Hunter
06/25/20
Ben McGilmer of the University of Iowa’s storied “Six Pack” basketball team that won the 1970 Big Ten Championship has passed away at the age of 74.
McGilmer had an interesting life, to say the least.
He was drafted into the US Army after his sophomore year at Iowa, but got to play on the undefeated All Army Basketball Team while overseas. He returned to Iowa City and averaged 10.3 points on that 1970 team. They won 17 of their last 18 games and remain the highest scoring team in Big Ten History. They averaged 98.7 points in the entire season, and 102.9 points per game in Big Ten play.
McGilmer played overseas after his college career on several European teams and coached the Turkish Junior National Team after retiring.
He moved to Spain in 1990, and returned to the United States in 2007. His career path went in a different direction then, getting a Computer Programming degree from ITT Technical Institute, and teaching French and Spanish as a substitute teacher.
There will be an online service for Ben McGilmer on July 12th at noon. Those interested in watching can go to www.levettfuneralhome.com as the date nears to get the live stream link.