Drew University Athletics

In 26 seasons of intercollegiate play, Sid Zwerling was the greatest basketball player Drew University had ever seen.

Born in Brooklyn, Sid was raised in West New York, N.J., where he earned varsity letters in his junior and senior years at Hudson Memorial High School, a basketball powerhouse in a division where most state championships were played. At 6-feet, 1-inch tall, he was not considered a big man by basketball standards and was used mainly as a starting guard and backcourt/defensive specialist. But that role quickly changed when Sid came to Drew.
Sid entered Drew mid-semester in the spring of 1952 on the advice of his high school coach. In the first few practices, Coach Harry Simester quickly noted Sid’s skills as an outside shooter as well as his vast variety of shots. Despite his size, he was made a forward and during the 1952–53 season tallied 228 points for the Green and Gold.

Sid hit his stride in the 1953–54 season, setting half a dozen records and cutting the nets with a single-season record 320 points in 13 games. He also set a new record for the highest single game total of 37 points and a record-high season average of 24.6 points per game. His totals in field goals and free throws also made tops in Green and Gold annals, and his individual scoring average ranked second among New Jersey colleges that season.

After two and half seasons at Drew, Sid held all but one of the individual scoring records, a four-season mark of 729 points. In only his third year, Sid shattered that record, scoring 280 points in 14 games for a career total of 886 points by season’s end. And in his fourth and final season at Drew (1954–55), Sid became the first player to top the 1,000-point scoring mark with 1,014 points in 53 games, a career average of just under 20 points a game. Coach Simester called Sid “the greatest cager in the history of basketball at Drew.”