Wayne Molis

Wayne J. Molis (April 17, 1943 – March 24, 2002) was an American basketball player who starred for two seasons at Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois, a southwest Chicago suburb. The center-forward^[1] went on the play one season for the New York Knicks in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and split a second between the Oakland Oaks and Houston Mavericks in the American Basketball Association (ABA).

At 6-8, 230 pounds, the man known as "Big Moe" was a dominant inside force for the Lewis Flyers team that advanced to the second round of the 1965 NAIA men's basketball tournament in Kansas City, Mo. He was voted team co-Most Valuable Player along with guard Tony Delgado and selected for the NAIA All-American Team.

The New York Knicks drafted Molis in the 10th round (78th overall) of the 1965 NBA draft. The rookie didn't make his debut until the 1966-67 season, when he saw action in 13 games off the bench. He was claimed by the San Diego Rockets in the 1967 expansion draft but was released in the preseason, Molis signed with the Oaks of the rival ABA, where he appeared in five games before a trade sent him to the Mavericks, with whom he played consistent minutes for the first time in his pro career.

Molis had his best game at the expense of his former team on February 22, when he produced career-highs of 18 points and 11 rebounds in a 125-118 victory in Oakland. He averaged 5.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 41 games with the Mavericks, only to be sidelined in the postseason by a knee injury that eventually forced his retirement.

At Lewis, Molis scored 915 points (23.5 per game) and grabbed 508 rebounds (13.0) in 39 appearances. As a senior, he averaged 24.5 points in the 1964-65 campaign. That season Molis set the Flyers record for most field goals in one game (20) against Chicago State (formerly Chicago Teachers College), where he had spent his first two years of college.

In 1980, Molis was part of the first Lewis Athletics Hall of Fame induction class.

Molis served as a McCook, Illinois village trustee and operated a tavern called Big Moe's on Chicago's Southwest Side. He suffered a fatal brain hemorrhage on March 24, 2002 at 58 years of age.

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