#33 Dale Shackleford
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6'6" 200 lbs Guard/Forward
HS: Notre Dame Utica, NY
Born: 3/17/1956  
Season Stats
Season Cl Pos G GS FG FGA % FT FTA % Asst Reb Fls DQ TO ST BS Pts PPG APG RPG
1975-76 Fr C/F/G 29 25 140 272 51.5%
51 83 61.4%
62 256 98 5 71 39 14 331 11.4 2.1 8.8
1976-77 So F/G 30 29 142 288 49.3%
62 97 63.9%
89 243 86 3 -- 59 -- 346 11.5 3.0 8.1
1977-78 Jr G/F 28 28 171 347 58.9%
84 160 52.5% 84 160 76 4 -- 42 -- 395 14.1 3.0 5.7
1978-79 Sr F 30 30 179 361 49.6%
66 110 60.0%
123 192 92 2 -- 67 -- 424 14.1 4.1 6.4
Career    
117
112
632
1268
49.8%
263
450
58.4%
358
851
352
14
+71
207
+14
1496
12.8
3.1
7.3

Dale Shackleford was a rare four year starter, who played and started at all five positions at one point or another in his career. 'Dr. Shack' was a highly gifted high school player who was recruited by over 200 schools, before he decided to stay nearby at Syracuse. When he was fourteen years old, Shack scored 44 points in one half of a Catholic junior high school game.

Dale Shackleford Syracuse OrangemenAt Syracuse, Shackleford became the first freshman to start for coach Roy Danforth. He played a little bit at every position that year though he was primarily a center / forward, even if he was only 6'6". He was a good ball handler for as big as he was, and a strong rebounder for as little as he was. Shackleford's weakness was the lack of a consistent perimeter shot. He was the starting small forward his sophomore year, shooting guard his junior year, and small forward his senior year. He was easily recognizable by the gray t-shirt he wore under his jersey, one of the first college players to do that trend. Shackleford would score 30 points in a game three times; once his sophomore season, once his junior, and once his senior.

After graduation he was drafted in the 6th round of the NBA draft by the Phoenix Suns, though he failed to make the team. Shackleford played some professional ball in Chile and Italy, before he ended up over in England. There his professional career bloomed in the British Basketball league where he played for 10 years, and was a player-coach the last 3 seasons. He was one of the all-time great players in the league, with the highest career rebound per game average when he retired. For a while he would coach fellow Syracuse alumni Herman Harried when both were part of the Brighton Bears.

Once back in the United States, Shackleford was an assistant basketball coach at Herkimer County Community college for a couple of seasons. He later became a caseworker for Oneida County Social Services. Shackleford ended up in some legal trouble regarding fraud.

He was inducted into the Utica Hall of Fame in 2004.

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