Ralph Beard
American basketball player (1927–2007)
title: "Ralph Beard" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1927-births", "2007-deaths", "all-american-college-men's-basketball-players", "american-men's-basketball-players", "banned-nba-players", "basketball-players-at-the-1948-summer-olympics", "basketball-players-from-louisville,-kentucky", "college-basketball-controversies-in-the-united-states", "chicago-stags-draft-picks", "guards-(basketball)", "indianapolis-olympians-players", "kentucky-wildcats-men's-basketball-players", "louisville-male-high-school-alumni", "medalists-at-the-1948-summer-olympics", "nba-all-stars", "olympic-gold-medalists-for-the-united-states-in-basketball", "people-from-hardinsburg,-kentucky", "united-states-men's-national-basketball-team-players", "bluefield-blue-grays-players", "pawtucket-slaters-players", "evansville-braves-players", "20th-century-american-sportsmen"] description: "American basketball player (1927–2007)" topic_path: "science/astronomy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Beard" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American basketball player (1927–2007) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox basketball biography"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Ralph Beard |
| image | Ralph Beard.jpg |
| height_ft | 5 |
| height_in | 10 |
| weight_lb | 175 |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Hardinsburg, Kentucky, U.S. |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| high_school | Louisville Male |
| (Louisville, Kentucky) | |
| college | Kentucky (1945–1949) |
| draft_year | 1949 |
| draft_league | BAA |
| draft_round | 2 |
| draft_pick | 22 |
| draft_team | Chicago Stags |
| career_number | 12 |
| career_position | Guard |
| career_start | 1949 |
| career_end | 1951 |
| years1 | – |
| team1 | Indianapolis Olympians |
| stat1label | Points |
| stat1value | 2,006 (15.9 ppg) |
| stat2label | Rebounds |
| stat2value | 251 (3.8 rpg) |
| stat3label | Assists |
| stat3value | 551 (4.4 apg) |
| :: |
| name = Ralph Beard | image = Ralph Beard.jpg | width = | caption = | height_ft = 5 | height_in = 10 | weight_lb = 175 | birth_date = | birth_place = Hardinsburg, Kentucky, U.S. | death_date = | death_place = Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. | high_school = Louisville Male (Louisville, Kentucky) | college = Kentucky (1945–1949) | draft_year = 1949 | draft_league = BAA | draft_round = 2 | draft_pick = 22 | draft_team = Chicago Stags | career_number = 12 | career_position = Guard | career_start = 1949 | career_end = 1951 | years1 = – | team1 = Indianapolis Olympians | highlights =
- NBA All-Star (1951)
- All-NBA First-Team (1951)
- 2× NCAA champion (1948, 1949)
- 3× Consensus first-team All-American (1947–1949)
- First-team All-SEC (1949) | stat1label = Points | stat1value = 2,006 (15.9 ppg) | stat2label = Rebounds | stat2value = 251 (3.8 rpg) | stat3label = Assists | stat3value = 551 (4.4 apg) | medaltemplates = Ralph Milton Beard Jr. (December 2, 1927 – November 29, 2007) was an American collegiate and professional basketball player. He won two NCAA national basketball championships at the University of Kentucky and played two years in the National Basketball Association prior to being barred for life for his participation in the 1951 college basketball point-shaving scandal.
Early life
Beard was born in Hardinsburg, Kentucky. Beard grew up in Louisville and attended Louisville Male High School. He later cited the family's finances as a reason he took money from gamblers. His mother worked as a cleaning lady after his father left the family.
College career
He was a member of Adolph Rupp's "Fabulous Five" University of Kentucky basketball team, with Alex Groza, Wallace Jones, Cliff Barker, and Kenny Rollins.
Professional career
Indianapolis Olympians (1949–1951)
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Ralph-Beard-jersey.jpg" caption="A jersey honoring Beard hangs in [[Rupp Arena]]."] ::
Taken in the second round of the 1949 NBA draft, Beard played two seasons with the Indianapolis Olympians and averaged 15.9 points and 4.4 assists per game.
1951 college basketball point-shaving scandal
In October 1951, authorities charged him along with his former teammates Alex Groza and Dale Barnstable with taking bribes as part of the 1951 college basketball point-shaving scandal. They pleaded guilty and received suspended sentences but the NBA Commissioner Maurice Podoloff banned all three for life from the NBA. Beard admitted that he took $700 but denied that he had ever shaved points in a game.
Aftermath
He worked in the pharmaceutical industry afterward. His only involvement in the sport after his ban was some scouting work with the Kentucky Colonels of the American Basketball Association.
NBA career statistics
Regular season
::data[format=table]
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949–50 | Indianapolis | 60 | – | .363 | .762 | – | 3.9 | 14.9 |
| 1950–51 | Indianapolis | 66 | – | .368 | .775 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 16.8 |
| Career | 126 | – | .366 | .770 | 3.8 | 4.4 | 15.9 | |
| All-Star | 1 | – | .375 | .000 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 6.0 | |
| :: |
Playoffs
::data[format=table]
| Year | Team | GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | RPG | APG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Indianapolis | 5 | – | .314 | .786 | – | 4.4 | 13.2 |
| 1951 | Indianapolis | 3 | – | .443 | .706 | 4.0 | 4.3 | 22.0 |
| Career | 8 | – | .374 | .756 | 4.0 | 4.4 | 16.5 | |
| :: |
Personal life
Later in life, the University of Kentucky welcomed Beard back. The school retired his jersey and invited him to speak to players about point shaving.
In 1985, he was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame.
Beard died on November 29, 2007, at his Louisville, Kentucky home.
References
References
- [https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/beardra01.html Ralph Beard Statistics]
- Goldstein, Richard. (2007-12-03). "Ralph Beard, a Star Tarnished by Point Shaving, Is Dead at 79 (Published 2007)". The New York Times.
- "Ralph Beard Stats".
- (November 30, 2007). "Ralph Beard, Kentucky Star Involved in Point-Shaving Scandal, Is Dead at 79". New York Times.
- "Ralph Beard Olympic Results".
- (2016-06-16). "Ralph BEARD – Olympic Basketball {{!}} United States of America".
- "All-Time Kentucky Team (Starting PG): #12 Ralph Beard". straitpinkie.com.
- (November 30, 2007). "The story of Ralph Beard". Sports Illustrated.
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20071214004412/http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/news?slug=ap-obit-ralphbeard&prov=ap&type=lgns Former UK star Ralph Beard, part of a college basketball point-shaving scandal, dies at 79] Yahoo! Sports. November 29, 2007.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::