William M. Kirvin (1989) - Hall of Fame - Xavier University Athletics

William M. Kirvin

Induction:
1989
Class:
1962

Bill Kirvin is a member of the Xavier 1,000-Point Club and the XU Basketball Hall of Fame and was a 1962 Team Captain. He was named Co-MVP with Jack Thobe twice.

The two-time All-Catholic All-American, a 6-1 guard, gathered a long list of honors during his fine career. He was named to seven All-Opponent lists as a junior, first team All-Hurricane Classic (1959), first team All-Motor City Classic (1960), and pre-season All-Sectional choice by Dell Magazine before his junior and senior years.

Kirvin started 25 of XU's 26 games in his sophomore year, helping the Musketeers finish 17-9. He averaged 12.7 ppg. while dishing out 67 assists.

As a junior, Kirvin pumped in 16.2 ppg. while dishing out a school record (since broken) 117 assists. He led the Musketeers to a 17-10 record and, most significantly, XU's first NCAA Tournament appearance ever. It was also XU's first post-season action since the 1958 NIT Championship season.

As a senior, Kirvin's numbers read 13.5 ppg. and 104 assists. More significantly, though, he led XU in the "Year of the Upset," XU's amazing 14-12 season of 1961-62. Kirvin was the playmaker on the XU team which upset six national powers, including Providence, Villanova, Loyola of Chicago, Western Kentucky, Detroit, and 1962 NIT Champion Dayton. XU narrowly missed knocking off another nationally-ranked team, Cincinnati, in his senior season. UC beat Xavier, 61-58, and later went on to its second straight NCAA Championship.

Kirvin ended his career with 1,088 points, which stands 46th on the Musketeer all-time scoring list. That's in addition to being one of the nation's best playmakers during his day.

The XU record book lists Kirvin as one of the best free throw shooters ever to wear the Blue and White of Xavier. He hit 81.9% (240-293) of his career free throws, including a previous school record of 30 straight in the 1959-60 season. The mark of 30 straight free throws has been broken by Ramain Sato and James Posey who made 31 consecutive free throws.

KIRVIN'S XAVIER CAREER STATS

Yrs.	Games	FGM-FGA	PCT.	FTM-FTA	PCT.	REB/AVG	AST/AVG	PTS/AVG
59-60	26	127-270	.470	78-89	.876	79/3.0	67/2.6	332/12.8
60-61	25	157-331	.474	91-117	.778	86/3.4	117/4.7	405/16.2
61-62	26	140-281	.498	71-87	.816	81/3.1	104/4.0	351/13.5
Career	77	424-882	.481	240-293	.819	246/3.2	288/3.7	1,088/14.1