RALEIGH, N.C. -- Services will be held Wednesday for former North Carolina State basketball star and New York Knicks player Ronald D. 'Ronnie' Shavlik, who died of cancer Monday. He was 49.
Shavlik was recalled by friends and associates as 'a role model for others.'
'I have often said I would like my two boys to grow up to be just like Ronnie Shavlik,' said Charlie Bryant, executive director of the North Carolina State's Wolfpack Club, of which Shavlik was president.
After starring for the Wolfpack in the mid-50s, Shavlik played professional basketball for two seasons before returning to Raleigh in 1956 to start a successful janitorial service.
Inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in 1979, Shavlik was honored in 1980 with the NCAA's Silver Anniversary Award, given annually to five athletes who have distinguished themselves in business careers and community service.
Despite undergoing treatment for cancer, Shavlik was in Albuquerque, N.M., this year when the Wolfpack won the national basketball championship, Bryant said.
Shavlik, who scored 1,761 points in his varsity career, helped lead North Carolina State to the Dixie Classic and Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championships in 1954-55 and 1955-56. The Wolfpack had records of 26-7, 28-4 and 24-4 during his three years on the team.
The 6-foot-8 Shavlik held the school record for most points scored in a game -- 55 against William & Mary -- until David Thompson scored 57 in the early 1970s.
Shavlik was the Knicks' first-round draft pick in 1956. He saw limited action in the 1956-57 season, playing in eight games and scoring 10 points. He returned to play in one game at the start of the 1957-58 campaign and then retired from professional basketball.
