HATTIESBURG, Mississippi -- Eugene Short, one of the best basketball players in Hattiesburg High history, died Wednesday in Houston, Texas, following a long battle with diabetes.Short was 62 years old.
The 6-foot-6 Short, along with his younger brother, Purvis, helped lead Hattiesburg High to the school’s first state championship in the 1972-73 season.
“Eugene was so instrumental in Hattiesburg High’s success then,” said Hattiesburg High athletic director Cheyenne Trussell. “But it was also a unique time since it was right after integration. He helped bring the community together. It wasn’t about black and white. It was about Hattiesburg High School.”
After graduating from Hattiesburg High, Short was a star player at Jackson State, earning SWAC Player of the Year honors twice. He was inducted into the Jackson State Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
Short was picked by the New York Knicks in the first round (ninth overall) of the 1975 NBA Draft. The year before, he was chosen in the fifth round by the San Antonio Spurs of the American Basketball Association. Short also played for the Seattle Supersonics during his two-year NBA career. In addition, he was a member of the U.S. national team at the FIBA World Championship in 1974.
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