For seven years, starting in 1973, Cedric Oliver sparked basketball seasons of unparalleled success for Utica's Proctor High School and for Hamilton College. Not considered tall enough (6-4), agile enough or fast enough, Oliver used an intelligent and tireless style of play to score record numbers of points and rebounds. He was particularly effective when the game was on the line.

Cedric Oliver was born in the Bronx, N.Y. He moved to Utica to live with his grandmother when he was 13. At Proctor he was All Central Oneida League and All Central New York. At Hamilton he averaged 22.7 points and 12.7 rebounds per game for four years and was named to the NCAA Division III All-America first team in 1977, 1978 and 1979 and was Division III player of the year in 1978. Hamilton's record during Oliver's career was 89-15, including two ECAC Upstate Regional titles.

Cedric Oliver's excellent character is evident beyond the accumulation of points and rebounds. He made a difficult adjustment to a challenging academic program in college with grace and dignity. He presented an example of first class sportsmanship to teammates and opponents alike. Once, in his senior year, when Hamilton sustained a 56-55 loss that broke a record of 16 straight wins, Oliver intervened when a teammate confronted an official. "We don't do that here, we just go to the shower - in life everything just doesn't always go your way", he said.

Cedric Oliver now lives in the Kansas City area where he is regional sales manager for a national corporation. Oliver's basketball coach at Hamilton, Tom Murphy, was inducted into the Greater Utica Sports Hall of Fame in 1990.