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Bill McGill

Bill McGill, American basketball player (died 2014)

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Born
September 16, 1939
Died
July 11, 2014
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Birth year
1939

About Bill McGill

Bill "the Hill" McGill was an American basketball player best known for inventing the jump hook. McGill was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1962 NBA draft out of the University of Utah, with whom he led the NCAA in scoring with 38.8 points per game in the 1961–1962 season. In 1960–1961, McGill, led the Utes to a 23–8 record and the 1961 NCAA Final Four, averaging 27.8 points per game. Bill "the Hill" McGill (September 16, 1939 – July 11, 2014) was an American basketball player best known for inventing the jump hook. In 1959–1960, McGill, the first black player at Utah, led the team in averaging 15.5 points and 9.8 rebounds, as the Utah Utes men's basketball team finished 26-3 under Coach Gardner. There, they beat USC 80–73 in the first round, behind 27 points and 10 rebounds from McGill.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Bill McGill timeline

  1. Bill "the Hill" McGill (September 16, 1939 – July 11, 2014) was an American basketball player best known for inventing the jump hook.
  2. In 1959–1960, McGill, the first black player at Utah, led the team in averaging 15.5 points and 9.8 rebounds, as the Utah Utes men's basketball team finished 26-3 under Coach Gardner.
  3. In 1960–1961, McGill, led the Utes to a 23–8 record and the 1961 NCAA Final Four, averaging 27.8 points per game.
  4. McGill was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1962 NBA draft out of the University of Utah, with whom he led the NCAA in scoring with 38.8 points per game in the 1961–1962 season.

The world when Bill McGill was born

Bill McGill was born in 1939. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1939

  • #1 song"Over the Rainbow" – Judy Garland
  • Top movieGone with the Wind
  • Best-selling bookThe Grapes of Wrath – John Steinbeck

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentLou Gehrig delivers his "Luckiest Man" farewell speech
  • Top headlineGermany invades Poland — World War II begins
  • Technology milestoneFirst regular television broadcasts in the US (NBC)
  • Defining fadThe Wizard of Oz mania
  • Notable inventionNylon stockings
  • World population2.30 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderFranklin D. Roosevelt
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • U.S. population130.9M

1939 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Bill McGill's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19392026
Gas$0.19$3.45/gal
Average home$5,200$435,000
Average income$2,900$67,500
Minimum wage$0.30$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.25$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population130.9M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, NBA, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.