Photo Credit: Bryan Edwards/Kentucky New Era
One of the greatest high school basketball players to ever play in this city passed away Saturday morning at the age of 68. According to a post on the Kentucky Colonel ABA Basketball Facebook page William Rodney “Bird” Averitt passed away peacefully this morning around 7:30am.
The following information was found on Wikipedia:
William Rodney “Bird” Averitt (born July 22, 1952).
Born in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, he played collegiately for Pepperdine University. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1973 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers and the second round of the 1973 ABA Draft by the San Diego Conquistadors. [1]
He played for the San Antonio Spurs (1973–74) and Kentucky Colonels (1974–76) in the American Basketball Association for 236 games, winning the 1975 ABA championship with the Colonels. After the Colonels were disbanded as part of the ABA–NBA merger, Averitt joined the Buffalo Braves through the 1976 ABA dispersal draft, playing with that team for the 1976–77 season until joining the New Jersey Nets for the 1977–78 season, playing 130 games in the NBA with those two teams.
Former WHOP Sportscaster Hal King put this feature together on Bird Everitt in March of 1969. King starts out the piece by talking to Hopkinsville Head Coach Roy Woolum
Photo Credit: Mike Walker
Bird Everitt and Mike Walker during this year’s 2nd Region Basketball Tournament at Hopkinsville High School.
