Inside the Loud House
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Syracuse Basketball Legends Series: Inside look at Dave Bing

By Josh Peelman

DETROIT - OCTOBER 29: Detroit Mayor Dave Bing listens to White House Council on Auto Communities and Workers Executive Director Ed Montgomery speak at a press conference at Detroit Edison October 29, 2009 in Detroit, MIchigan. Montgomery was at the facility to highlight the White House's announcement Tuesday of an $83 million award to Detroit Edison's smart energy grid program. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
DETROIT - OCTOBER 29: Detroit Mayor Dave Bing listens to White House Council on Auto Communities and Workers Executive Director Ed Montgomery speak at a press conference at Detroit Edison October 29, 2009 in Detroit, MIchigan. Montgomery was at the facility to highlight the White House's announcement Tuesday of an $83 million award to Detroit Edison's smart energy grid program. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
(Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images) /

Syracuse Basketball has had a ton of great players in its history. Inside the Loud House will be looking back at the best of the best to suit up for SU. Up next: Dave Bing.

Syracuse basketball has a deep history full of memorable moments, unbelievable performances, and excellent athletes.

Only a privileged few athletes though who played on the Hill can truly say they made a lasting legacy that will not soon be forgotten. These players we call legends. Of those privileged few Syracuse basketball legends, only one really stands higher than all that rest: that’s Dave Bing.

Sure, you’ve heard the name before, but do you really know what he did both here at Syracuse as well as afterward that makes him so great? Few do, and that’s okay.

That’s exactly what this series is for: to flashback to the past so we can all remember what came before so we can have the great Syracuse teams we have today.

If you missed any of our previous installments in this Syracuse Basketball Legends Series you can find them here:

Coming out of high school in Washington D.C, Dave Bing was a terrific player who had excellent court vision, great passing ability, and could shoot the rock really well. However, despite this obvious talent, he wasn’t always that well thought of.

For a time during his early career before he enrolled at Syracuse he was told by his peers he was too short or too small to play basketball. As a result, Bing opted to play baseball for a time. Though he was decent at it, it wasn’t the right fit.

As it is for most players, they just need a little encouragement to get back to doing what they love. At Washington’s Spingarn High School, Bing found that in varsity basketball coach William Roundtree, who convinced him he was good enough and should join the team. As we all know the rest is history.

Before long, Bing was one of the stars on the high school’s basketball team, a team that was already an offensive powerhouse, according to JockBio.com. During his senior year, 1961-1962, a scheduling conflict came up though, and Bing had to choose between playing in a baseball tournament or a basketball tournament. As fate would have it: he chose to play basketball and as a result, he would go on to be named MVP of that tournament, according to Cuse.com.

Soon after, elite collegiate programs like UCLA and Michigan would come knocking at Bing’s door, looking for him to join their team, according to Orangehoops.org. However, it was once again encouragement that made Bing make another great call. Ernie Davis, a legend of his own on the gridiron (football) was the one to step up and convince Bing he should give Syracuse basketball a chance. Soon after, Bing would come to Syracuse to have a career like no other.

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