Sedran, "Barney" (Bernard Sedransky)
Basketball
b. Jan. 18, 1891, New York, NY
d. Jan. 14, 1969
Only 5-foot-4 and 118 pounds, Sedran was a starting guard for three seasons at the City College of New York, leading the school in scoring each year and serving as captain during his senior season. He began a 35-year career as a professional player and coach after graduating in 1912.
An amazing outside shooter, Sedran scored 34 points for Utica in a 1913 New York State League game, hitting 17 field goals from 25 to 30 feet away with baskets that had no backboards.
In 13 years as a player, Sedran performed for 15 different teams, often playing simultaneously for two or more teams in different leagues. He led a Carbondale, PA, team to 35 consecutive victories in 1914-15 and also played for the Philadelphia Jaspers and New York Whirlwinds, one of the top independent teams of the early 1920s. For two seasons, Sedran was the top scorer for the Whirlwinds, where he teamed with the 5-foot-7½ Marty Friedman in the backcourt. The pair were nicknamed the "Heavenly Twins."
Sedran finished his playing career with the Cleveland Rosenblums, who won the first American Basketball League championship in 1926. He coached professional teams through 1946. Among them were Kate Smith's Celtics, the New York Gothams, the Brooklyn Jewels, and the Wilmington Bombers, who won ABL titles in 1941 and 1942.
Late in his life, Sedran reminisced about the early days of pro basketball: "Ninety percent of the fellows I played with had broken noses. A good fifty years ago, it was more like hockey than basketball. If a fellow couldn't play defense, he couldn't draw a uniform. It was rough, maybe too rough."