15 Facts About Alphonso Ford

1.

Alphonso Gene Ford was an American professional basketball player.

2.

Alphonso Ford was the EuroLeague Top Scorer twice, and earned an All-EuroLeague selection three times.

3.

Alphonso Ford was a high school star player for Amanda Elzy High School in Greenwood, Mississippi.

4.

Alphonso Ford became the first player in NCAA Division I history to average 25 points per game in four straight seasons.

5.

Alphonso Ford averaged 22.8 points per game in his rookie year, and demonstrated right away the fact that he was an extraordinary scorer.

6.

Alphonso Ford's performances earned him every possible honor, as he was selected to the CBA All League Team, named Rookie of the Year and played the CBA All-Star Game.

7.

Alphonso Ford spent the season with Papagou, and led the team to a ninth-place finish, while being the Greek competition's leading scorer, with 23.9 points per contest.

8.

Alphonso Ford signed a one-year deal with Sporting, a traditional Greek club that was struggling to remain in Greece's top basketball scene.

9.

Alphonso Ford averaged 22.7 points per game in the Greek League, leading Peristeri to a fifth-place finish in the league.

10.

Alphonso Ford was the EuroLeague Top Scorer, averaging 26 points per game, and had a memorable 41-point outburst against Tau Ceramica in the competition's playoffs, scoring more than half of his team's 79 points that night.

11.

Tau qualified for the quarterfinals, sweeping the playoff series between the two teams, by two games to none, but Alphonso Ford's performance is part of the EuroLeague legend.

12.

Alphonso Ford's mission was to bring a team that had not won anything since the triple crown in 1997, back to the top.

13.

Unfortunately, Alphonso Ford had one of his worst shooting nights ever, in the semifinal against Benetton Treviso: he scored 15 points, making only 5 of his 19 shots.

14.

Shortly after announcing his retirement from the EuroLeague, Alphonso Ford died from leukemia, at age 32.

15.

Alphonso Ford is survived by his wife Paula, their daughter Quekenshia, and their sons Karlderek, Alphonso, Jr.