MIAA Hall of Fame

Harry Gallatin
Men's Basketball Student-Athlete
Truman (1946-48)

Gallatin, who attended school in Wood River, Ill., played basketball between 1946-48 at Truman on what a majority of Bulldog supporters call the greatest two teams in the history of the sport at the university. He was a two-time All-MIAA selection and scored 816 career points, a number which would have been much higher if he didn't graduate in two years and if he didn't play little minutes in many Bulldog blowout wins.

After graduation in 1949, Gallatin played with the New York Knicks until 1959, making the National Basketball Association All-Pro Team in 1953-54 and 1954-55. He led the NBA in 1953-54 with a career-high 1,098 rebounds, an average of 15.3 per game, including a career-best 33 rebound performance against Fort Wayne. He played for the Detroit Pistons in 1957-58 before retiring as an active player. During his pro career, he played in 746 consecutive NBA games and was the only Bulldog to play in the NBA. For his career, he played in 64 playoff games, averaging 12.0 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game. He played in seven consecutive NBA All-Star Games from 1951-57.

Upon Gallatin's retirement, he coached basketball at Southern Illinois-Carbondale for four years and then coached on the pro level for the St. Louis Hawks and his old team, the Knicks. He posted an NBA career coaching mark of 136-120, and was named the NBA Coach of the Year in 1963. In 1967, he became the first basketball coach and athletic director at SIU-Edwardsville, serving as basketball coach until 1970 and athletic director until 1973. He started SIU's golf program and directed the team until 1992, taking the Cougars to the NCAA National Championship 17 times. Gallatin was elected to the NAIA Hall of Fame in 1957, and was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.