Sullivan played collegiately for the Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball team and was the 14th overall pick in the 1967 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons.

[1] Sullivan suffered a severe ankle injury and averaged only 7.1 points over 18 games in his first varsity season (1964–65) at Georgetown.

Sullivan graduated from Georgetown as the school's seventh all–time scorer, second all–time rebounder, and was the highest NBA draft pick to date in program history.

Pittsburgh had just signed Connie Hawkins at power forward, so Sullivan waited for the NBA draft that summer.

[2] Later, Sullivan spent nine years professionally playing in Italy and Spain, receiving numerous MVP awards.