Richard Deighan
RICHARD DEIGHAN may not have been the household name in Camden that his brother Neil Deighan was, but he carved out a long and successful career as a professional basketball player, primarily with teams based outside of Camden.
His professional basketball debut came during the 1919–1920 season, with the Camden Crusaders. The Crusaders were owned by Camden veterinarian Dr. Charles B. Helm and former Camden County Sheriff W. Penn Corson. Other team members included brother Neil Deighan, Eddie Ferat, Sam Lennox, Jimmy “Soup” Campbell, Roy Steele, and Joe Hyde. The Crusaders were the 1919–1920 Eastern Basketball League champions.
Rich Deighan would play the next three seasons for the Coatesville Coats of the Eastern League. The Coats were not very good, but Deighan was one of their better players. Camden’s franchise remained the dominant team in the league. Sadly, Camden’s success on the court may have contributed to the league’s demise. Eastern League club owners on January 18, 1923 decided to suspend the season and attempt to reorganize the following year. The suspension was due to “one-sided races, high salaries and unusual overhead expenses.” When the Eastern League folded, Rich Deighan briefly played for the Elizabeth NJ team of the Metropolitan Basketball League, a New York area circuit.
Rich Deighan next played professionally as a member of the Trenton Royal Bengals in the Metropolitan League during the 1924–1925 season. He spent the next four years with the Cleveland Rosenblums of the American Basketball League, the dominant professional league of the era, before being released during the 1928–1929 season.
In 1933 John J. O’Brien, a long-time basketball executive, revived the American Basketball League. The new version of the ABL didn’t have the same national vision as its predecessor. The league’s membership consisted of clubs from the Northeast, taking in teams from the Metropolitan Basketball League (Bronx, the Brooklyn Jewels and Brooklyn Visitations, Hoboken, and Union City) and the Eastern League (Philadelphia and Trenton) as well as Newark which featured scoring star Benny Borgmann. Trenton and Brooklyn proved the class of the league in the first half, finishing deadlocked at 22–6, well ahead of Philadelphia. Trenton defeated Brooklyn in a first half playoff to lay claim to first place. The Hoboken Thourots with a record of 0–4 moved to Camden and became the Camden Brewers on November 23, 1933. Camden won only 2 of 8 games and on January 10, 1934 moved to New Britain CT. Rich Deighan played for the Brewers during their brief stop in the city. Grover Wearshing who would coach at Woodrow Wilson High School, was also on this team.
Rich Deighan's Career Statistics
Eastern League Career Record
| Season | G | FG | FT | TP | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1919–1920 Camden Crusaders | 3 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 4.7 |
| 1920–1921 Coatesville Coats | 37 | 36 | 45 | 117 | 3.2 |
| 1921–1922 Coatesville Coats | 38 | 46 | 57 | 149 | 3.9 |
| 1922–1923 Coatesville Coats | 24 | 30 | 44 | 104 | 4.3 |
| Eastern League Career Record | 102 | 117 | 150 | 384 | 3.8 |
Metropolitan Basketball League Career Record
| Season | G | FG | FT | TP | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1922–1923 Elizabeth | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2.5 |
| 1924–1925 Trenton Royal Bengals | 32 | 32 | 72 | 136 | 4.3 |
| Metropolitan Basketball League Career Record | 34 | 34 | 73 | 141 | 3.2 |
American Basketball League Career Record (1925–1929)
| Season | G | FG | FT | TP | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–1926 Cleveland Rosenblums | 29 | 35 | 55 | 124 | 4.3 |
| 1926–1927 Cleveland Rosenblums | 32 | 25 | 52 | 102 | 3.2 |
| 1927–1928 Cleveland Rosenblums | 44 | 61 | 8 | 130 | 3.0 |
| 1928–1929 Cleveland Rosenblums | 20 | 9 | 1 | 19 | 1.0 |
| American Basketball League Career Record | 125 | 130 | 116 | 385 | 3.1 |
Eastern Basketball League (1928–1929)
| Season | G | FG | FT | TP | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1928–1929 Camden | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
American Basketball League (1933–1934)
| Season | G | FG | FT | TP | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1933–1934 Camden Brewers | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
Camden Crusaders — 1919–1920 Eastern Basketball League Champions
Front row, left to right: Jimmy “Soup” Campbell and Joe Hyde. Second row, left to right: Dr. Charles B. Helm, Neil Deighan, Roy Steele, Eddie Dolin, Dave Kerr and Sheriff W. Penn Corson. Back row, left to right: Bill Mitchell, trainer; Sam Lennox, Manager Bill Kennedy, Richie Deighan and Timekeeper Jim Kane.
Skeeters Brought Camden Only E.L. Court Crown
Camden Courier-Post —
Dolin, N. Deighan, Campbell, Kerr, Steele 1919–20 Pro Champions
By Jack Carty
There was an era when Camden was known for more than its production of ships, soups, radios and sundry other commercial items. That was when the Camden Skeeters were the scourge of the Eastern Professional Basketball League.
It was over 35 years ago when a banner line screamed across four columns of an old Daily Courier sports page proclaiming that “All Hail the Champions!”
The date was March 11, 1920. It was the day after the Camden team won its first and only championship of the old Eastern League.
Kennedy Was Manager
After 10 years of striving to bring home the coveted flag, Manager “Whispering Will” Kennedy’s Skeeters sewed up the title by defeating the Bridgeport, Conn., quintet, 45–34 at the Third Regiment Armory, now known as the Camden Armory at Haddon avenue and Mickle st.
The date is a memorable one for many, especially those who were around in the days when professional basketball was “the thing” in Camden. Days when such outstanding stars as Neil Deighan, Jimmy “Soup” Campbell, Rich Deighan, Dave Kerr, Roy Steele, Eddie Dolin and others were the masters of the cage game. They mastered it to the delight of two and three thousand fans every time they stepped on the floor at the Armory.
That season and that 1919–20 basketball team provide one of the proudest sports memories in the history of Camden. Although its short-lived glory lasted for less than two years, the mark the Skeeters left is indelible.
Corson, Helm Owners
The Skeeters, owned and financed by former Sheriff W. Penn Corson and Dr. Charles B. Helm, a veterinarian, had many near misses in the search for the pennant. But they never made the direct hit until Kennedy stepped into the picture.
It was the first season the Eastern League had resumed operation following World War I that the ex-Jasper coach took over the club.
He molded a winner with three veterans of former years—Steele, the captain, Dolin and Neil Deighan—with a couple of comparative unknowns, Kerr, and a youngster named Campbell.
With this aggregation as his nucleus, Kennedy won the pennant for Camden and it seemed that only he could have done it.
Frank H. Ryan, late editor of The Courier-Post, who then was sports editor of The Daily Courier, wrote of Kennedy following the team’s successful first half finish:
Describes Kennedy
“He has been connected with the cage game for a score of years, never bullyrags his men and can get results where others fail. Working hand and glove with Steele, who is captain and the king pin of the men on the floor, Kennedy has succeeded in giving Camden what others have failed to do, namely, the much coveted pennant. If the Skeeters can crown their achievement with the second half crown the natives from the city of ships, phonographs, soaps, furniture and fair zone activities can well afford to look our way and give us a silent sneer.”
And they did.
The Skeeters went right on to win 16 more games and the second half, which also included the “much coveted pennant.” They tied a league record of the Reading Bears with 30 wins per season, even though they had one more loss—10.
League Folds
The league began to crumble when Scranton and then Wilkes-Barre dropped out. Atlantic City and Reading were next to toss in the towel. A meeting at Musical Fund Hall saved the league for a short time when Trenton, Camden, Coatesville and Philadelphia vowed to make a go of it.
However, in mid-January of 1923 the Eastern League succumbed as the four remaining teams went broke. The main reason for the crackup was put to the “inflated salaries” of the players. But the Skeeters’ backers decried that explanation when they said “every Camden player was worth every cent.” They had kept Camden in first place until the league folded.
Fans Were Confused
Following one of the last games played in the league in Camden, Ryan wrote, “Wednesday night’s crowd would have been a disgrace to the East Side Church League.” That about summed it up.
Constant rearrangement of the league had jumbled the schedule. Fans never knew when or where their teams were playing. The gates were pitiful and the teams couldn’t operate without the money.
That was the end of the championship era of players like Steele, the Deighans, Campbell, Kerr, Dolin and the others. Some of them competed in the Philadelphia League the following season, but Camden dropped out of that league in 1924–25.
Players Still Around
Old-timers who can recall the days of the championship Skeeters claim it was the “greatest basketball” team the East ever had.
And some of the boys who played on that club are still around to verify that. Neil Deighan runs a restaurant in Gloucester and brother Rich manages the Sports Center here in Camden.
Eddie Dolin is a familiar figure as the bridge operator at 12th and Federal sts. Sam Lennox tends bar on Hudson st. and Davey Kerr deals in sporting goods in Ohio.
The rest—Steele, Campbell, Hyde, timekeeper Jim Kane, Helm, Corson and Kennedy—have passed away. But the memories of their court capabilities are very much alive.
Dolin Makes Bow With Cleveland
Camden Courier-Post —
Former Camden Eastern League Star Cages 2 Field Tosses Against Phils
Making his big league “comeback” with the Cleveland Rosenblums at the Philadelphia Arena last night, Eddie Dolin, former Camden Eastern League star, went half the distance against the Warriors, who licked the westernmen, 38–31. The veteran pivot who proved one of the main gems in that classy collection of cage sparklers that annexed many championships for Camden in the Eastern circuit, was pitted against Al Kellott, rated as the best tapper in the American League last night. The Quaker jumper tallied all five of his field goals against Dolin, who joined the ‘Roses following his showing against Hammonton for Camden Elks in the South Jersey League here Wednesday night. Dolin scored twelve from the field and made one of his four foul heaves. He was replaced by Rich Deighan when Manager Dave Kerr entered the backfield.
The game also marked the return of Jimmy “Soup” Campbell to Philadelphia in his third American League uniform tide season. He was waived from Detroit by the Quakers earlier in the campaign, and then joined Cleveland when Vic Hanson quit the “Roses.
The Phils ran up a 23–15 score in the first half and held this edge throughout the second period. Kellott again proved the big star for the win, registering a total of 17 points.
Last night’s game brought back fond memories of the Eastern League as three of the players on each team during the first half waged many stiff battles against each other on the old Armory court. Campbell, Deighan and Dolin, erstwhile Camden dribblers, were in action for Cleveland, while Tommy Barlow, Teddy Karns and George Glasco, all former Trenton stars, saw service for the Warriors.
With the retirement of Dolin after the first period, Kerr entered the scrap and it still was three Camdenites against three Trentonians during the last semester. The Warriors won, 36–26, but the Cleveland cagers felt that they had also scored a victory by expressing themselves in regard to the Hanson case. It’s over with then once and for all time.
Hanson Had No Trouble With Mates Says Kerr
Camden Courier-Post —
Local Basketball Star, Who is Managing Cleveland Rosenblums, Sets at Rest Rumors That Players Forced College Star Off Club
By Tom Ryan
“There wasn’t the least semblance of friction between Vic Hanson and the other players on the Rosenblums, and Vic left the club on friendly terms with every player on the team.”
That was the reply made by Dave Kerr, local lad who is acting in the capacity of court leader for the Cleveland Rosenblums of the American Professional Basketball League, when asked if the former Syracuse University three-letter man resigned because of resentment on the part of the members of the club, which was the gist of the story broadcast at the time of Hanson’s voluntary retirement.
Kerr, together with Rich Deighan and Joe Sheehan, two other Camden boys, and Carl Rusta, of Egg Harbor City, all members of the Cleveland club, were subjected to undue criticism, along with other members of the team when the cause of Hanson’s resignation was alleged to have been because of differences with other members of the club. However, later advices from Cleveland that Hanson denied that any friction existed between himself and his teammates, but would give no definite reason for his resignation.
The fact that Hanson would not take a determined stand in the matter by stating just what had influenced his quitting the club after an auspicious start, led fans all over the country to believe that there was more than fiction in the story that he had made to ‘look bad’ by his teammates in order to get him off the club. Quite naturally, the tale created a story with the result that the other players on the team became the target for “raspberries” from both the fans and the newspaper.
However, Hanson soon quieted the report that he had been “framed” by his teammates, stating explicitly that that was one of the last things that would have caused him to quit. Financial disagreements with the management was then advanced as the reason for his retirement from the pro game, but Vic would neither deny nor affirm that phase of the case, merely declaring that for reasons best known to himself that he was through with the game for the current season.
Just before Cleveland hit the floor to play the Warriors at the Philadelphia Arena last night, the writer asked the club as a whole if any of them had had any trouble with Hanson either on or off the court. Every fellow on the club declared that no differences had cropped out among the players while Hanson was a member of the club and that they had ‘pulled’ with him from the time he joined the club until he quit.
“He’s a dandy fellow and one of the brightest basketball prospects in the country today,” continued Kerr after the rest of the club had had their say. “Offensively, he is a wonder, but needs a little more polishing defensively in order to become a great pro player.”
Incidentally, Jimmy “Soup” Campbell, another local cager, was toed to replace Hanson. Campbell started out with the Warriors, but was sent to Detroit via the waiver route, and when Detroit disbanded several weeks ago, Kerr immediately tendered him a contract. Eddie Dolin, former teammate of Campbell and Kerr during the days of the old Eastern League, and who has been playing great ball for the Camden Elks, joined the Rosenblums last night and played the first half of the tilt. Whether or not he will be retained as a regular could not be determined.
'Rich' Deighan Smiles, Richard, Jr. Arrives
Camden Courier-Post —
Rich Deighan, Camden baseball and basketball star, is thinking of the future more than ever before.
The star center with the Cleveland basketball club is acknowledging congratulations upon the addition of a boy to the Deighan family. The newcomer arrived Sunday, and is named Richard, Jr.