Gary Springer was a star growing up in the Harlem area in New York. Played for the prestigious Riverside Hawks AAU program and played at various playgrounds in Manhattan in the 70’s.
His fame started at Ben Franklin High School in East Harlem. He played for the legendary head coach Stan Diner. Springer became a huge part of Franklin becoming a preseason number one national ranking for the 1979-80 season. He was first team All-City in 1980 and decided to attend Iona College.
The 6-foot-7 forward played at Iona College under Pat Kennedy who was one of the best recruiters in the country. Springer had an outstanding freshman campaign in which he averaged 19.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game in 1981.
Springer won the Haggerty Award which is an annual award for the New York City metropolitan area’s most outstanding men’s college basketball player. He went on to earn varsity letters all four years at Iona. During his four-year tenure, he tallied 1,866 points and grabbed 1,021 rebounds in his career.
Springer helped the Gaels reach the 1982 and 1983 NIT and NCAA tournament in 1984. He was announced as a three-time honorable mention All-American, a three-time All-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, and a four-time All-Metropolitan Area choice.
In 1984 he was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in the sixth round. However, due to injuries, he never played and took his talents to Puerto Rico to play for the Coquis in the CBA.
Springer was the best to come from Harlem, he was problem in his day killing opponents. He had some outstanding epic games against Ed Pinckney, Roosevelt Chapman, Fred Brown, Sidney Green, and the best to play in the NYC. He played with the best as well, with Richie Adams, Kenny Hutchinson, and Walter Berry at Franklin.
Then, at Iona he played with Steve Burtt to bring excitement to the program.
We salute Gary for his contributions to his talents from New York City. Currently, his three sons, Gary Jr., who starred at Iona in the mid-2000s, Jordan played for Army in the early 2010s and Jaden, who played at Tennessee and was selected in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers.
In 2003, Springer was inducted into the Iona College Goal Club Hall of Fame as one of the top players in the history of the men’s basketball program. We give Gary his flowers for giving the New York City basketball community some great moments.
