George Harry Yardley III

George Harry Yardley III

Detroit Pistons Player (1957 - 1959)

George Yardley was born in Hollywood, California and attended Newport Harbor High School before attending Stanford University where he was named a two-time All American. After graduation from Stanford, he played one-year of AAU basketball and then served in the United States Navy for two years before being selected by the Fort Wayne Pistons with the number seven overall pick in the 1950 NBA draft. During his seven NBA seasons, Yardley was named to the NBA All-Star game six times. He was also the NBA scoring Champion in 1958 and was the first NBA player to score 2,000 points in one season, he averaged over 20 points per game for the Detroit Pistons. George Yardley was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 2001. He passed away on August 13, 2004 at 75 years of age.