Basketball was the sport William B. (Bill) Astle, Jr. was best known for at Bradford Durfee College of Technology in Fall River. He was a four-year starting guard in basketball and a four-year member of the school's track team as well, setting an SNECC conference high jump (5' 10") record in 1956. In four years on the hardwood, Astle scored 1,619 points to make him the all-time leading scorer in Durfee Tech history and 10th on the UMass Dartmouth career scoring list. Twice co-captain of his team , Astle was a two-time First Team All-SNECC selection as a junior and a senior and was named a second team selection as a junior. During his senior season, Astle led his team to a 14-11 record and averaged 24.5 points per game.