Pittsburgh Rens

American Basketball League (1961-1962)

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Pittsburgh Rens
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The Rens derived their name from the “Renaissance”, an urban renewal project launched by the administration of Pittsburgh Mayor David Lawrence during the 1940’s and 1950’s. The project led to the construction of the Pittsburgh Civic Arena among other landmarks. But it was also a destructive effort that saw mostly African-American families and small businesses displaced from their Lower Hill neighborhood by the use of eminent domain to make way for the Arena.

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Background

The Pittsburgh Rens – short for Renaissance – were one of eight franchises in Abe Saperstein’s American Basketball League that debuted in the autumn of 1961. Saperstein was the long-time owner of the Harlem Globetrotters. After his efforts to land a West Coast NBA franchise came to naught, he chose to launch the ABL as a rival league in 1960 and served as both Commissioner and owner of the ABL’s Chicago franchise.

When the ABL formed in April 1960, Pittsburgh already had shovels in the ground for the Steel City’s new 12,000-seat Civic Auditorium, set to open in the fall of 1961. The NBA also had its sights on the new building and both leagues awarded expansion franchises to Pittsburgh in 1960. But the NBA’s expansion bid, headed by John Harris, owner of the Ice Capades and former owner of the Pittsburgh Hornets hockey team and the Duquesne Gardens arena, faltered. Fight promoter Ray Litman and his brothers, along with insurance exec Sparky Adams, gained the ABL franchise.

The Litmans hired Neil Johnston, a perennial All-NBA center with the Philadelphia Warriors during the 1950’s, as head coach. Johnston resigned as the Warriors head coach in March 1961.

Connie Hawkins

In September 1961 the Rens signed teenage center Connie Hawkins. Hawkins was a massive talent. But the University of Iowa expelled the 19-year old earlier in the year over dubious guilt-by-association links to the 1961 NCAA point-shaving scandal.

Hawkins ran rough shod over the ABL during the league’s maiden season. He led the league in scoring with 27.5 points per game, plus 13.3 boards, and took home ABL Most Valuable Player honors.

The Rens finished the 1961-62 season with a 41-40 record, 3rd best in the ABL. They lost a single-game playoff series to the San Francisco Saints on March 29th, 1962, falling 107-103 in overtime in front of 3,453 fans at the Civic Auditorium. Hawkins had 41 points and 18 rebounds in the loss.

Demise

The ABL staggered through the summer of 1962 on the verge of collapse. The Cleveland Pipers, owned by future New York Yankees boss George Steinbrenner, dropped out of the league and attempted to defect to the NBA. The Litman brothers, after losing $100,000 on the Rens first season (Pittsburgh Press 10/24/1962) abandoned the team during training camp in October 1962. Coach Neil Johnston sent his players home from their pre-season camp at the Auberle Home for Boys in McKeesport while ABL Commissioner Abe Saperstein scrambled to find new backers for the Rens.

Saperstein persuaded Paul Cohen of New York, who already owned the ABL’s Philadelphia Tapers club, to prop up the Rens. Fight promoter Bill Rosensohn, who promoted on the 1959 world heavyweight championship match between Floyd Patterson and Ingemar Johansson at Yankee Stadium, was presented to the public as the Rens’ new owner. But Cohen later acknowledged it was his money backing the Rens through their final months of existence (Pittsburgh Press 1/2/1963).

With all six clubs losing money, the ABL folded on New Year’s Eve 1962, midway through its second season. The Rens sat in 3rd place with a 12-10 record at the time.

Aftermath

With nowhere else to play, Connie Hawkins joined the Harlem Globetrotters after the collapse of the ABL. NBA Commissioner Walter Kennedy let it be known that Hawkins was unwelcome in the NBA due his rumored associated with gamblers at Iowa. Hawkins filed suit against the NBA in 1966, challening what amounted to lifetime ban from earning a living in the league.

Hawkins returned to Pittsburgh in 1967 with the formation of the American Basketball Association. After a five-year layoff from competitive play, Hawkins picked up right where he left off with the Rens in 1962. He led the Pittsburgh Pipers to the first ABA championship and was named league MVP. The NBA lifted its ban in 1969. Hawkins joined the Phoenix Suns as a 27-year old rookie.  He became a four-time All-Star and earned election to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992.

Trivia

Despite their short existence of just over a year, the Rens featured two future Basketball Hall of Famers in Connie Hawkins and coach Neil Johnston. Johnston was elected posthumously as a player in 1990.

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Connie Hawkins ABA
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Connie Hawkins’ long and storied pro basketball career began in 1961 with the Pittsburgh Rens of the short-lived American Basketball League. When that league folded, Hawkins joined the Harlem Globetrotters. In 1967, he joined a brand new pro league called the American Basketball Association (ABA). He returned to Pittsburgh, this time playing for the Pipers. In 1969, he joined the established league and played for three teams in that circuit before retiring in 1976. 

*Old School Shirts will donate a portion of proceeds of this design to the Dropping Dimes Foundation for former ABA players and their families. 

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In Memoriam

Rens Head Coach Neil Johnston died of a heart attack during a pick-up basketball game at age 49 on September 28, 1978.

1962 American Basketball League MVP Connie Hawkins died of cancer on October 6, 2017. New York Times obituary.

Rens big man Quitman “Skeeter” Sullins passed away on May 10, 2019 at age 84.

Links

American Basketball League Programs

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