{{short description|American basketball player}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Jerry Vayda | image = Jerry Vayda, Duke Chronicle 1953-02-06 page 12.jpg | image_size = | caption = Vayda with North Carolina, {{circa|1953}} | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 4 | weight_lb = 200 | birth_date = {{Birth date|1934|7|18}} | birth_place = Bayonne, New Jersey, US | death_date = {{death date and age|1978|2|16|1934|7|18}} | death_place = New Orleans, Louisiana, US | high_school = St. Peter's Prep<br />(Jersey City, New Jersey) | college = North Carolina (1952–1956) | draft_year = 1956 | career_start = | career_end = | career_number = | career_position = Small forward | years1 = | team1 = | highlights = *Second-team All-ACC (1954) | medal_templates = {{MedalSport | Men's Basketball}} {{MedalCountry | {{bk|USA}} }} {{MedalCompetition | FIBA World Cup}} {{MedalSilver| 1959 Chile | }} }} '''Jerome Joseph Vayda''' (July 18, 1934 – February 16, 1978<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tarheeltimes.com/bio1396.aspx|website=Tar Heel Times|title=Jerry Vayda Basketball News & Bio |accessdate=April 19, 2022}}</ref>) was an American basketball player.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.carolinaalumnireview.com/carolinaalumnireview/ur197804?pg=19#pg19 |title=The University Report |date=April 1978 |website=www.carolinaalumnireview.com |access-date=February 28, 2018}}</ref> At a height of {{convert|6|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}} tall, he played at the small forward position.
==College career== Vayda attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he played college basketball with the Tar Heels. He was named to the ACC's All Second Team, in 1954.
==National team career== As a member of the U.S. Air Force, Vayda represented the senior men's USA national basketball team, at the 1959 FIBA World Championship. He scored a total of 162 points during the tournament, for a scoring average of 18.0 points per game.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20020607130627/http://www.usabasketball.com/history/mwc_1959.html usabasketball.com]</ref> With the US, he won the tournament's silver medal.
==Personal life== Vayda was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, on July 18, 1934, to his parents Joseph G. Vayda and Anna C. Vayda. He died on February 16, 1978, at the age of 43, due to a heart attack. He is survived by two children Catherine J. Vayda, and William J. Vayda.
==References== {{reflist}}
== External links == *[https://archive.fiba.com/pages/eng/fa/p/rpp//q//pid/82588/_//players.html FIBA Profile]{{dead link|date=April 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} *[https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jerry-vayda-1.html Sports-Reference.com profile]
{{United States Squad 1959 FIBA World Championship}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vayda, Jerry}} Category:1934 births Category:1978 deaths Category:1959 FIBA World Championship players Category:Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players Category:American men's basketball players Category:Basketball players from Hudson County, New Jersey Category:North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball players Category:Power forwards Category:Small forwards Category:Sportspeople from Bayonne, New Jersey Category:United States men's national basketball team players