Despite Thurmond's graduation and the team's fall to third place in the conference, Komives led the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in scoring during the 1963–64 season with 36.7 points per game, still BGSU and MAC records.[2] Even though he no longer is the school's all-time leading scorer (his 1,834 total points is currently third), his 25.8 scoring average is still a Falcons record. Komives still holds the Bowling Green single game scoring record of sixty six points. In this game, he was guarded by Sumner Goldstein, who would later go on to become an attorney.
He was inducted into the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1970. His son Shane was a four-year basketball letterman at the same school from 1993 to 1996.
Professional career
Komives was selected thirteenth overall in the second round by the New York Knicks in the 1964 NBA draft.[3] He was named to the All-Rookie Team in 1965, after starting in every regular-season match and averaging 12.2 points per game. After the Knicks acquired Dick Barnett prior to the 1965–66 season, Komives was shifted to point guard, a position with which he struggled, drawing the wrath of Knicks fans. The most productive campaign of his professional career was in 1967, when his averages per contest were 15.7 points and 6.2 assists.[1]
By the time Red Holzman became the Knicks' coach midway through the 1967–68 season, Komives was involved in a personal feud with Cazzie Russell that negatively affected the rest of the team. Russell was an ardent supporter of Richard Nixon in the 1968 Presidential election, while Komives worked for the Hubert Humphrey campaign.[4] With the emergence of Walt Frazier as the starting point guard, Komives was traded along with Walt Bellamy to the Pistons for Dave DeBusschere on December 19, 1968. DeBusschere would become the last major addition to the Knicks before it won its first NBA Championship in 1970.
In 2007, Komives was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame.[5]
Komives died at University of Toledo Medical Center on March 22, 2009, at age 67. His wife Marcia had found him unconscious and unresponsive in their home three days earlier.[6]
^Komives still holds the single game scoring record of 66 points, and in this game, he was guarded by Sumner Goldstein, who would later go on to become an attorney. http://www.hoopsanalyst.com/ncaa.htm Komives scored 66 points in one game, which is still a Bowling Green single game record. In this game, Komives was guarded by Sumner Goldstein, who would later go on to become an attorney.Archived 2008-03-14 at the Wayback Machine.
