OTHER LINKS: SportsCentury Bio of Maurice Stokes | Cincinnati Enquirer Obituary
LORETTO, Pa. (May 31, 2012) – Jack Twyman, a six-time NBA all-star and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee who formed a deep friendship with late Saint Francis basketball star Maurice Stokes, died Wednesday at the age of 78 in Cincinnati.
“The Saint Francis University community extends it deepest condolences and offers its prayers to the family of Jack Twyman,” said Saint Francis President Rev. Gabriel Zeis, T.O.R. “Through his devoted friendship with Maurice Stokes, and over the many years since, we have known Jack as an outstanding human being who truly represented the values and vision of Saint Francis. He will always be remembered at the University as a man exemplary of our mission.”
The Rochester Royals selected Stokes and Twyman in the first and second rounds, respectively, of the 1955 NBA Draft. According to Stokes' autobiography the two Pittsburgh natives, along with Ed Fleming, drove together to Rochester that September to begin their professional playing careers.
By 1958 both Twyman and Stokes were emerging as legitimate stars. However, their lives would dramatically change on March 15 when Stokes collapsed three days after hitting his head during a win over the Minneapolis Lakers.
Stokes, a three-time NBA All-Star, was diagnosed with post-traumatic encephalopathy and remained bedridden for 12 years until his death in 1970. Twyman became Stokes' legal guardian, helping with medical expenses and even organized an annual basketball game to raise money for Stokes and other former players in need.
Twyman was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983 and accepted the same honor on Stokes' behalf in 2004.
Fellow Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson offered this appraisal on Twyman's relationship with Stokes: “I think we live in a selfish society. People don't really go out of their way to help their fellow man or woman. This is why what Jack did was so tremendous.”
Twyman, however, had a different perspective.
"What happened to Maurice put everything in perspective for me," he said. If people want to remember me for that and not what I did on the court, that doesn't bother me at all.
“[My family and I] probably emotionally benefitted more from the relationship than Maurice benefitted."
Twyman, who along with his wife Carol attended the 2000 retirement ceremony of Stokes' number 26 jersey at DeGol Arena, and is remembered in several ways in the Stokes Athletics Center. His portrait, along with Stokes', hangs in DeGol Arena adjacent to the Stokes-Twyman Room – a multipurpose room, which serves as a club dining room during home basketball games.
Twyman's son Jay was on the SFU campus in November as a guest and speaker at a dinner hosted by the Red Flash basketball programs.
