Men's Basketball | November 25, 2016

PHILADELPHIA – La Salle University Athletics is proud to announce that former men's basketball great Larry Cannon will have his famed No. 20 retired in a ceremony scheduled for halftime of the men's basketball contest against defending national champion Villanova on Tuesday, Dec. 6. The game will be held at the famed Palestra, where Cannon played all of his home games during his illustrious career, and is scheduled to be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.

"I'd like to thank La Salle president Dr. Colleen Hanycz, the Board of Trustees and of course interim Director of Athletics Bill Bradshaw," Cannon said. "The retirement of my La Salle uniform number is particularly meaningful. I'm a born and raised Philadelphian and Big 5 basketball has always been a major influence on the way I played the game. I can't find the words to express how proud I feel to be joining the elite company of Tom Gola, Ken Durrett, Lionel Simmons and Michael Brooks."

A second team All-American as a senior in 1968-69, Cannon led the Explorers to a 23-1 record and a No. 2 national ranking behind eventual national champion UCLA and future Hall of Famer Lew Alcindor (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). The previous season, La Salle went 20-8 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament. Despite playing just three seasons in an era without a shot clock, the local product from Lincoln High School scored 1,430 points to rank fourth upon graduation and led the team in assists as both a junior and senior.

"Larry was a great player on arguably the greatest team in La Salle and Big 5 basketball history," Bradshaw said. "He was an exceptional talent and is one of just five players in La Salle history to have his jersey retired. The honor is very well deserved."

An all-around player, the 6-5 guard finished his La Salle career averaging 19.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, and over his final two seasons his teams went a combined 43-9 with a perfect 15-0 record against Middle Atlantic Conference foes. A three-time First Team All-Big 5 selection, Cannon was drafted fifth overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 1969 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft and was also a first-round selection of the Miami Floridians of the American Basketball Association (ABA). 

Cannon was the only player from his first-round draft class to choose the ABA over the NBA and played five seasons in the league, leading the Denver franchise in scoring at 26.6 points per contest to earn All-Pro honors in 1971. He also spent one year with the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA, averaging 6.2 points in 19 games, before he was forced to retire from professional basketball due to chronic phlebitis in his legs. In 1973, Cannon became the first La Salle men's basketball player to be enshrined into the Big 5 Hall of Fame, and was later inducted into La Salle's Hall of Athletes in 1977.

For tickets to the La Salle-Villanova game at the Palestra on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7:00 p.m., please visit GoExplorers.com/BuyTickets or call 215-951-1999.