Kaplinsky, Rip

Reuben Kaplinsky

An All-Metropolitan performer while at St. John's University, Kaplinsky was a 5'6" forward for the Redmen in the mid-1930s. After graduating, he played professionally in the (ABL) American Basketball League in the 1930s.

Birth and Death Dates:
unknown

Career Highlights:
A stellar player at Thomas Jefferson High School, Kaplinsky played three seasons at St. John's in the mid-1930s with classmate Java Gotkin. At the time, college basketball in New York City was gaining in popularity and St. John�s was one of the finest basketball programs in the nation. During Kaplinsky�s career, double-headers at Madison Square Garden began to attract the top teams in the country.

In 1933-34, the Redmen were expected to be one of the country's strongest squads; but before the season began, the team's three best players, seniors Nat Lazar, Mac Poliskin, and George Slott, all left school, and it fell to Kaplinsky and Gotkin to lead the St. John's team. The two Jefferson graduates, who had played together for about eight years on various teams before they ever suited up for the St. John's varsity, stepped up and led the Redmen to a better-than-expected season.

St. John's began the season by winning their first four games, but lost the fifth to the two-time defending Eastern championship team, CCNY (City College of New York), 30-25. The Redmen then won eight of their next nine games, including a particularly sweet defeat of rival LIU (Long Island University), a team that had won over 20 games in a row entering the contest. In the hotly-contested battle, Kaplinsky scored eight points and led St. John's to a 32-28 victory. He was praised by the newspapers for being, "all over the place...interecepting passes, climbing over taller men under the backboard and making scoring plays for his teammates..."

Spurred on by their victory over LIU, St. John's won four of their final five games of the 1933-34 season and finished with a 16-3 record. That year, Kaplinsky scored 109 points while playing in every game and was the team�s second highest scorer on the season (he was 12th overall in the New York Metropolitan area). He was also the team leader in made free throws with 29.

During his junior season (1934-35), Kaplinsky continued his stellar performance on the court by scoring 139 points, second most on the team. He also led the squad in successful free throws for the second year in a row, with 47. The overall season, however, proved to be a disappointing one for St. John�s; they finished the year 13-8. Among their defeats were a rematch with LIU (the first time St. John's ever lost to their rivals), and a loss to City College of New York (CCNY).

At the end of the regular season, Kaplinsky was chosen to play on a College All-Star team that challenged the Brooklyn Jewels, one of the best professional teams in the East, in a charity game. The contest, which raised money for the Talmud Torah Adath Jeshuran of Brooklyn, was won by the Jewels, 29-17. Kaplinsky started at guard and scored one point.

In 1935-36, Kaplinsky captained the Redmen, who returned to the top of college basketball with a record of 18-4. Named second team All-Metropolitan, Kaplinsky had outstanding games against Westminster (15 points in a 35-26 victory), Brooklyn College (14 points in a 27-18 win), and City College (six points in a 25-22 win). He ended the season as the team's leading scorer with 154 points (tied for the team lead with Gotkin and Frank McGuire), 13th in the Metropolitan area. Kaplinsky's 7.3 points per game was the highest on the team.

At the end of the season, Kaplinsky again played on a college all-star team comprised of Metropolitan players. In an exhibition game, they played the AAU champions that year, the McPherson Oilers (six of McPherson's players were members of the U.S. Olympic team that year). Kaplinsky and the Metropolitan All-Stars played well and almost defeated the favored Oilers, but lost in a close contest, 45-43.

Following his college career, Kaplinsky played in the ABL, the top professional league in the East; the ABL would retain that status until the formation in 1946 of the Basketball Association of America (the forerunner of the NBA). Kaplinsky played in the ABL for a few seasons and according to records compiled by basketball historian Robert Bradley, appeared in 19 games and averaged 3.4 points per game for the Wilkes-Barre Barons in 1938-39. The Barons finished 14-22 and missed the playoffs.

Origin:
Brooklyn, New York

Career Dates:
Kaplinsky played guard and forward at St. John's from 1934-1936.

Physical description:
5'6"

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