Education
United States Military Academy.
United States Military Academy.
He played for the United States Military Academy for five years, graduating in 1926. The Passaic, New Jersey native was a prolific scorer and became the first college player to total 1,000 points for his career. Roosma captained the team and led them as scorer in three state tournaments (1919-1921).
After graduating from Passaic High School in 1921, General Douglas MacArthur recruited Roosma to play for the Army Black Knights.
After a 74-game career, Roosma totaled 1,126 points, being the first college player to score more than 1,000 in his career (Christian Steinmetz held the record with 950 points, nevertheless he played only 40 games in three years overall). Roosma was inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1961.
West Point"s basketball Most Valuable Player award is named after him. Roosma became a colonel in the United States Army.
He was stationed in Hawaii when the Japanese attacked at Pearl Harbor and then went on to lead the 334th Combat Infantry Regiment into Germany.
He died in his home in Verona, New Jersey on November 13, 1983.