• Rochester top scorer and MVP (Rufus Hedges Award)
• 2 consecutive years All East 2 consecutive years
• All America 1966-1967 Did not become
• All Time top scorer because didn’t play senior year due to knee injury
• 1966 USA Gold Medal winning team in Pan American Maccabiah Games held in Brazil
• Played in Puerto Rico winning 7 League Championships - 2 time League Finals
• MVP Puerto Rico Olympic team
• Set Olympic record in 1972 Munich Olympics for best free throw percentage
• Played thereafter in the Mexican League Member Rochester Athletics Hall of Fame

Billy Baum, a 6-foot 4-inch forward/guard swingman, from Oceanside, New York, was one of the most consistent players in Rochester University history. He was on a pace to become Rochester’s all time leading scorer, when he suffered a knee injury and was forced to miss his senior season.

Whether it was offense or defense, Billy was never out of position. He always seemed to be in the right spot to hit a jumper, take a rebound, or finish a fast break with a lay-up. His game was smooth. So smooth that Billy made scoring baskets look easy.

Billy had a radar-like sense of where a play was going to end up, and he went to that spot instinctively. Coupled with his schoolyard honed talent for following all shots, the result was often a positive one.

Offensively, Billy was always in position for his seeing-eye southpaw jumper, shot with a soft touch.

When surrounded, he used his deceptively quick moves to open a sight line to the basket, or to fake an opponent into the air, and then swoop past him for a driving lay-up.

Defensively, Billy always seemed to arrive at a spot exactly where and when the rebound was coming down. He also combined an infallible sense of timing with his exceptional body control to block opponent’s shots, many from behind, without picking up fouls.

Because Billy played the game so gracefully, using finesse more than muscle, opponents underestimated his physical strength. His stamina was outstanding, being one of those players who gets stronger as the game progresses. In the late stages of a game Billy was pouring it on while opponents were fading.

In his sophomore and junior years, Billy led Rochester in scoring, and was named All East. He also won the Rufus Hedges Trophy as the team’s Most Valuable Player in both years. As a junior he was named All America.

Billy played for the USA Gold Medal winning team in the 1966 Pan American Maccabiah Games held in Brazil.

After his knee healed, Billy moved to Puerto Rico to study medicine. While going to med-school he played In the Puerto Rican Basketball League winning 7 league championships. He was twice named the MVP of the League Finals.

Billy also played on the Puerto Rican Olympic Team, and at the 1972 Olympics in Munich he set an Olympic record for the best free throw shooting percentage.

Billy Baum is a member of the Rochester Athletics Hall of Fame.