Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Jack Twyman offered inspiration to his grandchildren

Jack Twyman has been gone for 10 years.

For those not old enough to remember, his No. 27 hangs at the University of Cincinnati's Fifth Third Arena. It is likewise retired by the NBA's Sacramento Kings, where Tywman's pro career began with Rochester, which then moved to Cincinnati and became the Royals. The team moved to Kansas City-Omaha and then eventually west.

In 1983, Twyman became a member of the James Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in addition to his previous honor locally in the James P. Kelly University of Cincinnati Hall of Fame.

Twyman and his wife Carole had a son and three daughters and 14 grandchildren. All Robbie Guttman knew of him at a young age was that he was tall and told him to put some arc on his shot and to use the backboard.

Guttman is a recent Indian Hill grad and multi-sport standout who will be an incoming freshman at the University of Georgia. He was a teammate of Ty Thornton, son of former Bengal John Thornton and Antwan Peek Jr,, son of former UC Bearcat and NFL player Antwan Peek.

It took Guttman a while to realize the significance of his famous relative.

As he grew older and attended some UC basketball games, he learned he could proudly point to the number alongside Oscar Robertson's No. 12 and Kenyon Martin's No. 4 and tell his friends that his grandfather averaged 24.6 points and 16.5 rebounds as a 6-foot-6 UC senior.

He could add that he went on to be a six-time NBA All-Star, who once averaged 31.2 points per game (1958-'59) and owned a high game of 59 points. That's why he's enshrined in the Naismith Museum in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Making those years even more significant, Twyman became the legal guardian of Maurice Stokes, a Royals teammate, when Stokes suffered permanent paralysis from a head injury late in the 1958 season. He organized the yearly Maurice Stokes Memorial Basketball Game to help defray the costs of his medical care and supported Stokes until his death in 1970. A movie "Maurie" was made about their relationship in 1973.

In 2004, Twyman inducted Stokes into the Naismith Hall of Fame, 21 years after his own induction.

"It wasn't just his athletic career that made him famous, it was everything outside of his athletic career," Guttman said. "He showed me the way with how he lived his life and how he treated people."

Guttman could also add that Twyman was on "The NBA on ABC" with Chris Schenkel and Keith Jackson and broadcast such classics as the return of Willis Reed to the New York Knicks in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals as well as Oscar Robertson's lone NBA championship with the Milwaukee Bucks the following year.

And, as if that wasn't enough, Guttman as a finance major can brag on his grandfather's business acumen. Post-basketball Twyman became chairman and chief executive of Super Food Services which supplied many local grocery stores including the old IGA (Independent Grocer's Association) stores at the time.

"I wasn't old enough to fully comprehend everything (when he died) but you get older and it's like, 'Wow! that's my grandfather!'," Guttman said. "As I got older I was really able to take in what he was. It seemed like whatever he did, he was at the top. Nothing was given to him."

It was a lifetime of accomplishments and memories for a guy that didn't even make his high school basketball team until he was a senior in Pittsburgh.

"We tried to instill in them early his character and how to lead your life," daughter Michelle (Twyman) Guttman said.

Even 10 years ago when he was eight years old, Robbie Guttman made a card for his grandfather in his final days. It reflected the lessons he had learned to that point and provided a good foundation.

It read, "Always do the right thing".

It's what Twyman did in helping Maurice Stokes. It was about being humble and having good sportsmanship. It was about the value of hard work and what it means to be a friend.

"I may not be as athletic as my competition, but I'm sure going to work harder," was a quote he passed on to his kids and grandchildren according to Michelle Guttman.

When she failed to make the tennis team one year at Ursuline, Twyman had the speech cued up and ready upon her arrival home. Though he viewed himself as a poor kid from Pittsburgh, he accomplished much and gave more than he took.

He is and was a hard act to follow. Becoming a Division I athlete is difficult and the work is just as tough at any level of high school or post-high school play. Nonetheless, Twyman was proud of everyone's accomplishments across the board.

Michele Guttman does wish her parents were still around to see how her kids and the other grandchildren progressed. She still has a daughter in field hockey and lacrosse at Ursuline and a sophomore football/lacrosse player at St. Xavier.

When Carole Twyman passed two years ago one of her last requests was to have Robbie score a lacrosse goal for her. He did and then added 10 others for an Indian Hill record of 11 goals in the contest.

"He would have loved to have seen what Robbie was able to achieve in high school," Michelle Guttman said of her father. "He would have gotten such a kick out of their athletic careers. It would have been fun, but I know he's watching them."

She says outside of the accolades, he would have been most proud of how Robbie carried himself and what type of teammate he was.

Though he played some, basketball turned out not to be Robbie's sport. But he was  the Cincinnati Hills League leader in football receiving yards last fall for Indian Hill with 53 catches for 720 yards and six touchdowns. As a defensive back, he had three interceptions and was an all-league performer.

In lacrosse, he was All-Ohio with 69 goals and 28 assists the past two seasons for the Braves.

Robbie Guttman now carries himself to Athens, Georgia where he will hang up his football cleats and opt for a student ticket to watch the defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs. He may play some club lacrosse but he wants to enjoy being a college student.

Majoring in finance, he'll learn about monetizing and maximizing profits, backed with the valuable financial and philosophical advice passed on by a wise grandfather: it doesn't cost anything to be nice.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Naismith Hall of Famer Twyman left family a lifetime of inspiration