Education
Ohio State University.
Ohio State University.
Siegfried led Ohio in scoring as a senior at Shelby High School. Siegfried played college basketball for Ohio State University, and his tenure there overlapped with future Hall-of-Famers Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek. Siegfried, a junior high scoring guard, and Joe Roberts, a senior forward, were the two holdover starters when three outstanding sophomores, Lucas, Havlicek and guard Mel Nowell arrived for the 1959-1960 season.
Siegfried adjusted his scoring to allow for Lucas and Nowell while joining Roberts and Havlicek as a key defender.
Siegfried was also an excellent free throw shooter few risked fouling. The Ohio State Company-Captain of the 1960 team, Siegfried played a key role in the Buckeyes run to the 1960 National Collegiate Athletic Association title.
All five starters from that team later played in the National Basketball Association, which then had just nine teams and eleven players per team Future coach Bobby Knight was a reserve on that team as well.
Said Knight of Siegfried, "I never saw a better guard in the Big Ten than Larry Siegfried.
He was a great player. He was physical, he could jump.. if I had my choice of any guard who played in the Big Ten when I coached and everything else, I"d have a hard time picking someone else."
Foreign the 1960-1961 season, Siegfried was team captain outright.
The team went undefeated until the National Collegiate Athletic Association Final, when they were upset by Cincinnati.
Siegfried was named to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Final Four All-Tournament Team. Also named All-Big Ten, Siegfried did not get the All-American consideration he may have been due because of the star presence of Lucas.
Siegfried did play in the 1960 United States Olympic Trials for the Rome Games. American Basketball League (1961-1962)
= Cleveland Pipers American Basketball League Champs (1961-1962) At 6"3" and 190 pounds, Siegfried was considered a prototype guard for the National Basketball Association at that time.
The Cincinnati Royals drafted him with their first pick in 1961 to pair with Oscar Robertson in their backcourt.
Siegfried would not play in Cincinnati because of Ohio State"s loss to Cincinnati"s Bearcats that year. Instead, he joined the Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball League. Dick Barnett and Connie Dierking were among that team"s stars.
The highly drafted Siegfried was just a reserve.
National Basketball Association (1960-1971)
When the American Basketball League folded the next year, the Saint Louis Hawks acquired his rights but then surprisingly cut him. Slowly regaining his confidence, Siegfried proved to be a key pickup.
He eventually became a starter next to Havlicek or Sam Jones in the backcourt. His defense and free throw shooting were key to National Basketball Association title wins for Boston in 1968 and 1969.
Boston announcer Johnny Most often noted his tenacious defense, calling "Ziggy"s in his shirt tonight" to describe Siegfried on many nights.
Siegfried played his first seven professional seasons with the Boston Celtics, earning five championship rings during that time. He led the National Basketball Association in free throw percentage in both the 1965-1966 and 1968-1969 seasons. = Later National Basketball Association career (1970-1972) Siegfried spent the last season of his career with the Rockets and Hawks organizations.
Following his National Basketball Association career, Siegfried counseled prisoners at the Mansfield Correctional Institution in Ohio and did motivational speaking.
He died of a heart attack on October 14, 2010.
He was tough as hell.