Paul Arizin's basketball career is straight from a Horatio Alger tale. He didn't try out for his high school team until his senior year, and failed to make the team. He enrolled at Villanova University without a scholarship, and through hard work and perseverance, made the team as a sophomore. A year later, this emerging talent set a single game scoring record with 85 points and became one of the finest players in Philadelphia, a city known for its basketball excellence. As a senior in 1950, Arizin became a household name across the country. After leading the nation in scoring with 25.3 points per game, he was named College Player of the Year. Arizin was a prolific scorer at Villanova, averaging 20 ppg in three years. His jump shot was textbook perfect, opposing coaches described it as being like a Renoir or Rembrandt. Arizin was a consensus All-America, which propelled him to become the first round choice of the Philadelphia Warriors. Arizin played with Philly for 10 seasons (1950-52, 1954-62) and sat out the 1952-53 and 1953-54 seasons due to military service. In 10 years with Philadelphia, "Pitchin' Paul" was named to three All-NBA First Teams and played in 10 All-Star Games. He led the league in scoring twice and was named MVP of the 1952 All-Star Game. Arizin's single-minded determination led the Warriors to the 1956 NBA championship over the Fort Wayne Pistons. Upon his retirement, Arizin ranked third among the NBA's all-time scoring leaders with 16,266 points (22.8 ppg), earning him a spot on the NBA's Silver Anniversary Team in 1970 and the NBA's50th Anniversary Team in 1996.
