Norman "Norm" Mager was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player who played in the National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 for the Baltimore Bullets during the 1950-51 NBA season

1950-51 NBA season

The 1950–51 NBA season was the 5th season of the National Basketball Association. The season ended with the Rochester Royals winning the NBA Championship, beating the New York Knicks 4 games to 3 in the NBA Finals.- Notable occurrences :...

. Mager is also notable as a key member of the 1949–50 CCNY Beavers men's basketball team

1949–50 CCNY Beavers men's basketball team

The 1949–50 CCNY Beavers men's basketball team represented the City College of New York. The Head Coach was Nat Holman. The team is the only team to win both the National Invitation Tournament and the NCAA Tournament in the same year...

, the only team in NCAA history to win both the National Invitation Tournament

National Invitation Tournament

The National Invitation Tournament is a men's college basketball tournament operated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association. There are two NIT events each season. The first, played in November and known as the Dick's Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip-Off , was founded in 1985...

 and NCAA tournament in the same year.

Mager, a 6'5 forward from Lafayette High School

Lafayette High School (New York City)

Lafayette High School is a large secondary school located in the Bath Beach section of Brooklyn, New York City, New York . It is currently one of the low performing high schools of the city and is operated by the New York City Department of Education.-History:...

 in Brooklyn

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...

, was a senior during the 1949–50 season. He averaged 3.6 points per game during the seasoon, but had a strong postseason, averaging 12.6 points per game in the 1950 NCAA tournament

1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament

The 1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament involved 8 schools playing in single-elimination play to determine the national champion of men's NCAA Division I college basketball. It began on March 23, 1950, and ended with the championship game on March 28 in New York City, New York...

 and was named to the All-Eastern regional team. He was also important in the Beavers' NIT

1950 National Invitation Tournament

The 1950 National Invitation Tournament was the 1950 edition of the annual NCAA college basketball competition. For the only time in history, the same school won both the NIT and NCAA tournaments as CCNY took both championships, beating Bradley in both finals...

 run, averaging 4.7 points per game.

Following the close of his collegiate career, Mager was drafted in the fifth round of the 1950 NBA Draft

1950 NBA Draft

The 1950 NBA Draft was the fourth annual draft of the National Basketball Association . This is the first draft after the Basketball Association of America was renamed the NBA. The draft was held on April 25, 1950 before the 1950–51 season. In this draft, 12 remaining NBA teams took turns...

 by the Baltimore Bullets. Mager played 22 games for the Bullets, averaging 4.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. However, his career came to a premature end in the wake of the CCNY Point Shaving Scandal

CCNY Point Shaving Scandal

The CCNY point shaving scandal of 1950-1951 was a college basketball point shaving gambling scandal that involved seven schools in all, with four in Greater New York and three in the Midwest...

, where it was revealed that members of the Beavers had taken money to manipulate the outcome of several games. Mager was thrown out of the NBA and other members of the CCNY team were banned for life from the league.

Mager later became an executive with a janitorial supply company, retiring in 2000. He died of cancer on March 17, 2005 in Boynton Beach, Florida

Boynton Beach, Florida

Boynton Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. The population was 60,389 at the 2000 census. As of 2006, the city had a population of 66,714 according to the University of Florida, Bureau of Economic and Business Research...

.