Donald "Buddy" Ackerman - Newsday

Brooklyn, N.Y. - Former Long Island University men's basketball standout, Donald "Buddy" Ackerman, passed away on Saturday, July 9. Ackerman was 80 and had been living in Long Beach. A professional player with the New York Knicks, he also shared the game as a coach at the St. Anthony's Church Catholic Youth Organization program he founded.

Ackerman played with the Blackbirds during the 1950-51 season under legendary coach Clair Bee. The squad accumulated a 20-4 record that year, which included a win over UCLA and its legendary mentor John Wooden.

Ackerman went on to be selected by the Knicks in the second round of the 1953 draft. He played 28 games during the 1953-54 season, helping the team to a 44-28 record and a first-place finish in the NBA Eastern Division. Following the season he was traded to the Boston Celtics.

Rather than move his family to Boston, Ackerman elected to end his playing career and started a landscaping business that he ran for more than 40 years. He founded the St. Anthony's CYO program around 1970 and coached basketball for nearly 20 years.

Ackerman is survived by daughters Diane Michaels of Copiague, N.Y.; Donna Mahoney of Long Beach, N.Y. and Susan Lennox of Greenport, N.Y.; sons Michael Ackerman of Baldwin, N.Y. and Richie Ackerman of Fairbanks, Alaska; and 15 grandchildren. He was predeceased by his wife, Marie, and another son Jimmy Joe Ackerman.