The NBA Finals date back to 1947 (when they were known as the Basketball Association of America Finals) and the very 1st NCAA tourney was held in 1939. Olympic basketball competition is even older: it debuted as a demonstration event in 1904 and the men’s version became a medal sport in 1936, with the women finally getting their chance to go for the gold in 1976. The United States has dominated Olympic basketball competition from the start: the men have now won 17 gold medals in the 20 tournaments they have participated in during the past 88 years, while the women have won 10 gold medals in the 12 tournaments in which they have competed during the past 48 years. While we have to wait 4 years until the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will fill the void by interviewing as many prior Olympic players/coaches as possible. We continue our coverage by chatting with former Army SID Bob Kinney about Mike Silliman being a 3-time All-American and winning a gold medal.
Mike averaged 20+ PPG/20+ RPG as a senior at St. Xavier High School and led his team to a Kentucky high school basketball title in 1962: how good was he in high school? Kentucky head coach Adolph Rupp let a good 1 get away.
He was a Parade All-American that year and had scholarship offers from 55 colleges: what made him choose Army? I got to West Point in 1963 and Mike was already a plebe at that time.
The new coach during his senior year at Army was a guy named Bob Knight, who later called Mike “the best player I ever coached”: how did these 2 legends get along together? Mike’s 1st 2 years on the varsity were spent playing for Tates Locke while Bob was an assistant. Plebes were not eligible to play as freshmen but he led the team in scoring each of his other 3 years and led the team to the NIT when it was comprised of only 16 teams. We made it to the NIT semifinals during each of those 3 years. Bob and I were both inducted into the Army in 1963: I arrived 2 weeks ahead of him.
He averaged 19.7 PPG/11.5 RPG during his time at the Academy and graduated as the all-time leading scorer in school history: what was his secret for being such a great scorer? His feel for the game and the fact that even though he was 6’6” he could score inside. The team looked to him on offense quite a bit because he was their best player.
In addition to being a 3-time All-American he was an Academic All-American who graduated with honors and a degree in mathematics/engineering: how did he balance his work on the court with his work in the classroom? It is comparable to most of the cadets there. Cadets are graded every day and he kept his grades high. He was 1 of my favorite players: very personable/friendly/helpful.
He also played baseball/golf: which sport was he best at, and which sport did he enjoy the most? Not only did he excel in basketball but he was a great 1st baseman. He hit 1 ball as hard as anyone I saw during my 32 years at West Point: it bounced off the door of the Officers’ Club on 1 bounce and did not even go 20 feet off the ground. I would think he enjoyed basketball the most. As a SR he injured his knee in a game 1 afternoon and were scheduled to play Penn State soon after that. Mike did not play but we somehow won that game because Knight did a great job of preparing the team: Army was up 24-7 at halftime and won 59-39. Mike’s presence on the bench might have had something to do with it as the rest of the team rose to the occasion. We had an excellent baseball season during his SR year and he was a big part of their success.
In 1968 he was captain of Team USA at the Olympics: what did it mean to him to represent his country, and what did it mean to him to win a gold medal? I saw Mike at the Pan Am Games the summer after graduation and he could not speak highly enough of his time at West Point. I never saw him wear the gold medal but I later saw him in Nashville when we were playing Vanderbilt in football and he wore his West Point ring with a lot of pride.
He later played 1 year for the Buffalo Braves before an injury cut his career short: what was it like to see a guy from Army in the NBA? It was a thrill to see him make the NBA but he had a great career that ended too quickly. He had a 4-year commitment that he had to serve after graduation.
He was inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988, inducted into the Kentucky High School Athletic Association Hall of Fame in 1990, and had his # retired in 2015: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? He was just a special guy who was in the inaugural class when West Point founded its Hall of Fame.
He passed away in 2000: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? I have a lot of basketball perspective as the only person on the planet who worked as SID for both Bob Knight and Mike Krzyzewski. He should be remembered with every positive thought possible: he was someone who the corps looked up to. We filled the fieldhouse for every weekend home game: you could not find an empty seat on Saturday nights and I am sure that Mike was the reason for that.