Rosen, Phil

Rosen played center at NYU (New York University) in the mid-1930s. As a senior in 1934, he helped the Violets go undefeated (16-0) and capture both the Eastern and New York Metropolitan titles.

Birth and Death Dates:
unknown

Career Highlights:
Rosen began his college career at NYU in 1933 as a junior. That year, Phil was the squad's backup center (the starter was Sid Gross), and played well. The Violets ended the season with a record of 11-4 and Phil scored 40 points on the year, 39th in the New York Metropolitan area.

The following season, Rosen was slotted for the starting center role as Gross moved to forward. Joined on the varsity by a group of sophomores, including guard Willie Rubenstein and forward Irwin Klein Rosen and Gross led the Violets to a great season. A defensive stopper, Phil occasionally played guard and forward after Klein supplanted him as the team's starting center. Nevertheless, Rosen played a key role, and NYU won their first 15 matches as they entered the final game of the year.

In the season finale, they played arch-rival CCNY (City College of New York) in one of the biggest games in the history of college basketball. Both teams were undefeated and CCNY was considered both the defending Eastern as well as New York Metropolitan champion (both titles were mythical). The hype surrounding the game was unprecedented in New York City college basketball history. The showdown took place in front of over 5,000 fans (some people tried to move the game to Madison Square Garden because 15,000-20,000 people wanted tickets to the game).

During the match, Rosen, who started at left guard, shut down CCNY's second leading scorer Sam Winograd, holding him to only two points. Rosen scored three points himself, and NYU shocked CCNY and won the game, 24-18. NYU became the first New York City school in 25 years to go undefeated in the regular season, and were crowned both Eastern and Metropolitan champions.

Origin:
New York

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