Inductee Profile

Nelson “Nitzy” Bobb

shof-1998-Nelson_BobbNelson Bobb, better known as “Nitzy”, was a Philadelphia basketball star throughout his high school and college career, a career that was interrupted while he served his country in World War II.

In his time, he was Temple University’s most prolific scorer. He led the Owls in that department for three seasons: 1942-43, 1947-48 and 1948-49. Following his career at Temple, he was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors and played four seasons of professional basketball. While at Temple, he led the school in scoring and set several Temple scoring records, including the most points and most field goals in a season.

He also created new marks for the best season average points per game and the most points in a career. At West Philadelphia High, he led his team to the public high championship as a junior and the public high and city championships as a senior co-captain.

Both years, he was named a member of the all-city team. During the 1938-39 season, he was voted the most valuable player in the Jewish Basketball League. In 1981, he was inducted into the Temple University Sports Hall of Fame.

Following his professional career, he went into the insurance business and became President and CEO of the American Creditors Life Insurance Company.