Roy Danforth (1974) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Roy Danforth

Induction:
1974

Roy Danforth was one of the finest and most talented players and team leaders in the history of Southern Miss basketball. During his brilliant career from 1958 to 1962 he was a part of some of the greatest teams that the school has ever produced.
   Danforth was a take charge type of player who put out 110-percent all of the time, whether in practice or in a game, he inspired the team with his all out play and hustle.
   He came to Southern Miss from Summittville, Indiana and after a short stint in the United States Army came to college in time for the 1958-59 campaign. He had produce an outstanding record playing service ball and impressed Southern head coach Fred Lewis with his tremendous speed and ball handling skills during pre-season drills.
   The 6-foot, 160-pound guard would be impressive during his rookie season with the team. He was the second leading scorer with an 8.0 average and one of the team's best free throw shooters as well, hitting 79.3-percent (77 of 97) from the line. That Southern team was only 12-13 that year, but it was obvious that Lewis was starting to build a solid ball club and Danforth has going to be one of the keys to its success.
   1959-60 was both a good and a bad year for Southern Miss and Danforth. Danforth played well for the first 16 games of the season averaging 7.4 points and 3.8 rebounds a game and leading the team to a 14-2 record. But an old hip injury flared up and he was sidelined for the final 10 games of the season. Despite the loss of Danforth the team won its final nine games of the year to finish 23-2.
   Danforth had off-season hip surgery to repair the problem and made an excellent recovery and came back to challenge for a starting job in 1960-61. He would come off of that surgery to produce his finest season to date for the team, averaging 14.0 points to rank second on the team in scoring and finishing fourth in rebounding with 6.3 per game. Over the course of his career he had always been an outstanding defensive player, but Danforth had worked hard to improve his shooting touch and led the team in field goal percentage making 48.3-percent of his shots. That team finished the year with a 23-3 record and won its first 11 games.
   In 1961-62 Danforth served as captain of the team and led the team in scoring with a 14.8 average and also led the team in rebounding with a 7.9 average. That team finished the year with a 13-13 record.
   He would finish his career with 1,066 points to rank among the all-time scoring leaders at Southern Miss and also with 528 rebounds to rank among the all-time leaders in that category as well.
   Danforth was the head basketball coach at Syracuse University from 1968 to 1976, achieving a career record of 148-71 and taking the Orangemen to the NCAA Final Four in 1974-75. In his eight years at Syracuse he coached nine NBA draft choices.
   Following his career at Syracuse he was head basketball coach at Tulane and later assistant athletic director. He served as athletic director at Fairleigh Dickinson University from 1987-1994.