nicknamed the “Houdini of the Hardwood” because he was  a talented scorer, strong rebounder and unusually adept ball-handler for a big man. In 1938, his senior year, he was named  a consensus All-American. Townsend’s professional basketball career was limited because of his law practice and his service in World War II.  His grandson, Eric Montross, played in the National Basketball Association.

William “BLackie” Towery was a star football and basketball player at Shady Grove High School in Kentucky. Towery was a two-time All American at Western Kentucky University. Towery  joined the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1941, the same year they joined the National Basketball League. Towery played for the Pistons for five and half seasons, interrupted by two years in the military during World War II. In the 1943-44 season, Fort Wayne won both the NBL and World Basketball Tournament championships. After the 19149-50 season with Baltimore in the National Basketball Association, Towery jumped to the National Professional Basketball League for the 1950-51 season. He joined veteran pro stars Bobby McDermott and George Glamack who had signed with the Grand Rapids Hornets in what turned out be an ill-fated decision by everyone involved. Just a few week into the season,  McDermott was banned by the league and  a short time later Glamack quit the team, leaving Towery as player-coach until the team disbanded at the end of December. Towery played with two other NPBL teams to finish our the season, which turned out to be his last in pro basketball.

Jim Tormey  was one of the earliest premier high school athletes in Syracuse, New York. After one year at the University of Syracuse, he transferred in the Fall of 1912 to Georgetown University in Washington D.C. Over the next three years Tormey was   elected captain of both the baseball and basketball teams and collected seven varsity letters. After graduation, Tormey returned to Syracuse were he worked for the FBI while simultaneously playing professional basketball. In 1919, Tormey signed on to play with the All-Syracuse basketball club, one of the best independent team in the Northeast.  They won more than 80% of their games spanning from 1919-1924. Tormey played center for this team for four years until 1923, the last three as player-manager. After retiring from sports, Tormey had a long and successful law career.

Irv Torgoff graduated from Tilden HS in Brooklyn. He enjoyed an outstanding college career at Long Island University where he was named an All American in his senior year. He was captain of the 1938-39 squad that had a 23-0 record and won the National Invitational Tournament championship. In the fall of 1939, Torgoff signed his first professional contract with the Detroit Eagles of the National Basketball League. The following season, Torgoff signed with the perennially powerful Philadelphia SPHAS. Torgoff immediately won over the tough Philadelphia fans with his tenacious style of play. He was a clutch scorer, determined defender and skilled rebounder. He was also the most versatile athlete on the SPHAS. While he primarily played forward, he was equally capable of playing center or guard. In addition to his athletic skills, Torgoff also quickly acquired a reputation as an “enforcer” when it became necessary to battle some of the league’s tougher players. With Torgoff playing a prominent role, the SPHAS won American Basketball League titles in 1940-41, 1942-43, and 1944-45. In 1946, Torgoff was induced by Red Auerbach to jump to the Washington Caps in the new Basketball Association of America. In two seasons with the Caps, Torgoff developed as a prototype for the famous “sixth man” on Auerbach’s Boston Celtics championship teams in the fifties and sixties.