Paul Unruh Basketball Card

This Paul Unruh basketball card is number 11 in the third series cards produced by Berk Ross Incorporated in 1951. Paul Unruh was a star at Bradley University, leading the team in scoring all four seasons, as well as leading the team to second place finishes in both the NIT and NCAA tournaments in 1950. In 1950 Paul was named a consensus First Team All-American.

The “Hit Parade of Champions” was a set of 72 cards issued in four packs of 18 cards in 1951. The packs contained cards in two-card panels, and advertised the cards as featuring “Who’s Who in Sports” with “Pictures of 18 Champions in all Fields of Sports.” The card hash an image of the athlete on the front, and the back detailed the players name, position, team, age, hometown, height, weight, and championship credentials. Unlike many card sets, the Beck Ross Hit Parade of Champions featured athletes from a variety of sports including both professional and college baseball, basketball, and football as well as track and field, tennis, boxing, and golf.