Professional Basketball Player, Coach. Born Ephraim J. Rocha, he attended Hilo High School in Hawaii, and played collegiate basketball at Oregon State University. While a member of the Beavers' teams, he played on the 1947 squad which reached the NCAA Tournament, while achieving All-American honors that year. In addition during his collegiate career, he earned Pacific Coast Conference All-Star recognition three-times. For nine seasons (1947 to 1953, 1954 to 1957), he played at the center and forward positions in the Basketball Association of America and National Basketball Association with the St. Louis Bombers, Baltimore Bullets, Syracuse Nationals and Fort Wayne Pistons. Rocha achieved All-Star status twice (1951, 1952), appearing in the first NBA All-Star Game in 1951. He was a member of the 1954-1955 NBA Champion Nationals' squad, scoring 136 points, with a 12.4 points-per-game average in 11 games during that post-season. In 586 career regular season games, Rocha scored 6,362 points. Following his playing career, he served as head coach of the Detroit Pistons for three seasons (1957 to 1960), compiling a 65 win 88 loss record. From 1963 until 1973, he served as head coach at the University of Hawaii and guided his teams to appearances in the NIT in 1971 and the NCAA Tournament in 1972. He was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame. He died after a lengthy bout with cancer.
Professional Basketball Player, Coach. Born Ephraim J. Rocha, he attended Hilo High School in Hawaii, and played collegiate basketball at Oregon State University. While a member of the Beavers' teams, he played on the 1947 squad which reached the NCAA Tournament, while achieving All-American honors that year. In addition during his collegiate career, he earned Pacific Coast Conference All-Star recognition three-times. For nine seasons (1947 to 1953, 1954 to 1957), he played at the center and forward positions in the Basketball Association of America and National Basketball Association with the St. Louis Bombers, Baltimore Bullets, Syracuse Nationals and Fort Wayne Pistons. Rocha achieved All-Star status twice (1951, 1952), appearing in the first NBA All-Star Game in 1951. He was a member of the 1954-1955 NBA Champion Nationals' squad, scoring 136 points, with a 12.4 points-per-game average in 11 games during that post-season. In 586 career regular season games, Rocha scored 6,362 points. Following his playing career, he served as head coach of the Detroit Pistons for three seasons (1957 to 1960), compiling a 65 win 88 loss record. From 1963 until 1973, he served as head coach at the University of Hawaii and guided his teams to appearances in the NIT in 1971 and the NCAA Tournament in 1972. He was inducted into the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame and Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame. He died after a lengthy bout with cancer.
Bio by: C.S.
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