Raymond Anthony Townsend (born December 20, 1955 in San Jose, California

San Jose, California

San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

) is a Filipino-American retired professional

Professional sports

Professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, are sports in which athletes receive payment for their performance. Professional athleticism has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larger audiences, so that sports organizations...

 basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player.

A 6'3", 175-lb

Pound (mass)

The pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the Imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...

 point guard

Point guard

Point guard , also called the play maker or "the ball-handler", is one of the standard positions in a regulation basketball game. A point guard has perhaps the most specialized role of any position – essentially, he is expected to run the team's offense by controlling the ball and making sure that...

, Townsend attended Camden High School and Archbishop Mitty High School

Archbishop Mitty High School

Archbishop Mitty High School is a private, Roman Catholic high school located in San Jose, California, USA. The school is named for the late Archbishop John Joseph Mitty, the fourth Archbishop of San Francisco. It was the first diocesan Catholic high school in the Santa Clara Valley...

 in San Jose, California before playing college basketball

College basketball

College basketball most often refers to the USA basketball competitive governance structure established by the National Collegiate Athletic Association . Basketball in the NCAA is divided into three divisions: Division I, Division II and Division III....

 at UCLA

University of California, Los Angeles

The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...

. As a high school senior, he averaged close to 28 points a game for the Camden High Cougars. This was prior to the 3 point line being regulated years later. He was a member of the 1975 UCLA Basketball National Championship

1974-75 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

In head coach John R. Wooden's final game, the 1974–75 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team won the team's tenth National Championship in twelve years over the Kentucky Wildcats , in the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California....

 team, legendary coach John Wooden

John Wooden

John Robert Wooden was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period — seven in a row — as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games...

's 10th and final NCAA championship team.

He was selected with the last pick in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1978 NBA Draft

1978 NBA Draft

The 1978 NBA Draft was the 32nd annual draft of the National Basketball Association . The draft was held on June 9, 1978, before the 1978–79 season. In this draft, 22 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball players and other eligible players, including international players...

 by the Golden State Warriors

Golden State Warriors

The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in Oakland, California. They are part of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

. He concluded his NBA

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 career in 1982

1981-82 NBA season

-Statistics leaders:-NBA awards:*Most Valuable Player: Moses Malone, Houston Rockets*Rookie of the Year: Buck Williams, New Jersey Nets*Coach of the Year: Gene Shue, Washington Bullets*All-NBA First Team:**Larry Bird, Boston Celtics...

 as a member of the Indiana Pacers

Indiana Pacers

The Indiana Pacers are a professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association...

. He was the first Filipino-American to play in NBA. He also played in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 for Banco Roma

Pallacanestro Virtus Roma

Pallacanestro Virtus Roma, also known for sponsorship reasons as Acea Virtus Roma, is a prominent Italian League professional basketball club, and is also currently one of 13 European clubs that hold ULEB A Licenses, which provide their holders with a guaranteed place in the Euroleague. The club...

 during the 1984-85 season.

Townsend's mother, the former Virginia Marella, is a Filipina

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

 from Balayan, Batangas

Balayan, Batangas

Balayan is a 1st class municipality in the Province of Batangas, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 79,407 people in 13,843 households....

 while his father, Ray Sr., is American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. His brother, Kurtis Townsend

Kurtis Townsend

Kurtis Townsend is an American basketball coach. He is currently assistant men's basketball coach at the University of Kansas, under Bill Self. Townsend was an assistant on the Jayhawks 2007-2008 NCAA national championship team.-Playing career:...

, is currently an assistant coach for the University of Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball team which won the 2008 NCAA Championship.

A 1976 Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated

Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...

 issue featured Townsend's father, Ray Sr., in its "Faces in the Crowd" section. He was recognized as "the oldest junior college basketball player in history." At age 39, he was the second man off the bench.

Townsend, now a youth sports development coordinator in San Jose, California

San Jose, California

San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...

, was honored as UCLA Pilipino

Filipino people

The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....

 Alumni Association's Distinguished Alumnus of the Year on May 2, 2009.

External links