Thomas Lee Hoover, Jr. is an American former professional 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.

A 6'9" forward/center from Villanova University

Villanova University

Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...

, Hoover 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...

 from 1963 to 1967 as a member of the New York Knicks

New York Knicks

The New York Knickerbockers, prominently known as the Knicks, are a professional basketball team based in New York City. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 and St. Louis Hawks. He jumped to the American Basketball Association

American Basketball Association

The American Basketball Association was a professional basketball league founded in 1967. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger in 1976.-League history:...

 in 1967, and played two seasons there with the Denver Rockets, Houston Mavericks

Houston Mavericks

The Houston Mavericks were a charter member of the American Basketball Association. They played in the upstart league's first two seasons, from 1967 to 1969. Their home arena was the Sam Houston Coliseum...

, Minnesota Pipers, and New York Nets. In his NBA/ABA career, Hoover averaged 5.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.

Since his basketball career ended, Hoover has worked in a wide variety of fields. With former NFL player Lane Howell

Lane Howell

Autrey Lane Howell is a former professional American football player who played defensive tackle for seven seasons for the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles....

, he ran an employment program for teenagers in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Afterward, he turned to the entertainment industry, and worked as a road manager for Richard Pryor

Richard Pryor

Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets...

, The Spinners and Natalie Cole

Natalie Cole

Natalie Maria Cole , is an American singer, songwriter and performer. The daughter of jazz legend Nat King Cole, Cole rode to musical success in the mid-1970s as an R&B artist with the hits "This Will Be ", "Inseparable" and "Our Love"...

. He had a brief career acting in television commercials, then channeled his interest in boxing

Boxing

Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

into a job with the New York State Athletic Commission. He later ran the Adopt-A-School Program in New York City.