“Easy” Ed Macauley, the greatest player in Saint Louis University basketball history, passed away Tuesday, Nov. 9. He was 83.

Macauley, the only Billiken to be enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, led SLU to the 1948 NIT championship when it, and not the NCAA, was college basketball’s premier event, and was named MVP. SLU beat New York University in the championship game at Madison Square Garden. Three days later, the team arrived at Union Station by train and was greeted by 15,000 fans for a parade.

Macauley still ranks 10th on the Bills’ all-time scoring list with 1,402 points.

Professionally, he was the top draft pick of the St. Louis Bombers in 1949 but joined the Boston Celtics in 1950, where he played six seasons before being traded to the St. Louis Hawks. Macauley played three seasons there and helped St. Louis win the NBA title in 1958-59. He scored more than 11,000 points in 10 seasons, playing in seven NBA All-Star games.

His No. 50 is retired by SLU, and the Celtics retired his No. 20. When he got his star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 2003, Macauley told the story about how he got his nickname when he was a sophomore at SLU.

“It was the first time I was appointed captain,” Macauley said. “We dressed in the basement of West Pine Gym and it was my role to lead the team from the basement locker room through the door.

“But nobody followed me when I ran down the court and made a layup. Then I heard people shout, ‘Take it easy, Ed.’ I didn’t realize it, but they were playing the national anthem. That ‘Easy Ed’ nickname helped me get a lot of attention.”