Nationality American Listed weight 210 lb (95 kg) NBA draft 1951 / Undrafted | Listed height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) College CCNY (1949–1951) Name Alvin Roth | |
High school Erasmus (Brooklyn, New York) | ||
Alvin "Fats" Roth (born 1930s) was an American basketball player known for his playing days at the City College of New York (CCNY) between 1949–50 and 1950–51. Roth was a contributing member of the only basketball team in NCAA history to win both the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) and NCAA Tournament in the same season. Roth was one of four sophomore starters on the CCNY squad that defeated Bradley in both championship games.
Roth was 6'4", weighed 210 pounds and played guard. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York and attended Erasmus Hall High School, where as a senior in 1947–48 he led them to a PSAL championship. Due to his poor academic grades, Roth was ineligible to attend CCNY his freshman year; one year later Roth was admitted to the school as a sophomore. It was this season that CCNY won both national basketball championships (the NIT was actually considered the premier national championship at the time). One year later, news broke about a point-shaving scandal that was sweeping east coast universities, and at its heart was CCNY's squad led by Nat Holman. Roth was one of the players arrested in the scandal and agreed to serve in the United States Army for a time in exchange for suspending his jail sentence. Roth's admission into CCNY despite his poor grades was a result of transcript altering by Holman. Nationally, all of the players who were convicted of participating in the scandal were banned from ever playing in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Due to this, Roth played for a time in the Eastern League.
After his playing days, Roth went back to CCNY to earn his business degree, then moved to the suburbs of New York City to sell insurance.