George Mikan

Abe Saperstein
Abraham M. Saperstein (July 4, 1902 – March 15, 1966) was an owner and coach of the Savoy Big Five, which later became the Harlem Globetrotters. He was born in London, England to a Jewish family.
Saperstein was the commissioner of the American Basketball League and owned the Chicago Majors team in that league.
In the 1988 Harlem Globetrotters documentary 6 Decades of Magic, it was noted that Saperstein chose "Harlem" to indicate that the players were African-American, even though they were actually from Chicago, and the "Globetrotters" moniker to make it seem as though the team had traveled all around the world.
Saperstein, whose 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) stature may render him as Basketball Hall of Fame's shortest member, was elected to the Hall in 1971. In 1979, he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. He played baseball, basketball, and ran track while in high school. He played as a guard for the Chicago Reds.
He was buried in the Westlawn Cemetery in Norridge, Illinois near Chicago.

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Adam Morrison
Adam John Morrison (born July 19, 1984) is an American basketball player who last played for Beşiktaş Milangaz in Turkey.
Morrison played for three years at Gonzaga University and was considered to be one of the top college basketball players in 2005–06. He was a finalist for the Naismith and the Wooden Award. He was named Co-Player of the Year with Duke University's J. J. Redick by the United States Basketball Writers Association and won the 2006 Chevrolet Player of the Year award.
Morrison's father John is a basketball coach, and the family moved with his coaching career: Casper College in Northwest Casper, Wyoming, Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota, and Dawson Community College in Glendive, Montana. When Morrison was in the fourth grade, his father left coaching and the family moved to Spokane, Washington. Adam became the Gonzaga men's team's ball boy.
When he was in the eighth grade, he lost 30 pounds (14 kg), and while attending a basketball camp at Gonzaga during this time, he felt sick, later saying about his experience at the camp, "I think I made one shot the whole three days. I was sicker than a dog. I didn't want to play. I couldn't do anything." Shortly after this, Morrison was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. He took his diagnosis surprisingly well; the second time a nurse came to administer insulin, he stopped her, telling her, "Since I'm going to be doing this the rest of my life, you might as well show me how to do it." However, his illness did not keep him from becoming a star at Mead Senior High School in Spokane. In his senior year he broke single-season and career scoring records in his high school conference, and led Mead to the finals of the state tournament. Despite playing in the final game with hypoglycemia so severe that he nearly suffered a seizure, he scored 37 points in a losing effort. It was Mead's only loss that season. Morrison was not heavily recruited out of high school.

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Adolph Rupp
Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was one of the most successful coaches in the history of American college basketball. Rupp is ranked 5th (behind Mike Krzyzewski, Bob Knight, Jim Boeheim, and Dean Smith) in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching. Rupp is also second among all men's college coaches in all-time winning percentage (.822), trailing only Clair Bee. Adolph F. Rupp was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on April 13, 1969.
Rupp was born outside Halstead, Kansas, to Mennonite German immigrants, the fourth of six children. He grew up on a 173-acre (0.70 km²) farm which his father Heinrich homesteaded. After his father's death in 1910, Rupp's oldest brother Otto took over farming responsibilities. As a youngster, Rupp worked on the farm and attended a school in a one-room school house in the country. He first became interested in the sport of basketball at the age of six when Halstead won the first of two consecutive Kansas state high school titles. According to interviews, he and his brothers stuffed rags into a gunnysack which his mother sewed up to use as a basketball on the family farm. Later, after growing to a sturdy 6-foot-2, Rupp was a star on his Halstead High School team, averaging over 19 points a game in both his junior and senior years. Rupp also served as team captain and unofficial coach.

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Adrian Dantley
Adrian Delano Dantley (born February 28, 1956 in Washington, D.C.) is a retired American basketball player who played 15 seasons in the NBA, including seven as a member of the Utah Jazz. A forward/guard and six-time NBA All-Star, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2008. In 2010, he was appointed acting head coach of the Denver Nuggets in the absence of stricken head coach George Karl.
Dantley attended basketball powerhouse DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland where he played under legendary basketball coach Morgan Wootten.
Dantley was a forward at Notre Dame from 1973-76. He was a consensus first team All-American in 1974-75 and 1975–76 and was named 1976 National Player of the Year. He ranks second on the Notre Dame career scoring list with 2,223 points and holds the school record for free throws made (615) and free throws attempted (769).
Dantley had a stellar collegiate career for the Fighting Irish. As a freshman, he played an important role in one of the biggest games in college basketball history, Notre Dame's stunning 1974 upset to end UCLA's record 88-game winning streak. That UCLA team, coached by the legendary John Wooden, featured Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes (then known as Keith Wilkes), and Dave Meyer.

wn.com/Adrian_Dantley

Al Cervi
Alfred Nicholas Cervi (February 12, 1917 – November 9, 2009) was an American professional basketball player and coach in the National Basketball League (NBL) and National Basketball Association (NBA). One of the strongest backcourt players of the 1940s and 1950s, he was always assigned to defend against the opposing team's best scoring threat. He earned the nickname Digger because of his hard-nosed style of defense.
Born in Buffalo, New York, Cervi attended East High School in his hometown, where he captained the baseball and basketball teams and achieved All-City honors in both sports. He dropped out of school after his junior year when he was recruited by the Buffalo Bisons of the newly formed NBL. He played in all of the Bisons' nine games in 1937–38, the franchise's only season of existence.
He never attended college. Instead, he served five years in the United States Army Air Forces from 1940 through 1945.
After the conclusion of World War II, he joined the Rochester Royals, another NBL franchise entering its first year of operations. He immediately experienced success as the team captured the 1945–46 league title after sweeping the best-of-five championship series from the Sheboygan Red Skins. The Royals returned to the finals the following two seasons, but lost to the Chicago American Gears and Minneapolis Lakers in four games each. Cervi made the All-NBL First Team in 1947 and 1948. In the first of those two campaigns, he was named the circuit's Most Valuable Player as the leading scorer with 632 points.

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Al McGuire
Alfred James "Al" McGuire (September 7, 1928 – January 26, 2001) was the head coach of the Marquette University men's basketball team from 1964 to 1977. He compiled impressive numbers throughout his coaching career, resulting in his induction to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1992, and was also well known for his colorful personality.
He played three years of basketball at St. John's Prep., Queens, New York (graduated 1947), and went on to star at St. John's University (1947–1951), where he played for four years and captained the 1951 team that posted a 26–5 mark and finished third in the NIT.
After college, McGuire played in the NBA, first with the New York Knicks (1951–53) and then with the Baltimore Bullets (1954). While with the Knicks, he once famously pleaded with his coach for playing time, with this guarantee: "I can stop Cousy." Inserted into the lineup, McGuire proceeded to foul him on his next six trips down the court.
McGuire began his illustrious coaching career as an assistant at Dartmouth College (1955–1957). He then took his first head coaching job at Belmont Abbey College (1957–1964), where he recruited many high school players off the streets of New York. McGuire later became head coach at Marquette University in 1964 where he enjoyed success, including the NIT Championship in 1970 and a Final Four appearance in 1974, where McGuire became the first coach ejected from a championship game.

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Aleksandar Nikolić
Aleksandar "Aca" Nikolić (Serbian Cyrillic: Александар Николић; 28 October 1924 – 12 March 2000) was a renowned Serb basketball player and coach from Yugoslavia. He is considered to be so instrumental and important to the game's development in the country, that he is often referred to as, The Father of Yugoslav Basketball.
Nikolić was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in what was at the time, part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, but he moved to the capital Belgrade, at a young age. He studied medicine and law at the University of Belgrade, graduating in 1946.
Aleksandar Nikolić died on 12 March 2000, in Belgrade, He is buried in the Alley of the Greats, in Belgrade, Novo Groblje ("New Cemetery").
Nikolić was nicknamed, "The Professor", "Iron Sergeant", and, "The father of Yugoslav basketball". He was a Professor at the University of Belgrade's Faculty of Sport and Physical Education. The future coaches taught by Nikolić include Božidar Maljković, Dušan Ivković, Bogdan Tanjević, Želimir Obradović, etc.

wn.com/Aleksandar_Nikolić

Alex English
Alexander English (born January 5, 1954 in Columbia, South Carolina) is a retired American basketball player who played at the forward position. He is currently an assistant coach with the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association. He played at the University of South Carolina and most notably with the National Basketball Association's Denver Nuggets.
He averaged 21.5 points and 5.5 rebounds per game during his NBA career and was the NBA's most prolific scorer during the 1980s. He was named to eight NBA All-Star teams, his #2 jersey was retired by the Nuggets, and he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997.
English spent the majority of his career with the Nuggets, but also played briefly with the Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers and Dallas Mavericks. He was drafted in 1976 by the Bucks, and was part of a rookie class that includes fellow Hall of Famers Robert Parish, Adrian Dantley and Dennis Johnson.
Most of his time in Milwaukee was spent as a back-up on a rebuilding team that lost Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. However, it was not until he was sent to Indiana in 1978 that he began his reputation as a scorer, averaging 16 points there on another subpar team before being traded to Denver.

wn.com/Alex_English

Alex Groza
Alex John Groza (October 7, 1926 – January 21, 1995) was an American professional basketball player from Martins Ferry, Ohio who was banned from the NBA for life in 1951 for point shaving. He had an outstanding college career at the University of Kentucky and was a two-time All-Star for the Indianapolis Olympians before his career came to an abrupt end.
Groza was the captain and center of the "Fabulous Five" that won the 1948 and 1949 NCAA Men's Basketball Championships, as well as the leading scorer on the gold medal-winning 1948 US Olympic basketball team. Groza was three-time All-American and All-SEC, and two-time NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player.
Groza was drafted in the 1st round of the 1949 NBA Draft by the Indianapolis Olympians. Groza averaged 23.4 points per game in his rookie season and was named NBA Rookie of the Year — a designation not currently sanctioned by the NBA for the 1949-50 season. He averaged 22.5 points per game over two seasons before being implicated along with college teammates Ralph Beard and Dale Barnstable in a point shaving scandal during the 1948-49 season at Kentucky. NBA president Maurice Podoloff banned all of the implicated players from the league for life.

wn.com/Alex_Groza

Alex Hannum
Alexander Murray Hannum (July 19, 1923 — January 18, 2002) was a professional basketball player and Hall-of-Fame coach.
Hannum is mostly known for coaching the Wilt Chamberlain-led Philadelphia 76ers of 1966-67 to the NBA championship, ending the eight-year title streak of the Boston Celtics. He had also coached the Bob Pettit-led St. Louis Hawks team to the 1958 NBA Championship over the Celtics in the NBA Finals, thus making him the first of only three head coaches in NBA history to win championships with two different teams (the other two are Phil Jackson and Pat Riley). The aforementioned seasons were the only two in Bill Russell's 13-year career in which the Celtics' center did not win an NBA championship. In 1964, Hannum was named NBA Coach of the Year while with the San Francisco Warriors.
In 1968 Hannum was named head coach and executive vice president of the Oakland Oaks of the American Basketball Association. In Hannum coached the Rick Barry-led Oaks to the 1969 ABA Championship, becoming the first of two coaches to win championships in both the NBA and ABA. Hannum won the ABA Coach of the Year honors the same season.

wn.com/Alex_Hannum

Alexander Gomelsky
Alexander Yakovlevich Gomelsky (Russian: Гомельский, Александр Яковлевич) (January 18, 1928 in Kronstadt, USSR – August 16, 2005 in Moscow, Russia) was a great Soviet and Russian basketball coach. Gomelsky was Jewish.[1]
Gomelsky began his coaching career in 1948, in Leningrad, with LGS Spartak. In 1953, he became the coach of ASK Riga, an army club, leading the team to five Soviet Union league titles, and three consecutive European Champions Cups (Euroleague), from 1958 to 1960.
In 1969, he was appointed the head coach of CSKA Moscow, where he coached until 1980, leading the club to 9 Soviet Union national league championships (1970–1974, 1976–1979), 2 Soviet union national cups (1972–1973), and one European Champions Cup (Euroleague) title in 1971. He also lead the club to two more European Champions Cup (Euroleague) finals, in 1970, and 1973.
He also coached in Spain, France, and the United States.
Gomelsky coached the Soviet Union national team for almost 30 years, leading them to 6 FIBA European Championship titles (1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1979, and 1981), 2 FIBA World Cup titles (1967, and 1982), and the Summer Olympic Games gold medal in 1988.

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Allen Iverson
Allen Ezail Iverson (born June 7, 1975) is an American professional basketball player, playing both the point guard and shooting guard positions. Iverson attended Bethel High School and was a dual-sport athlete; he earned The Associated Press High School Player of the Year award in both football and basketball, and won the Division AAA Virginia State Championship in both sports. After high school, Iverson attended Georgetown University for two years, where he set the school record for career scoring average (22.9 points per game) and won Big East Defensive Player of the Year awards both years.
Following two successful years at Georgetown, Iverson declared eligibility for the 1996 NBA Draft, and was selected by the Philadelphia 76ers with the number one pick. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in the 1996–97 season. Iverson is an eleven-time NBA All-Star which includes winning the All-Star MVP award in 2001 and 2005.
Winning the NBA scoring title during the 1998–99, 2000–01, 2001–02 and 2004–05 seasons, Iverson was one of the most prolific scorers in NBA history, despite his small stature (listed at 6 feet, 0 inches). His regular season career scoring average of 26.7 points per game ranks sixth all-time, and his playoff career scoring average of 29.7 points per game is second only to Michael Jordan. Iverson was also the NBA Most Valuable Player of the 2000–01 season and led his team to the 2001 NBA Finals the same season. Iverson represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics, winning the bronze medal. He also played for the Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons and the Memphis Grizzlies, before returning to the 76ers for part of the 2009–10 season.

wn.com/Allen_Iverson

Allie Paine
Alva Leon "Allie" Paine (July 22, 1919 – March 21, 2008) was an American college basketball standout at the University of Oklahoma who was named a consensus First Team All-American in 1944. In high school, Paine earned varsity letters in football, basketball and baseball, and he earned a scholarship to play for the Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball team. He played for four seasons: 1941, 1943, 1944 and 1947. He had spent two years in the United States Army before finishing his college career.
Paine, a 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) guard, guided the Sooners to two Big Six Conference titles in 1944 and 1947. As a junior he led the conference in scoring and was named both a First Team All-Conference and consensus First Team All-American selection. In his final season of 1946–47, he helped Oklahoma reach the national championship game in the 1947 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. The Sooners lost, however, to the Holy Cross Crusaders 58–47. Paine graduated from Oklahoma with bachelor degrees in business and education.

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Alva Duer
Alva O. Duer (November 18, 1904, Sylvia, Kansas, US — November 18, 1987) was a college basketball coach and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and United States Olympic Committee administrator and is a member of the NAIA and Basketball Halls of Fame. He went to Stafford High School in Stafford, Kansas and was captain of the basketball team all four years he attended. He graduated from high school in 1923.
He coached college basketball at Pepperdine College in Los Angeles, California from 1939-1948. During that time, he had a record of 176-94 (.651). He led Pepperdine to six postseason appearances (5 NAIB and 1 NCAA), he also led Pepperdine to the 1945 NAIB final.

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Alvin Young
Alvin Young (born November 12, 1975) is an American expatriate professional basketball player.
Young was raised in Brooklyn, New York, USA, where he attended Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School. He learned to play basketball at the church where his mother, Edna, worked. Young tried out for the team every year he was in high school, but in all four years he was cut and did not make the final roster. He graduated high school in 1995.
Unsurprisingly, no NCAA Division I colleges recruited him, so Young attended Mitchell College, a junior college located in New London, Connecticut. and played basketball on its team.
During his sophomore season, Young averaged an NJCAA Tournament record 43.6 points per game over five games, including a high of 54. His head coach, Rich Conover, who was in his first season at the helm, was instrumental in guiding Young to play at Niagara University. Young viewed Conover as an uncle, so he took that advice and enrolled at Niagara the following fall.
The final two seasons of Young's NCAA eligibility were spent playing at the Division I institution. A 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) shooting guard / small forward, he surpassed all expectations, and as a senior in 1998–99, Young led NCAA Division I in scoring at 25.1 points per game. It was the highest scoring average for a player at Niagara since Hall of Famer Calvin Murphy averaged approximately 29 in 1969–70. Young scored a career high 44 points against Siena, and that season he was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year. He finished his two-year Division I career with 1,152 points, 306 rebounds, 151 blocks and 130 assists.

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Amos Alonzo Stagg
Amos Alonzo Stagg (August 16, 1862 – March 17, 1965) was an American athlete and pioneering college coach in multiple sports, primarily American football. He served as the head football coach at Springfield College (1890–1891), the University of Chicago (1892–1932), and the College of the Pacific (1933–1946), compiling a career college football record of 314–199–35. His Chicago Maroons teams of 1905 and 1913 have been recognized as national champions. He was also the head basketball coach for one season at the University of Chicago (1920–1921), and the head baseball coach there for 19 seasons (1893–1905, 1907–1913).
At University of Chicago, Stagg also instituted an annual prep basketball tourney and track meet. Both drew the top high school teams and athletes from around the United States.
Stagg played football as an end at Yale University and was selected to the first College Football All-America Team in 1889. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as both a player and a coach in the charter class of 1951 and was the only individual honored in both roles until the 1990s. Influential in other sports, Stagg developed basketball as a five-player sport and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in its first group of inductees in 1959.

wn.com/Amos_Alonzo_Stagg

Andrew Bynum
Andrew Bynum (born October 27, 1987) is an American professional basketball center who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He has won two NBA Championships with the Lakers, and he was a first-time All-Star in 2012. Bynum was drafted with the 10th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft by the Lakers. He became the youngest player ever to play an NBA game later that year. Amidst the 2007–08 season, he suffered an injury on his left kneecap and eventually missed the rest of the season and all of the playoffs. He made a successful return at the beginning of the 2008–09 season. In January 2009, however, he suffered another injury, this time to his right knee. He was able to come back before the playoffs started and was part of the Lakers squad that won the 2009 NBA championship. In the 2010 post-season, Bynum played in every single playoff game with a torn meniscus and strained Achilles tendon and the Lakers repeated as NBA champions against the Boston Celtics.

wn.com/Andrew_Bynum

Andy Phillip
Andrew Michael "Handy Andy" Phillip (March 7, 1922 – April 29, 2001) was a guard/forward who had an 11 year career professional basketball career from 1948 to 1958. Born in Granite City, Illinois, Andy Phillip played for the Chicago Stags of the Basketball Association of America and the Philadelphia Warriors, Fort Wayne Pistons and Boston Celtics, all of the National Basketball Association.
Phillip led his high school, Granite City, to the Illinois state championship in 1940. He attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he earned renown for his talents and for the Fighting Illini's success during war-interrupted, non-consecutive seasons, 1941–1943 and 1946–1947, . He was a member of Delta Tau Delta fraternity. Phillip served as a First Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps in World War II at Iwo Jima.
Phillip played in the first five NBA All-Star Games, and was twice named to the All-NBA Second Team. He was the first player to record 500 assists in a season, and led the NBA in assists during the 1950-51 and 1950-52 seasons. Phillip's teams made it to the NBA Finals during his final four seasons — twice with Fort Wayne and twice with Boston. The 1957 Boston team won the NBA Championship.

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Ann Meyers
Ann Meyers Drysdale (born Ann Elizabeth Meyers March 26, 1955 in San Diego) is a retired American basketball player and sportscaster. She was a standout player in high school, college, the Olympic Games, international tournaments, and the professional levels.
Meyers was the first player to be part of the U.S. national team while still in high school. She was the second woman to be signed to a four-year athletic scholarship for college, at UCLA. She was also the only woman to sign a contract with a National Basketball Association team, the Indiana Pacers (1979).
Meyers currently resides in Huntington Beach, California, and serves as the president and general manager for the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and vice president of the NBA's Phoenix Suns. For over 26 years, she served as a network television sports analyst for ESPN, CBS, and NBC. Meyers is a Board Member for the Lott IMPACT Trophy, which is named after Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott, and is given annually to college football's Defensive IMPACT Player of the Year.

wn.com/Ann_Meyers

Anne Donovan
Anne Donovan (born November 1, 1961) is an American retired basketball player and the current head coach of the women's basketball team at Seton Hall University. She was formerly an assistant coach, then interim head coach of the New York Liberty of the WNBA. She is the only person to have both played to a national women's college title and coached a team to a professional title. She is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Donovan joined the New York Liberty as an assistant coach in the spring of 2009, then took over as interim head coach of the Liberty on July 31, 2009. She accepted the women's basketball head coaching position at Seton Hall on March 29, 2010, although she completed the 2010 season with the Liberty.
Donovan attended Paramus Catholic High School in Paramus, New Jersey. The six-foot-one--at the time--Donovan led her high school team to consecutive undefeated seasons, including two state championships. She averaged 25 points per game and 17 rebounds her senior year.

wn.com/Anne_Donovan

Antawn Jamison
Antawn Cortez Jamison (

/ˈæntwɑːn/; born June 12, 1976) is an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He currently plays power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers and was a member of the USA National Team for the 2006 FIBA World Championships
Jamison was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. His name was accidentally printed as "Antawn" instead of "Antwan" on his birth certificate. However, his family decided to keep the misspelling as they felt it would be more distinctive. His first name is still pronounced as though it were spelled "Antwan" or "Antoine". Jamison played middle school basketball and was a quarterback in football at Quail Hollow Middle School in Charlotte, North Carolina. Jamison played high school basketball at Providence High School in Charlotte, North Carolina and was named a McDonald's All-American after his senior season.
Jamison played college basketball at University of North Carolina for three seasons, averaging 19.0 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. In his junior year, he was awarded both the Naismith and Wooden Awards as the most outstanding men's college basketball player for the 1997–98 season. Jamison decided to forgo his senior year of eligibility and enter the NBA draft in 1998 thus ending his college career. On March 1, 2000 Jamison's #33 was retired at the Dean E. Smith Center. He became only the seventh North Carolina basketball player to have his number retired.

wn.com/Antawn_Jamison

Arad McCutchan
Arad A. McCutchan (July 4, 1912 – June 16, 1993) was a well-known collegiate basketball coach. The Evansville, Indiana native coached his hometown University of Evansville from 1946 to 1977, guiding the Purple Aces to a 515-313 record.
McCutchan spent seven years coaching Bosse High School (1936-43) before serving in the United States Navy during World War II. In 1946 he took over the head coaching position at University of Evansville . In the following years he guided them to five NCAA College Division championships (1959, 1960, 1964, 1965, 1971) as well as three undefeated seasons in their conference (1964, 1965, 1971). McCutchan was named NCAA College Division Coach of the Year two times (1964, 1965). He was an assistant coach to Gene Bartow for the US national team in the 1974 FIBA World Championship, where he won the bronze medal. On April 27, 1981 he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
His first name, Arad, was inherited from a grandfather who was named from the Bible. He often said the name was Hebrew for "wild ass."

wn.com/Arad_McCutchan

Arnie Ferrin
C. Arnold Ferrin Jr. (born July 29, 1925 in Salt Lake City, Utah) is a retired American basketball player in college and the BAA and NBA.
Ferrin attended high school in Ogden, Utah. In college with the University of Utah, he won the NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player award in 1944 when they won the championship over Dartmouth College. He would also later help them win a NIT in 1947. He became the only four-time All-American at Utah.
He played professionally for three straight years with the Minneapolis Lakers from 1949 through 1951 under coach John Kundla. The team won the BAA (later the NBA) championship in 1949 and won the NBA championship in 1950, both times with the help of Ferrin. He scored 345 points in '49 and 340 in '50, ending his career with 509 points in three years. He made 275-of-401 free throws in his career. He was inducted into the Pac-12 Basketball Hall of Honor during the 2012 Pacific-12 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, March 10, 2012.

wn.com/Arnie_Ferrin

Arnie Risen
Arnold D. Risen (born October 9, 1924 in Williamstown, Kentucky) is a retired American basketball player.
A 6'9" center from the Ohio State University, he led the Buckeyes to two straight Final Four appearances.
Risen played professionally in the NBA for ten seasons (1948–1958) as a member of the Rochester Royals and Boston Celtics. Risen was a four-time All-Star and two-time NBA Champion, and he scored 7,633 points in his career. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998.

wn.com/Arnie_Risen

Art Heyman
Arthur Bruce "Art" Heyman (born June 24, 1941) is an American former professional basketball player.
Heyman, who was Jewish,[2] was born in New York City, New York. A 6' 5" guard/forward, after attending Oceanside High School in New York, Heyman was heavily recruited by many schools, and originally signed a letter of intent to play for the North Carolina Tar Heels. At the last moment, however, Heyman changed his mind and agreed to play for the Tar Heels greatest rivals, the Duke Blue Devils.
Due to NCAA eligibility rules that prohibited freshmen from playing varsity sports, Heyman played his first year at Duke with the Freshman team, which compiled a record of 10–5, including three victories over the Tar Heels. During one of the Duke-North Carolina freshman games, North Carolina freshman Dieter Krause attacked Heyman, leading to a melee where the two coaches had to be restrained from attacking each other. Heyman needed five stitches after the attack.

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Arthur Schabinger
Arthur August Schabinger (August 6, 1889 in Sabetha, Kansas, USA – October 13, 1972) was an American football and basketball coach, and then later administrator. Schabinger is credited (although disputed) with throwing the first forward pass in college football history. Even if it was not the first forward pass, most certainly Schabinger was one of the early adopters and innovators of the play.
Schabinger coached college basketball for 20 seasons, including stints with Ottawa University, Emporia Teachers College and Creighton University. He was one of the founders of National Association of Basketball Coaches and the president of that organization in 1932. He authored the association's Constitution and By-Laws. He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1961.
In 1910, Schabinger led the College of Emporia Presbies to a 17-0 victory over Washburn University. During this game, he threw what some have credited (but many other records disputed) to be the first forward pass in college football history. That same year, "Schabie" scored seven touchdowns in a 107-0 win over Pittsburg Normal.

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Arthur Trester
Arthur L. Trester (June 10, 1878 in Pecksburg, Indiana, USA – September 18, 1944) was an American basketball administrator. He was the commissioner of the Indiana High School Athletic Association from 1922 to 1944, that organization was the force behind Hoosier Hysteria in Indiana. He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1961.

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Artis Gilmore
Artis Gilmore (born September 21, 1949) is a retired American Hall of Fame basketball player who played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). Artis was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on August 12, 2011. A star center during his two collegiate years at Jacksonville University, in Jacksonville, Florida, Gilmore led the Dolphins to the NCAA Division I championship game in 1970, where his team was beaten 80-69 by the UCLA Bruins. Gilmore remains the top player in rebounds per game in the history of NCAA Division I basketball.
Gilmore followed 5 All-Star seasons with the Kentucky Colonels of the ABA by becoming the 1st overall pick of the 1976 NBA dispersal draft, which was held after the ABA was disbanded, as four teams transferred to the NBA. In Gilmore's complete pro basketball career, he was an eleven-time All-Star, the ABA Rookie of the Year, and an ABA MVP, and he remains the NBA career leader for field goal percentage.

wn.com/Artis_Gilmore

Arvydas Sabonis
Arvydas Romas Sabonis (born December 19, 1964 in Kaunas, Lithuania SSR, USSR) is a Lithuanian retired professional basketball player and a businessman. He was an eight-time European Player of the Year, winning the Euroscar Award six times, and the Mr. Europa Award twice, as the best European player and played in a variety of leagues, including seven seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the United States. Sabonis played the center position and also won a gold medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics in South Korea for the Soviet Union, and later earned bronze medals at the 1992 and 1996 games while playing for Lithuania. He retired from professional basketball in 2005.
Sabonis is considered one of the best big man passers as well as one of the best overall centers in the history of the game. Bill Walton once called Sabonis a 7'3" Larry Bird due to his unique court vision, shooting range, rugged in-game mentality, and versatility.
On August 20, 2010, Sabonis was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in recognition of his great play in international competition. On April 4, 2011, Sabonis was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and he was inducted on August 12, 2011. Sabonis has the distinction of being the tallest player inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. On 24 October 2011, Sabonis was voted to be the next president of the Lithuanian Basketball Federation.

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Aubrey Coleman
Aubrey Gene Coleman (born October 9, 1987) is an American professional basketball guard with the Angelico Biella of the Serie A. Prior to joining the his current team, Coleman played as a guard for the Austin Toros of the NBA Development League and Aliağa Petkim in the Turkish Basketball League. He played college basketball as an all-Conference USA player for Houston where he became the NCAA's leading scorer for the 2010 season.
Coleman played in high school for Thurgood Marshall High School and Gulf Shores Academy, and at the junior college level for Southwest Mississippi Community College.
Coleman played as a guard for Houston under the number 12, and majored in sociology. At Houston, Coleman was the 2009 Conference USA Newcomer of the Year as well as a selection for the 2009 All-Conference USA first team. He also received honors of being named to the 2008-09 NABC All-District 11 first team and the 2008-09 USBWA All-District VII Team. His junior season where he started 32 for games, he was the team leader for the Cougars with 19.4 points per game, and was second-place for rebounds per game with 8.2. He also led the league with 2.3 steals per game, received the Conference USA Rookie of the Week award five times, and the Conference USA Player of the Week award two times. During the postseason, He was a part of Houston's team during the 2009 College Basketball Invitational.

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Aud Brindley
Audley "Aud" Brindley (December 31, 1923 in Mineola, New York – November 19, 1957) was an American basketball player.
He played collegiately for the Dartmouth College.
He played for the New York Knicks (1946–47) in the BAA for 12 games.

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Austin Carr
Austin George Carr (born March 10, 1948) is a retired American professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association. He is known by Cleveland basketball fans as "Mr. Cavalier".
Carr grew up in Washington D.C., and attended Holy Redeemer School, and later Mackin Catholic High School. At Mackin, Carr teamed with All-City guard Tom Little, who made some national All-American teams before starring at the University of Seattle. As a Junior All Met, Carr scored 475 points in 24 games. During Carr's All Met senior season, he scored 600 points and along with Sterling Savoy, led the Paul Furlong coached Trojans to the Catholic League title over DeMatha. Carr was named Parade All-American along with other 1967 seniors such as Artis Gilmore, Howard Porter, Jim McDaniels, and Curtis Rowe, all of whom became major college stars.
The 6-foot 4-inch (1.93 m), 200 lb (91 kg) shooting guard first came to prominence as a highly-recruited player for the University of Notre Dame, arriving after having scored more than 2,000 points during his high school career. Carr lived up to his lofty billing by ending his three-year career at Notre Dame with 2,560 points (an average of 34.5 points per game), ranking him fifth all-time in college basketball history at the time of his departure. During his final two seasons, Carr became only the second college player ever to tally more than 1,000 points in a season, joining Pete Maravich in that select group. Carr holds NCAA tournament records for most points in one game (61 vs. Ohio in 1970), most field goals in one game (25), and most field goals attempted in one game (44). His record scoring average of 50 points per game in seven NCAA playoff games may never be broken. Recently, ESPN named Carr the 22nd greatest college basketball player of all time.

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Bailey Howell
Bailey E. Howell (born January 20, 1937 in Middleton, Tennessee) is a former professional basketball player now enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. A 6'7" forward from Mississippi State University, he played 12 seasons (1959–1971) in the NBA as a member of the Detroit Pistons, Baltimore Bullets, Boston Celtics, and Philadelphia 76ers. A six-time All-Star with 17,770 career points, he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997. He won two NBA championships with the Boston Celtics. The best years of his career were during his time with the Bullets and the Celtics.
Despite playing at the college level for only three years, Howell set and still holds Mississippi State records for single-game points scored, career scoring average, single-season and career free throws made, single-season and career free throws attempted, single-game free throw percentage, single-game rebounds, single-season rebounds, career rebounds, and single-season and career rebounding average. His scoring records are particularly impressive, since there was no three point line or shot clock at the time that he played. He is considered a legend to the Bulldog basketball faithful, and one of best-known players to have played at MSU. He is probably most known for his hook shot, rebounding ability, and work ethic as a player and person. After his career ended, he went to work with the Converse shoe company, particularly with the Converse All-Star. He resides in Starkville, Mississippi where he is very active in Mississippi State athletics fund-raising, specifically the Bulldog Club, an organized fund to pay for MSU athletic scholarships. He currently serves as an elder for the Starkville Church of Christ.

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Barney Sedran
Barney Sedran (January 28, 1891 – January 14, 1964) was one of the great early pro basketball players in the 1910s and 1920s.
Nicknamed "Mighty Mite", the New York City native who grew up on the Lower East Side, Sedran (shortened from Sedransky) was a member of the well-known New York Whirlwinds and Cleveland Rosenblums, among many other teams in New York as well as in Carbondale, Pennsylvania. Occasionally he teamed with Marty Friedman, forming one of the finest backcourt duos in basketball history.
Sedran played for the Lower East Side's University Settlement House because he was too small to make his DeWitt Clinton High School (Bronx, New York) team. The Settlement team won the 115-pound division championship in 1905–06, and the Metropolitan AAU title 1906–07.
At City College of New York(CCNY) Sedran was the school’s leading scorer for three consecutive seasons, 1909–11, and was named to various college all-star teams.
The smallest player enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, “The Mighty Might of Basketball” turned pro after leaving CCNY, teaming successfully and often with 5’ 7” hall of famer (Naismith and IJSHOF) Max Friedman. They were known as the “Heavenly Twins”. In an era of barnstorming, short-lived leagues, and schedules that often called for as many as three games a day, Sedran is said to have been pro basketball’s highest paid star.

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Bart Carlton
Bart Carlton was an American standout college basketball player at Ada Teachers College (later named East Central University) in Ada, Oklahoma during the early 1930s. He was a two-time All-American in 1930 and 1931. Carlton was also named the Helms National Player of the Year in 1931 despite having never been a consensus All-American, giving him the odd distinction as the only national player of the year who was never a consensus All-American (since consensus voting began in 1928–29).
After college he played in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) for the DX-Oilers. Carlton led them to a national championship in 1933 with teammate Chuck Hyatt and helped produce a 26–0 record.

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Ben Carnevale
Bernard Louis "Ben" Carnevale (October 30, 1915 – March 25, 2008) was an American college men's basketball coach.
Born in Raritan, New Jersey, Carnevale was a graduate of Somerville High School in Somerville, New Jersey. He graduated from New York University, where he was a member of the 1935 national championship team and played in the first National Invitation Tournament in 1938. While at NYU he was coached by the legendary Howard Cann. He served as a Navy officer during World War II, receiving the Purple Heart.
Carnevale was the head basketball coach the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1944 to 1946 and the Navy between 1947 and 1967, compiling a 257-160 record despite the Naval Academy height restrictions, at that time 6'5" (1.96 m). Carnevale was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970.
While coaching at UNC, he led the team to their first appearance in the title game. The Tar Heels lost the game to Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State), who won their second national crown under legendary coach Henry Iba.

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Ben Stephens
Ben Stephens (1917–1966) was an American professional basketball player.
A 6'0" guard-forward from the University of Iowa, Stephens played three seasons (1939–1942) in the National Basketball League as a member of the Akron Wingfoots. He led the league in scoring during the 1940-41 season with an 11.0 points per game average. His basketball career was interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the United States Navy. After the war, Stephens worked for Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company before dying in 1966.

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Ben Wallace
Ben Camey Wallace (born September 10, 1974) is an American basketball center for the Detroit Pistons of the NBA. A native of Alabama, Wallace attended Cuyahoga Community College and Virginia Union University and signed with the Washington Bullets (later Wizards) as an undrafted free agent in 1996. In his NBA career, Wallace has also played the power forward position and with the Washington Bullets/Wizards, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls, and Cleveland Cavaliers teams.
He has won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times, a record he shares with Dikembe Mutombo. In six seasons with the Pistons (2000–2006), Wallace made two NBA Finals appearances (2004 and 2005) and won a championship with the Pistons in 2004.
Ben Wallace was born in White Hall, Alabama, a small town in Lowndes County, and is the tenth of eleven children. He later attended Central High School in Hayneville where he received all-state honors in basketball, baseball, and football (as a linebacker). Former basketball player Charles Oakley is Wallace's mentor, having discovered Wallace at a 1991 basketball camp, and later recommended Wallace to his previous college, Virginia Union.

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Bennie Borgmann
Bernhard "Bennie" Borgmann (November 22, 1900 in Haledon, New Jersey - November 11, 1978 in Hawthorne, New Jersey) was one of the early pro basketball players. He played for 17 years between 1919 and 1936, and is mostly known for his time with the Kingston Colonials and Original Celtics. Borgmann is regarded as the best offensive player of his era. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1961. Borgmann also played as a middle infielder in the baseball minor leagues from 1928 to 1942, managed in the minors from until 1950, and scouted until 1974.

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Bernard King
Bernard King (born December 4, 1956 in Brooklyn, New York) is a retired American professional basketball player at the small forward position in the NBA. He played 14 seasons with the New Jersey Nets, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, New York Knicks and the Washington Bullets.
Bernard King attended college at the University of Tennessee and was selected 7th overall in the 1977 NBA Draft by the New York Nets, who months later relocated from Uniondale, New York to New Jersey and became known as the New Jersey Nets.
At 6'7" and 205 pounds, Bernard King epitomized the NBA small forward of the 1980s. With his long arms and quick release, King was an explosive runner on the fast-break and a tremendous scorer. King led the NBA in scoring in 1985 with 32.9 points per game and was selected twice to the All-NBA First Team and three times to the NBA All-Star Game.
In 1977-78, his rookie season, he set a New Jersey Nets franchise record for most points scored in a season with 1,909, at 24.2 points per game. He would later surpass this record with his 2,027 point season in 1983-84, earning the first of his back-to-back All-NBA First Team selections.

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Bertha Teague
Bertha F. Teague (September 17, 1906 in Carthage, Missouri, USA – June 13, 1991) was an American basketball coach. She coached Byng High School team in Ada, Oklahoma for 42 years (from 1927 to 1969) with a career record of 1,157-115 (.910 winning percentage). Her teams won 8 Oklahoma state titles and 98 consecutive games from 1936 to 1939. She was named Coach of the Decade for 1930s, 1940s and 1970s by the Jim Thorpe Athletic Awards Committee in 1974. She was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985 and in the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 1999.

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Bill Bradley
William Warren "Bill" Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.
Bradley was born and raised in a suburb of St. Louis and excelled at basketball from an early age. He was a member of the Boy Scouts, did well academically and was an all-county and all-state basketball player in high school. He was offered 75 college scholarships, but declined them all to attend Princeton University. He earned a gold medal as a member of the 1964 Olympic basketball team and was the NCAA Player of the Year in 1965. After graduating in 1965, he attended Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship, delaying a decision for two years on whether or not to play in the NBA.
While at Oxford, Bradley played one season of professional basketball in Europe, and eventually decided to join the New York Knicks in the 1967–68 season, after serving six months in the Air Force Reserve. He spent his entire ten-year professional basketball career playing for the Knicks, winning two championship titles. Retiring in 1977, he ran for a seat in the United States Senate the following year, from his adopted home state of New Jersey. He was re-elected in 1984 and 1990, left the Senate in 1997, and was an unsuccessful candidate for the 2000 Democratic presidential nomination.

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Bill Chandler
William S. 'Bill' Chandler was an American college basketball coach.
Bill Chandler played basketball at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and was a center on the 1915-16 and 1917-18 teams, both of which finished in first place in the Big Ten.
Chandler's first head coaching job was at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. During his two seasons (1919–21), he compiled a 27-7 record.
Chandler coached at Iowa State for seven seasons (1921–28) and later coached Marquette basketball for 21 seasons (1930–51). His 193 victories are second all-time behind Al McGuire. Chandler was president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches in 1938 and was instrumental in forming the NCAA Basketball Tournament. His best years came in 1932-33 when he directed the squad to a mark of 14-3 and in the following campaign when Marquette compiled a 15-4 record.
Chandler is a member of Marquette University's M Club Hall of Fame.

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Bill Laimbeer
William "Bill" Laimbeer, Jr. (born May 19, 1957) is a retired National Basketball Association player for the Detroit Pistons. Playing at center, the 6'11" Laimbeer was a four-time All-Star and integral part of the Pistons teams that won two championships. Initially raised in the Chicago, Illinois suburb of Clarendon Hills, Laimbeer attended Palos Verdes High School in Southern California and then the University of Notre Dame. Laimbeer was also the head coach of the Detroit Shock in the WNBA from 2002 to 2009, and coached the team to three league championships.

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Bill Macdonald
Bill Macdonald is an American sportscaster who has worked for Fox Sports West/Prime Ticket. Macdonald joined the network, then called Prime Ticket, at its inception in 1985. Currently he is the TV play-by-play voice of the Los Angeles Lakers on Fox Sports West and KCAL9 alongside Stu Lantz.
In the past, Macdonald has hosted the following pre-game and in-game shows:
He is also the former host of the Los Angeles Kings' pregame show Break the Ice and calls play-by-play for Los Angeles Avengers Arena Football, UCLA college football and basketball for FSN Prime Ticket. He has also been the host of FSN's Pacific-10 Conference Men's Basketball Tournament coverage at the Staples Center for the past several years. For the past three years, Macdonald has hosted the UCLA Press Conference Show, with Matt Stevens in 2005 and 2006, and James Washington in 2007. Macdonald called the game (January 22, 2006) in which Kobe Bryant scored 81 points, the second-highest total in NBA history. He filled in for Joel Meyers, who had another broadcasting commitment that day.

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Bill McGill
Bill "The Hill" McGill (born September 16, 1939, in San Angelo, Texas) is a retired American basketball player.
A 6'9" center/forward from the University of Utah, he was the NCAA scoring leader in the 1961-1962 season with 1,009 points in 26 games (38.8 points per game), a higher one-season average than any previous player except Frank Selvy in the 1953-1954 season. McGill was honored in 2008 as a member of the University of Utah All-Century team.
McGill was selected by the Chicago Zephyrs with the first pick of the 1962 NBA Draft. He played three seasons (1962–65) in the NBA and 2 seasons (1968–70) in the ABA. In his ABA/NBA career, he scored a combined 3,094 points.
His pro basketball career did not bring him wealth or security. By the early 1970s, he was in debt and living on the streets before sportswriter Brad Pye Jr. arranged for McGill to be employed by Hughes Aircraft; that job ended in 1995.

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Bill Mlkvy
William P. "Bill" Mlkvy (born January 19, 1931 in Palmerton, Pennsylvania) is a retired American professional basketball player who spent his one year career with the Philadelphia Warriors (now the Golden State Warriors). Philadelphia selected Mlkvy with a territorial pick of the 1952 NBA Draft out of Temple University. A 6'4" (1.93 m) and 190 lbs (86 kg) forward, he was nicknamed "The Owl without a Vowel".

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Bill Mokray
William G. "Bill" Mokray (June 6, 1907 in Passaic, New Jersey, USA – March 21, 1974) was a leading basketball statistician and historian.
Mokray's love of basketball stats began while attending Passaic High School in Passaic, New Jersey. After graduating from the University of Rhode Island, he worked as a public relations director first for Rhode Island State College and, beginning from 1946, for the Boston Celtics basketball team. He founded and was the editor for The Official NBA Guide, authored the history of basketball article for the Encyclopædia Britannica and wrote a 900-page Ronald Basketball Encyclopedia. He was considered the number one authority on basketball's history and owned what was considered to be the world's largest basketball library, most of which was donated to the Basketball Hall of Fame. He was enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1965 as a contributor.

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Bill Russell
William Felton "Bill" Russell (born February 12, 1934) is a retired American professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A five-time winner of the NBA Most Valuable Player Award and a twelve-time All-Star, Russell was the centerpiece of the Celtics dynasty that won eleven NBA Championships during Russell's thirteen-year career. Along with Henri Richard of the National Hockey League's Montreal Canadiens, Russell holds the record for the most championships won by an athlete in a North American sports league. Before his professional career, Russell led the University of San Francisco to two consecutive NCAA championships (1955, 1956). He also won a gold medal at the 1956 Summer Olympics as captain of the U.S. national basketball team.
Russell is widely considered one of the best players in NBA history. Listed as between 6'9" (2.06 m) and 6'10" (2.08 m), Russell's shot-blocking and man-to-man defense were major reasons for the Celtics' success. He also inspired his teammates to elevate their own defensive play. Russell was equally notable for his rebounding abilities. He led the NBA in rebounds four times, and remains second all-time in both total rebounds and rebounds per game. He is one of just two NBA players (the other being prominent rival Wilt Chamberlain) to have grabbed more than fifty rebounds in a game. Though never the focal point of the Celtics' offense, Russell also scored 14,522 career points and provided effective passing.

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Bill Sharman
William Walton "Bill" Sharman (born May 25, 1926 in Abilene, Texas) is a former professional basketball player and coach. Sharman completed high school in the rural city of Porterville, California and is mostly known for his time with the Boston Celtics in the 1950s, partnering with Bob Cousy in what some consider the greatest backcourt duo of all time. While Cousy was primarily the playmaker, Sharman was the shooter.
From 1950 to 1955 Sharman played professional baseball in the Brooklyn Dodgers minor league system. He was called up to the Dodgers late in the 1951 season but did not appear in a game; as a result of a September 27 game in which the entire Brooklyn bench was ejected from the game for arguing with the umpire, Sharman holds the distinction of being the only player to have ever been ejected from a major league game without ever appearing in one.
Sharman was one of the first guards to shoot better than .400 from the field. He led the NBA in free throw percentage seven times, and his mark of 93.2% in the 1958–59 season remained the NBA record until Ernie DiGregorio topped it in 1976–77. Sharman still holds the record for consecutive free throws in the playoffs with 56. Sharman was named to the All-NBA First Team from 1956 through 1959, and was an All-NBA Second Team member in 1953, 1955, and 1960. Sharman played in eight NBA All-Star games, and was named the 1955 NBA All-Star Game MVP. Sharman ended his career after 11 seasons in 1961.

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Bill Walton
William Theodore "Bill" Walton III (born November 5, 1952) is a retired American basketball player and television sportscaster. The "Big Red-Head", as he was called, achieved superstardom playing for John Wooden's powerhouse UCLA Bruins in the early '70s, winning three straight College Player of the Year Awards, while leading the Bruins to two Division I national titles. He then went on to have a prominent career in the National Basketball Association (NBA) where he was a league Most Valuable Player (MVP) and won two NBA championships. His professional career was significantly hampered by multiple foot injuries. Walton was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on May 10, 1993 and the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame that same year. He is the father of current Cleveland Cavaliers forward Luke Walton.
Walton was born in La Mesa, California, the son of Gloria Anne (née Hickey) and William Theodore "Ted" Walton. His listed adult playing height was 6 feet 11 inches; it has been reported that Walton was actually taller (7 feet 2 inches, or more), but did not like being categorized as a seven-footer.

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Billie Moore
Billie J. Moore (born May 5, 1943 in Westmoreland, Kansas, USA) is an American basketball coach. She was the first coach in women's basketball history to lead teams from two different schools to national championships. She coached California State-Fullerton team from 1969 to 1977 (she won the AIAW national title in 1970 in her first year with the team) and UCLA team from 1977 to 1993 (winning the AIAW national title in 1978). Her overall college coaching record is 436-196.
Moore didn't play basketball for her high school because the school was too small to sponsor any athletic teams. However, she was invited to play for an industrial team sponsored by Ohse Meats Company. Moore started her coaching experience as an assistant at Southern Illinois University where she pursued her Master's degree. In addition to basketball, she played softball for the Raybestos Brakettes, with Lou Albrecht, who was the women's basketball coach at Cal State Fullerton. Albrecht left that position and recommended Moore for an interview. Moore was hired as women's basketball coach and athletic director. In her first year as coach, her team would go on to win the national championship. Moore coached teams would make it to the Final Four in 1970, 1972, 1975, 1978, and 1979.

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Billy Cunningham
William John "Billy" Cunningham (born June 3, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player and coach, who was nicknamed the Kangaroo Kid.
Billy Cunningham was born in Brooklyn, New York. His fame began while he was playing at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, where he was the MVP in the Brooklyn League in 1961. That year, he was the First-Team All-New York City, and a member of the Parade Magazine All-America Team.
Cunningham then went to the University of North Carolina, where he excelled. He once grabbed a record 27 rebounds in a game vs. Clemson on February 16, 1963. Cunningham also set a single-game North Carolina record with 48 points against Tulane on December 10, 1964. In his UNC career, he scored 1,709 points (24.8 points per game), and grabbed 1,062 rebounds (15.4 rebounds per game). Upon graduation, his 1,062 rebounds were the best in North Carolina history and he held seasonal records for most rebounds (379 in 1964) and rebound average (16.1 in 1963).
In 1965, Cunningham joined the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association as a sixth man and played well enough to be named to the NBA All-Rookie Team.

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Billy Hassett
William Joseph Hassett (October 21, 1921–November 15, 1992) was an American professional basketball player.
A 5'11" guard from the University of Notre Dame, where he also lettered in baseball, he was a consensus All American First Team selection in 1945 and a Second Team selection in 1946. Hassett played five seasons (1946–51) in the National Basketball League, the Professional Basketball League of America, and the National Basketball Association as a member of the Buffalo Bisons, Tri-Cities Blackhawks, the Chicago Gears, the Minneapolis Lakers, and the Baltimore Bullets. He averaged 4.5 points per game professionally in the NBA. He won an NBA championship with the Lakers in 1950 with teammate George Mikan.
Hassett also played two years for the Georgetown Hoyas 1942 and 1943 (All American selection), playing in the NCAA Championship against Wyoming in 1943. Hassett played for the AAU Dow Chemics in 1944 after Georgetown dropped basketball due to World War II. He transferred to Notre Dame in 1945. Hassett managed the 24 second clock the first time it was used in the NBA at a Syracuse Nationals game. His brother, John Aloysious "Buddy" Hassett, played Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Boston Bees and Braves and the New York Yankees (1936–1942).

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Bird Averitt
William Rodney "Bird" Averitt (born July 22, 1952 in Hopkinsville, Kentucky) is a retired American basketball player.
He played collegiately for Pepperdine University. Afterward, he was drafted in the fourth round of the 1973 NBA Draft by the Portland Trail Blazers and the second round of the 1973 ABA Draft by the San Diego Conquistadors.
He played for the San Antonio Spurs (1973–74) and Kentucky Colonels (1974–76) in the American Basketball Association for 236 games, winning the 1975 ABA championship with the Colonels. After the Colonels were disbanded as part of the ABA-NBA merger, Averitt joined the Buffalo Braves through the 1976 ABA dispersal draft, playing with that team for the 1976-77 season until joining the New Jersey Nets for the 1977-78 season, playing 130 games in the NBA with those two teams.

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Blake Griffin
Blake Austin Griffin (born March 16, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Griffin had a renowned high school career at Oklahoma Christian School, winning state titles each of his four years under his father, Tommy Griffin, who was the head coach. He played college basketball for the University of Oklahoma Sooners and was awarded numerous accolades in his second year including the Naismith College Player of the Year, Oscar Robertson Trophy and the John Wooden Award.
Griffin left college after two seasons to enter the 2009 NBA Draft where he was selected first overall by the Clippers. In his first season, he broke his left kneecap, which he injured during the final pre-season game, and underwent surgery missing the entire 2009–10 season. He made his NBA debut as a rookie the following season and was selected as an All-Star, won the 2011 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year. In 2011, Sports Illustrated ranked him as one of the NBA's 15 Greatest Rookies of All Time.

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Bo Kimble
Gregory Kevin "Bo" Kimble (born April 9, 1966 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a retired American college basketball player at Loyola Marymount University and professional National Basketball Association (NBA) player with the Los Angeles Clippers and New York Knicks. In the 1989–90 season, he led the 11th-seeded Loyola Marymount basketball team on a run to the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament after the death of teammate Hank Gathers.
Kimble played prep ball with Hank Gathers at Dobbins Technical High School in Philadelphia, with the pair leading the team to the Public League City championship in 1985.
Both Gathers and Kimble were recruited to the University of Southern California by Head Coach Stan Morrison and his top assistant, David Spencer. They were joined by high school All-American, Tom Lewis, and Rich Grande as the "Four Freshmen" star recruiting class. Following an 11-17 season coaching USC, Morrison and Spencer were fired after the 1985-86 season was over, despite winning the PAC-10 the previous year. It was reported that the players would not remain unless certain conditions were met, including having a say in the next coaching staff. USC hired George Raveling as the next head coach of the Trojans. Raveling gave the players a deadline to respond whether they would remain on the team. When they did not respond, he revoked the scholarships of Gathers, Kimble, and Lewis. Raveling's controversial statement was, "You can't let the Indians run the reservation." "You've got to be strong, too. Sometimes you have to tell them that they have to exit," he said. Kimble and Gathers transferred together from USC to Loyola Marymount. Lewis transferred to Pepperdine. Grande remained at USC.

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Bo Lamar
Dwight "Bo" Lamar (born April 7, 1951 in Columbus, Ohio) is a former professional American basketball player. He attended high school in Columbus and graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
As a Ragin' Cajun at Southwestern Louisiana, he was a three time collegiate All-American between 1969–1973. During his college career he averaged 31.2 points a game, a point total of 3,493 points, which remains among the top ranks of NCAA basketball records. He is known for his extremely high long-range shot that some coaches say dusted the rafters.
Lamar was a third-round pick by the Detroit Pistons in the 1973 NBA Draft. He played for three American Basketball Association teams: the San Diego Conquistadors from 1974–1975, then the Indiana Pacers and San Diego Sails in 1976, before moving to the NBA. In 1977 he played for the Los Angeles Lakers.

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Bob Brannum
Robert Warren Brannum (May 28, 1925–February 5, 2005) was an American basketball player.
A 6'5" center from Winfield, Kansas, Brannum attended the University of Kentucky and Michigan State University before playing professional basketball.
Brannum spent his first three professional seasons with the Sheboygan Red Skins, whose pro roots dated from 1938, the second season of the National Basketball League. Brannum started all three seasons, during which Sheboygan played in three leagues: the NBL (1948–49), NBA (1949–50) and National Professional Basketball League (1950–51). He was one of the all-time great Redskins players, known for his hard-nosed play, rebounding prowess and scoring ability. In his final season with Sheboygan, when the Redskins finished with the NPBL's best record, Brannum was selected first-team center after having the league's high scoring average (19.0 points per game). His 45-point barrage against the Kansas City Hi-Spots on Dec. 28, 1950, was a franchise record, topping the 44 points Bobby Cook scored against the NBA's Denver Nuggets the previous January.

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Bob Cousy
Robert Joseph "Bob" Cousy (born August 9, 1928) is a retired American professional basketball player. Cousy played point guard with the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963 and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals in the 1969-70 season. Cousy first demonstrated his basketball abilities while playing for his high school varsity team in his junior year. He obtained a scholarship to the College of the Holy Cross, where he led the Crusaders to berths in the 1948 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and 1950 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament and was named an NCAA All-American for 3 seasons. Cousy was initially drafted as the third overall pick in the first round of the 1950 NBA Draft by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, but after he refused to report, he was picked up by Boston. Cousy had a very successful career with the Celtics, playing on six championship teams, being voted into 13 NBA All-Star Games and 12 All-NBA First and Second Teams and winning the NBA Most Valuable Player Award in 1957.

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Bob Davies
Robert Edris Davies (January 15, 1920 – April 22, 1990) was a professional basketball player in the 1950s. Alongside Bobby Wanzer he formed one of the best backcourt duos in the NBAs early years. Davies and Wanzer led the Rochester Royals to the 1951 NBA championship. Davies was also a former basketball coach at the Seton Hall University and was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on April 11, 1970.
Although Bob Cousy is often considered the originator of the behind-the-back dribble, Davies actually deserves the credit. His Seton Hall coach, "Honey" Russell, once said, "He had such uncanny control of the ball behind his back that it never concerned me. He made it look as easy as the conventional dribble."
Davies entered Seton Hall in 1938 on a baseball scholarship, but Russell persuaded him to concentrate on basketball after seeing him practice once. Never a high scorer—his best college average was 11.8 points a game—Davies was a consummate passer and play-maker.."
Known as the "Harrisburg Houdini," Davies led Seton Hall to 43 consecutive victories from 1939 into 1941. His spectacular skills helped attract the largest crowd in basketball history at the time, 18,403 people, to Madison Square Garden in March 1941, when Seton Hall beat Rhode Island in a quarter-final game of the National Invitation Tournament.

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Bob Dille
Robert Orville "Bob" Dille (July 2, 1917 – December 10, 1998) is a retired American professional basketball player and championship high school coach. Dille was an All-American forward at Valparaiso and later coached Fort Wayne's Northrop High School to an Indiana state championship in 1974. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989.
Dille starred at Chesterton High School in Chesterton, Indiana and matriculated at Valparaiso University as a 26-year-old with a wife and son. He played varsity basketball while working 48 hours a week at a local company in addition to his full courseload. In 1944, Dille was named Valparaiso's first nationally recognized All-American.
Following his collegiate career, Dille played for the Detroit Falcons of the Basketball Association of America, averaging 5.2 points per game in his lone season with the club.
Dille later coached high school basketball in his home state of Indiana. He coached at Valparaiso High School, Berne-French Township High School and Fort Wayne North before taking the reins at Fort Wayne Northrop in 1971. Dille coached at Northrop for seven years, winning a state championship in 1974.

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Bob Douglas
Robert L. "Bob" Douglas (November 4, 1882 - July 16, 1979) was the founder of the New York Renaissance basketball team. Nicknamed the "Father of Black Professional Basketball", Douglas owned and coached the Rens from 1923 to 1949, guiding them to a 2,318-381 record (.859). He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1972, the first African American enshrined.
The Rens barnstormed throughout the United States, mostly in the Midwest, and played any team that would schedule them, black or white. Traveling as far as 200 miles for a game, they often slept on the bus and ate cold meals; they were barred from many hotels and restaurants by Jim Crow laws and norms of racial discrimination which prevailed in the northern United States at the time.
The Rens soon became a dominant team, winning as many as 88 consecutive games during the 1932–33 season. In the twenties and early thirties, their matches with the Original Celtics were basketball's greatest gate attraction. At the World Professional Basketball Tournament they won in 1939, lost to the eventual champion Harlem Globetrotters in 1940, and finished second to the National Basketball League champion Minneapolis Lakers in 1948.

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Bob Houbregs
Robert J. "Bob" Houbregs (born March 12, 1932) is a former professional basketball player.
A 6'8", 225 pound forward-center, Houbregs attended the University of Washington from 1949 to 1953. In 1952, Houbregs was a Second Team Consensus All-America selection. In 1953, as a senior, he was named NCAA Player of the Year, was a Consensus All-America selection, helped lead the University of Washington to the Final Four, and was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 34.8 points per game in the post-season.
Houbregs was drafted by the NBA's Milwaukee Hawks with the 3rd overall pick in 1953 and played five seasons (1953–1958) in the NBA with four teams: the Hawks, the Baltimore Bullets, the Boston Celtics, and the Fort Wayne (later Detroit) Pistons. Houbregs' career scoring average was 9.3 points per game, and he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987.
Houbregs served as general manager of the Seattle SuperSonics from 1970 to 1973.
Houbregs is a member of Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity.

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Bob Hurley
Robert Matthew "Bob" Hurley, Sr. (born July 31, 1947) is the basketball coach at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, New Jersey. Hurley has amassed 26 state championships and more than 1000 wins in 39 years as a coach, creating a national powerhouse despite older facilities and financial limitations. On February 2, 2011, Hurley became the tenth coach in high school history to win 1000 games. Five of his teams have gone undefeated, including his 2007-08 team. On April 5, 2010, he was announced as the only coach to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame that year and only the third high-school coach in history to be so honored; he was formally inducted on August 13 of that year. Hurley is the father of Bobby Hurley, a former All-American point guard at Duke, and Danny Hurley, who was hired in April 2010 to coach Wagner College after years of coaching at Newark's Saint Benedict's Preparatory School, also one of the top high school programs in the nation. Danny has since hired Bobby as an assistant at Wagner.

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Bob Knight
Robert Montgomery "Bob" Knight (born October 25, 1940) is a retired American basketball coach. Nicknamed "The General", Knight won 902 NCAA Division I men's college basketball games, second all-time to his former player, Mike Krzyzewski. He is most well known as the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers from 1971–2000. He also coached briefly at Texas Tech (2001–2008) and at West Point (1965–1971).
While at Indiana, Knight led his teams to three NCAA championships, one National Invitation Tournament (NIT) championship, and 11 Big Ten Conference championships. He received the National Coach of the Year honor four times and the Big Ten Coach of the Year honor eight times. In 1984, he coached the USA men's Olympic team to a gold medal, becoming one of only three basketball coaches to win an NCAA title, NIT title, and an Olympic gold medal.
Knight was one of college basketball's most successful and innovative coaches, having perfected and popularized the motion offense. He has also been praised for running clean programs (none of his teams was ever sanctioned by the NCAA for recruiting violations) and graduating most of his players. However, Knight has also attracted controversy; he famously threw a chair across the court during a game, was once arrested for assault, and regularly displayed a combative nature during encounters with members of the press. Knight remains "the object of near fanatical devotion" from his former players and Indiana fans.

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Bob Kurland
Robert Albert "Bob" Kurland (born December 23, 1924 in St. Louis, Missouri) was a 7 feet (2.1 m) basketball center, who played for Henry Iba's Oklahoma A&M Aggies (now Oklahoma State Cowboys) basketball team. He was an integral part of the team's consecutive NCAA titles in 1945 and 1946.
Because Kurland often leaped above the rim to grab opponents' shots, the NCAA banned defensive goaltending in 1945. Kurland was also the first person to regularly dunk during games. The rivalry between him and De Paul's George Mikan would foreshadow similar matchups, especially those of "Big Men".
Kurland never played professional basketball, passing up the newly formed Basketball Association of America and National Basketball League (which would merge, forming the National Basketball Association), to play for Phillips Petroleum's A.A.U. team, the 66 Oilers. Kurland played for six years with Phillips, winning three championships. Since he never played professionally, he was eligible as an amateur for the 1948 and 1952 Olympics.

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Bob McAdoo
Robert Allen 'Bob' McAdoo (born September 25, 1951) is a retired American professional basketball player who spent a fourteen-year career playing the center and power forward positions in the National Basketball Association. McAdoo is currently an assistant coach for the Miami Heat.
Drafted in the first round of the 1972 NBA Draft by the Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers) following two seasons at Vincennes Junior College, and one season at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, McAdoo soon became one of the NBA's premier players. McAdoo won the 1973 NBA Rookie of the Year Award in his first season, and earned the first of three consecutive NBA scoring titles in only his second season. His 2nd season (1973–74) remains the last time an NBA player has averaged both 30.0 points per game and 15.0 rebounds per game over the course of a season. McAdoo also led the NBA in field goal percentage in 1973-74, shooting 54.7 percent. That year he enjoyed his first of five All-Star selections. In 1974-75 he was awarded the NBA Most Valuable Player Award, averaging 34.5 points, 14.1 rebounds and 2.12 blocks per game, while shooting 51.2 percent from the field and 80.5 percent from the free throw line. He also led the league in fan voting for the 1975 All-Star Game with 98,325 votes.

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Bob McCurdy
Robert "Bob" McCurdy (born c. 1952) is an American businessman who is best known for his time as a college basketball player at the University of Richmond from 1973 to 1975. He was the nation's leading scorer during his senior season of 1974–75, averaging 32.9 points per game for the Richmond Spiders.
McCurdy is native of Deer Park, New York, attended Deer Park High School and graduated in 1970. He enrolled at the University of Virginia on a basketball scholarship, but in 1970–71 college freshmen were ineligible to play varsity basketball, so McCurdy had to play on Virginia's freshman team. He claims to have scored 30 points against North Carolina's Bobby Jones and 40 against Maryland's Tom McMillan en route to a 38 points per game average that season. He then played for one varsity season as a Virginia Cavalier, but Bill Gibson, the coach who had recruited him, left the school. McCurdy made the decision to transfer to a different school and chose Richmond.
Due to NCAA transfer eligibility rules, McCurdy was forced to sit out for one full year before suiting up for Richmond. In his junior season in 1973–74, he averaged approximately 24 points per game. McCurdy was the team's leading scorer and was named to the All-Southern Conference Second Team. The following year, the last of his collegiate career, he increased his scoring average to 32.9 per game and led all of Division I in scoring. He scored a total of 855 points that season, and on February 26 he had a career high 53-point outing against Appalachian State. Both the single season and game totals are still school records. McCurdy was an All-Southern Conference First Team selection, and the Associated Press named him to their All-America Third Team. In just two seasons at Richmond, he scored 1,347 points.

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Bob Pettit
Robert Lee "Bob" Pettit Jr. (born December 12, 1932, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, U.S.) is a retired American professional basketball player. He played 11 seasons in the NBA, all with the Milwaukee/St. Louis Hawks (1954-1965). He was the first recipient of the NBA's Most Valuable Player Award. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970. He also went by the nickname "Dutch" in college. He also won the NBA All-Star MVP award four times.
Pettit's basketball career had humble beginnings. At Baton Rouge High School, he was cut from the varsity basketball team as both a freshman and sophomore. His father, Sheriff of East Baton Rouge Parish (1932-1936), pushed him to practice in the backyard of the Kemmerly house until he improved his skills. It worked: Pettit became a starter as a junior, and led Baton Rouge High to its first State Championship in over 20 years in his senior year.
After high school, Pettit accepted a scholarship to play at Louisiana State University. He was a three-time All-Southeastern Conference selection and a two-time All American as a member of the LSU men's basketball team. (Freshmen were not allowed to play varsity basketball in those days.) During those three years, Pettit averaged 27.8 points per game. He was also a member of the Zeta Zeta Chapter of Delta Kappa Epsilon at LSU.

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Bobby McDermott
Robert "Bobby" McDermott (January 7, 1914 in Whitestone, Queens, New York – October 3, 1963 in Yonkers, New York) was an American professional basketball player, in the 1930s and 1940s.
He was known as an outstanding shooter and has been called "the greatest long-distance shooter in the history of the game" by contemporaries.
During the 1940s the most common offenses were motion offenses that were supposed to open up players close to the goal. This was because most players were awful shooters. The most common defenses were zones, that clogged passing lanes and packed the paint. For zone defense to be successful, all the defenders have to be close together and close to the goal.
Bob spread the defenders like nobody ever did before or has since. He was an accurate shooter for his day but not legendarily accurate. His free throw percentage was below 80% most of his career and he used a two-handed set shot from the chest that was easy to block. However, he could score from anywhere within the half court. Al Cervi, a great defensive player who often had to guard him, said of McDermott, "Oh, he could shoot! If he shot ten times from thirty feet, I'd guarantee he'd make eight in game conditions."

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Bobby Wanzer
Robert Francis (Bobby) Wanzer, also known as "Hooks" Wanzer (born June 4, 1921) is a former basketball player and coach. A 6'0" guard, he played collegiately at Seton Hall University, and was selected by the Rochester Royals in 1947. Royals star Bob Davies was a Seton Hall assistant and steered the star guard to the NBL contender. Initially a reserve behind Al Cervi and Red Holzman, Wanzer later teamed with Davies to form a potent backcourt for the day. The Royals were very successful 1947-1954, and their smaller stars, like Wanzer, were considered their biggest assets. With Wanzer, Rochester won the 1950-51 National Basketball Association (NBA) title.
He played his entire career with the Royals, retiring from play after the end of the 1957 season. Wanzer was a five-time All-Star with the Royals, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987. Wanzer was the first player to ever shoot over 90% from the free throw line in a season.
Wanzer would also coach the Royals as well. He was a player-coach for two years, and then (after the franchise moved to Cincinnati, Ohio) coached for another season. His 1957-58 Cincinnati Royals were a NBA contender, but injuries stopped the team short. When star Maurice Stokes was permanently injured, Wanzer moved on early the following NBA season. He later coached St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, New York.

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Borislav Stanković
Borislav "Bora" Stanković (Serbian Cyrillic: Борислав Станковић; born July 9, 1925) is a Serbian former basketball player and coach, as well as a longtime administrator in the sport's various governing bodies. For his contributions to the game of basketball he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991.
Stanković was born in Bihać, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Early in his life he moved to Novi Sad and then to Syrmian town of Ledinci during World War II. After the war, Stanković went to Belgrade where he graduated from the University of Belgrade with a degree in veterinary medicine.
Simultaneous to his studies Stanković played professionally for KK Crvena zvezda (1946-1948) and Železničar Beograd (1948-1950) and was on the Yugoslav national team for five years in early 1950s. After he retired from the game, he coached OKK Beograd for ten consecutive seasons (1953–1963) and for a season in 1965. He then moved on to Italian club Pallacanestro Cantù, spending three seasons as its head coach (1966–1969).

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Branch McCracken
Branch McCracken (June 9, 1908 – June 4, 1970) was a hall of fame coach for the Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball team.
As a player at Indiana, McCracken was a three-year letter winner. At 6-4 and 200 lb (91 kg), McCracken played center, forward and guard, pacing the Hoosiers in scoring for three years. His coach and predecessor, Hall of Fame coach Everett Dean, called McCracken "rough and tough." McCracken never missed a game. Once, when slowed by injuries, he planted himself near the foul line, back to the basket, from there passing off to players cutting by him or keeping the ball and rolling to the basket himself. "Once we saw what he could do, we let him go," Dean said. "He was one of the first college centers who played the pivot the way it's played today."
McCracken scored 32.3 percent of the points his three Hoosier teams scored. He led the Big Ten Conference with a 12.3 average his senior year and graduated as the league's career scoring record holder.
McCracken was a consensus All-American in 1930. Upon his induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960, he was the first man ever voted there for his performance as an Indiana player.

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Brett Roberts
Brett Roberts (born March 24, 1970) is a former American basketball player best remembered for leading NCAA Division I in scoring as a senior in 1991–92 and then getting selected by the Sacramento Kings in that year's NBA draft, although he ultimately never played a game in the league. Roberts grew up in Portsmouth, Ohio and attended South Webster High School before moving on to play for Morehead State University's basketball team.
A 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) small forward, Roberts averaged 16.7 points per game for his four year career. Through his first three seasons he averaged no more than around 14 points per game. Then, in his senior season in 1991–92, Roberts jumped from an average of 14.5 per game the year before to a nation-leading 28.1 points per game, doubling his output in a single season. He was named the Ohio Valley Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year and was even selected in the NBA Draft.
Despite being drafted, Roberts never made any teams' final rosters. He eventually became an assistant principal at his old high school, forgoing any professional aspirations. In 1991, Roberts was also selected by the Minnesota Twins in the fourth round (103rd overall) of the Major League Baseball amateur entry draft.

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Bruce Drake
Bruce Drake (December 5, 1905 – December 4, 1983) was a college men's basketball coach. The Gentry, Texas native was head coach at the University of Oklahoma between 1938 and 1955, compiling a 200-181 record. He also coached the Air Force team to a 34-14 record in 1956
Prior to coaching, he was also a star for Hugh McDermott's Oklahoma team. He was a 1928-29 Helms Foundation All American.
As a coach Drake made 2 Final Fours the first one in 1939 Where they lost to Oregon 55-37 and in 1947 where he lost in the Championship Game to Holy Cross 58-47. He made 1 more additional NCAA tournament appearance in 1943 though he coached at a time when only 8 team made the tournament. In all he won or tied for 6 conference championships (Big Six and Big Seven).
He coached 5 Olympic (Wayne Glasgow and Marcus Freiberger of University of Oklahoma, 1952; Bill Evans, Ron Tomsic and Gib Ford of Air Force team, 1956) and three All-Americans (Jimmy McNatt, 1940; Gerald Tucker, 1943, 1947; Allie Paine, 1944)
Drake was selected as the assistant coach for the 1956 USA Men's Basketball Gold Medal Olympic Team

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Bud Grant
Harry Peter "Bud" Grant, Jr. (born May 20, 1927) is the former longtime American football head coach of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) for eighteen seasons. Grant was the second (1967–83) and fourth (1985) head coach of the team. Prior to coaching the Vikings, he was the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL) for ten seasons. Along with being the winningest coach in Vikings history, Grant is the third winningest professional football coach, behind Don Shula and George Halas, with a combined 290 wins in the NFL and CFL. Grant was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994. He was the first coach in the history of professional football to guide teams to the Grey Cup finals and Super Bowl.
Grant attended the University of Minnesota and was a three sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball. Following college, he had a professional playing career for the Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL, and Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL.

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Buddy Jeannette
Harry Edward "Buddy" Jeannette (September 15, 1917 – March 11, 1998) was a professional basketball player and coach.
Jeannette was widely regarded as the premier backcourt player between 1938 and 1948. He was named to the First Team of the NBL four times, and won titles with the NBL's Sheboygan Red Skins (1943) and Fort Wayne Pistons (1944, 1945). Jeannette also won a title with the ABL's Baltimore Bullets in 1947.
Most of his playing career came prior to the formation of the modern NBA or its predecessor leagues; however Jeannette did serve three years as a player-coach for the original Baltimore Bullets of the Basketball Association of America. In the 1948 BAA playoffs, he became the first player-coach to win a professional championship. After his playing career ended, he coached the original Bullets for one more season. He then became the head coach at Georgetown University for four seasons.
Jeannette returned to the ranks of professional coaching to lead the modern Bullets twice, once for a full season and once as an interim coach. He later would coach the ABA's Pittsburgh Pipers.

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Calbert Cheaney
Calbert Nathaniel Cheaney (born July 17, 1971 in Evansville, Indiana) is a retired basketball player and currently director of basketball operations for Indiana University. During a thirteen year NBA career, Cheaney played for five different teams, averaging 9.5 points and 3.2 rebounds.
Cheaney played high school ball at William Henry Harrison High School in Evansville and was selected to the 1989 Indiana All-Star team. Cheaney was a high school stand-out, but few would have predicted he would capture the Naismith Award.
Cheaney played both shooting guard and small forward at Indiana University for head coach Bob Knight. He was Knight's first left-handed player and began his career with a flash, scoring 20 points in the season opener of his freshman year (the only Indiana freshman to ever do so).
Cheaney was known as a smooth leader all four years at Indiana. During the last three of his years at Indiana, the team spent all but two of the 53 poll weeks in the top 10, and 38 of them in the top 5. The Hoosiers were 87-16 (.845) those years and a 46-8 (.852) mark in the Big Ten Conference. Of the four years Cheaney played the Hoosiers went 105-27 and captured two Big Ten crowns ('91 and '93). The 105 games won during Cheaney's four years is the most of any Hoosier.

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Calvin Murphy
Calvin Murphy (born May 9, 1948) is a retired American professional basketball player who played as a guard for the NBA's San Diego/Houston Rockets from 1970-1983. He is a former member of the Houston Rockets' broadcast team. He was also the host of ESPN Radio's The Calvin Murphy Show. Standing at a height of 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m), Murphy has the distinction of being the shortest player inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Before basketball Calvin Murphy was a world class baton twirler. He says he was "bullied into it" as his mother and all six of her sisters were twirlers. As an 8th grader, in 1963, he won a national championship in baton twirling. His reputation as a twirler earned him invitations to perform at major sporting events and the 1964 New York World's Fair. In 1977, at the height of his basketball career in Houston, Murphy won the Texas State Men's Twirling Championship.
He played basketball for Norwalk High School, where he was All-State three times and All-America twice. He is a member of the Connecticut Coaches Association Hall of Fame and a Connecticut Sportswriters Gold Key Award winner. Norwalk High School's address is now 23 Calvin Murphy Rd. in his honor.

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Carol Blazejowski
Carol Ann Blazejowski (born September 29, 1956, in Elizabeth, New Jersey) is an American retired professional women's basketball player and the former President and General Manager of the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).
Blazejowski is the daughter of Leon and Grace (John) Blazejowski. She resides with her family in Nutley, New Jersey.
Using a jump shot patterned after what she saw in televised professional games, Blazejowski became one of the greatest scorers in the history of women's basketball, although she didn't begin serious competition until her senior year at Cranford High School in Cranford, New Jersey.
At Montclair State College in Montclair, New Jersey, the 5-foot-10 (1.78 m) forward was a three-time All-American, from 1976 through 1978. Blazejowski won the inaugural Wade Trophy as the nation's finest collegiate woman player in 1978. She led the nation in scoring with 33.5 points per game in 1976/77 and 38.6 points per game in 1977/78. Blazejowski scored 40 or more points in each of her last three games, including the semifinal loss to eventual champion UCLA. Sports Illustrated would call her, "the most relentlessly exciting performer in the history of women's basketball". She set a Madison Square Garden record for either sex with 52 points in a 1978 game against Queens College. Similar to all-time men's collegiate scoring record holder, Pete Maravich, "The Blaze" played during an era without the three point shot.

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Cathy Rush
Cathy Rush (born April 7, 1947) was the head women's basketball coach at Immaculata from 1972-1977. She led Immaculata to three consecutive AIAW national titles from 1972-1974. She led the Mighty Macs to six consecutive final four appearances in her six seasons with the school, attaining a 149-15 record. Rush was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on April 7, 2008. She had also been inducted to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2005.
A resident of Ventnor, New Jersey, Rush grew up in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey and graduated from Oakcrest High School in 1964. She received a Bachelor of Science in 1968 and a Masters in Education in 1972, both from West Chester University. She has two children with her ex-husband, former National Basketball Association referee and Supervisor of Officials Ed T. Rush.
The Mighty Macs, a movie about the season leading to the winning of the first women's national basketball championship in 1972, was released in October 2011. Rush is played by Carla Gugino.

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Cazzie Russell
Cazzie Lee Russell (born June 7, 1944 in Chicago, Illinois) is a former pro basketball player and coach. In 1962, Russell was named the Chicago Sun Times Boy's Player of the Year.
Russell played college basketball at the University of Michigan, where he led the Wolverines to three consecutive Big Ten Conference titles (1964–66) and to Final Four appearances in 1964 and 1965, losing in the final game 91-80 to defending national champion UCLA and John Wooden. In 1966, Russell averaged 30.8 points per game and was named the College Basketball Player of the Year. Crisler Arena, which opened in 1967, has been dubbed The House that Cazzie Built.
Russell spent twelve seasons in the NBA (1966-1978), and is best remembered for his five seasons with the New York Knicks (1966-71). Russell was the NBA's first draft pick in 1966, and was named to the 1967 All-Rookie Team. He was later part of the famous 1970 Knicks team that won the NBA championship over the Los Angeles Lakers. Russell played in the 1972 NBA All-Star Game while with the Golden State Warriors. When he played for the Lakers, he was the last player to wear #32 prior to Magic Johnson.

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Cesare Rubini
Cesare Rubini (2 November 1923 – 8 February 2011) was an Italian basketball player and coach, and water polo player. One of the greatest European basketball coaches of all time, Rubini was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1994, the first, and to this day, one of the few Italian basketball figures to receive such an honour, together with Dino Meneghin and Sandro Gamba. He has also been inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame and into the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame.
Rubini started to play basketball for his high school team in his native Trieste, where he graduated in 1941. The same year he began to play for Olimpia Milano, the most prestigious Italian League basketball club at that time. He however had a long-lived passion for water polo: this led him later to become one of the rare world sportsmen to play at the highest level in two different team sports.
In 1946, he won a silver medal with the Italian national basketball team at the EuroBasket 1946, held in Geneva. The following year, he also won a silver medal at the European Championships, but this time with the Italian national water polo team. In the meantime he had assumed the role of player-coach of Olimpia Milano: in 1948, however, he was called by the national teams of both sports. Rubini chose water polo, and won a gold medal at the 1948 Summer Olympic Games in London, beating the Netherlands in the final. With Rubini as a full-time player, Italy could boast what was to be called the "Golden Settebello", one of the most valuable water polo teams ever, which also won a bronze medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics and at the Turin European Championship of 1954. In both the events, Italy was behind traditional rivals of Yugoslavia and Hungary.

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Charles Barkley
Charles Wade Barkley (born February 20, 1963) is a former American professional basketball player and current analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Nicknamed "Sir Charles" and "The Round Mound of Rebound", Barkley established himself as one of the National Basketball Association's (NBA's) most dominating power forwards. He was selected to the All-NBA First Team five times, the All-NBA Second Team five times, and once to the All-NBA Third Team. He earned eleven NBA All-Star Game appearances and was named the All-Star MVP in 1991. In 1993, he was voted the league's Most Valuable Player and during the NBA's 50th anniversary, named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. He competed in the 1992 and 1996 Olympic games and won two gold medals as a member of the United States' Dream Team. In 2006, Barkley was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Barkley was popular with the fans and media and made the NBA's All-Interview Team for his last 13 seasons in the league. He was frequently involved in on- and off-court fights and sometimes stirred national controversy, as in March 1991 when he mistakenly spat on a young girl, and as in 1993 when he declared that sports figures should not be considered role models. Short for a power forward, Barkley used his strength and aggressiveness to become one of the NBA's most dominant rebounders. He was a versatile player who had the ability to score, create plays, and defend. In 2000, he retired as the fourth player in NBA history to achieve 20,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 4,000 assists.

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Charles Keinath
Charles "Kid" Keinath (November 13, 1885 – April 1966) was an American college athlete who was a four-time All-American in basketball while at the University of Pennsylvania. He also won national championships in both basketball (1907–08) and football (1908) at Penn. In 1907–08, the basketball team finished 24–4 and were retroactively named the national champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation. Then, in 1908, the football team had finished 11–0–1 and were named co-national champions with Harvard and LSU with Keinath leading the team as quarterback. He was team captain as a senior for the basketball team and led the Quakers to a 22-game winning streak that spanned between the 1907–08 and 1908–09 seasons.
Keinath was a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended Central High School where he graduated in 1905. Aside from playing basketball and football at Penn, he also played on the school's baseball team, although his most personal success occurred while playing basketball. In addition to being selected an All-American all four years and winning a national championship, Keinath also led the Eastern Intercollegiate League in scoring during both his junior and senior seasons.

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Charley Shipp
Charles William Shipp (December 3, 1913–March 21, 1988) was an American professional basketball player and coach.
A 6'1" guard-forward, Shipp attended Cathedral High School in Indianapolis, where he led the Irish to the National Catholic Championship in 1933. Shipp played thirteen seasons (1937–1950) in the NBL and NBA as a member of the Akron Wingfoots, Oshkosh All-Stars, Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, Anderson Packers, and Waterloo Hawks. During the 1949-50 NBA season he served as a player-coach for the Waterloo Hawks, posting a 8-27 record. He made 5 All-NBL 1st teams (1937–38, 1939–43) and 2 All-NBL 2nd teams (1938–39, and 1943–44).

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Cheryl Miller

Cheryl D. Miller (born on January 3, 1964 in Riverside, California) is a former college basketball player, coach and sportscaster for TNT. She is currently a sideline reporter for NBA games on TNT Sports and also works for NBA TV as a reporter and analyst having worked previously as a sportscaster for ABC Sports, TBS Sports and ESPN. She was also head coach and General Manager of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.
In 1995, Miller was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1999, she was inducted into the inaugural class of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Knoxville, Tennessee. On August 20, 2010, Miller was also inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame for her success in international play.
She is the sister of retired National Basketball Association star Reggie Miller and of former Major League Baseball catcher Darrell Miller.
Miller played at Riverside Polytechnic High School (1978–1982) where she was a four-year letter winner and led her team to a 132-4 record. She was awarded the Dial Award for the national high-school scholar-athlete of the year in 1981. She was the first player, male or female, to be named an All-American by Parade magazine four times. Averaging 32.8 points and 15.0 rebounds a game, Miller was Street & Smith's national High School Player of the Year in both 1981 and 1982. During her senior year she scored 105 points in a game against Norte Vista High School.

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Chet Jaworski
Chester S. "Chet" Jaworski (November 8, 1916 – October 16, 2003) was the University of Rhode Island (URI)'s first All-American selection in men's basketball. As a senior in 1938–39, he led the nation in scoring at 22.9 points per game and was named the Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year as well as a Consensus NCAA First Team All-American. He scored a career-high 44 points in December 1938. Jaworski played the forward position in basketball, but he also earned three varsity letters for the school's baseball team and one letter for the football team. For his achievements, Jaworski was enshrined into both the URI and New England Basketball Halls of Fame.

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Chick Hearn
Francis Dayle "Chick" Hearn (November 27, 1916 – August 5, 2002) was an American sportscaster. Known primarily as the long-time play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association, Hearn was remembered for his rapid fire, staccato broadcasting style, inventing colorful phrases such as slam dunk, air ball, and no harm, no foul that have become common basketball vernacular, and for broadcasting 3,338 consecutive Lakers games starting on November 21, 1965. Additionally, Hearn started the now common tradition of estimating the distance of shots taken.
Of note is that most of Hearn's games in the television era were simulcast on both radio and television, even after most teams chose to use different announcers for the different media.
Hearn grew up in Aurora, Illinois in west suburban Chicago and attended high school at Marmion Academy and college at Bradley University. He earned the nickname "Chick" while an Amateur Athletic Union basketball player at Bradley, when teammates played a prank on him: giving him a shoebox to see his surprised reaction when he opened it and found not sneakers inside, but instead a dead chicken.

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Chris Webber
Mayce Edward Christopher "Chris" Webber III (born March 1, 1973), nicknamed C-Webb, is a retired American professional basketball player. He is a five-time NBA All-Star, a former All-NBA First Teamer, a former NBA Rookie of the Year, and a former #1 overall NBA Draftee. As a collegiate athlete, he was an NCAA Men's Basketball first team All-American and led the University of Michigan Wolverines' 1991 incoming freshman class known as the Fab Five that reached the 1992 & 1993 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship games as freshmen and sophomores. However, Webber was indicted by a federal grand jury and stripped of his All-American honors by the NCAA as a result of his direct involvement in the Ed Martin scandal. He is also a former National High School Basketball Player of the Year who led his high school Detroit Country Day to three Michigan State High School Basketball Championships.
Webber attended Detroit Country Day School and at the time was the most recruited Michigan high school basketball player since Magic Johnson. Webber led Country Day to three MHSAA State championships. As a senior in high school Webber averaged 29.4 points and 13 rebounds per game. He was named Michigan's Mr. Basketball and the 1990–1991 National High School player of the year. He was named MVP in both the McDonald's and Dapper Dan All-Star games.

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Christian Laettner
Christian Donald Laettner (born August 17, 1969) is an American former professional basketball player, entrepreneur, and basketball coach. He had a distinguished college and national career, and played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for thirteen seasons, from 1992–2005. He was also a minority holder in the Major League Soccer (MLS) club D.C. United from 2007 until 2009, when William Chang bought out the remaining investors to take full control of the club. He is a current assistant coach of the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Development League.
Laettner played college basketball for the Duke University Blue Devils, starring on the 1991 and 1992 NCAA champion teams. He was the only college player selected for the 1992 United States men's Olympic team, nicknamed the "Dream Team." Sometimes considered the greatest team ever assembled in any sport, the Dream Team went on to win the gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. Laettner was drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1992 NBA draft and went on to play 13 seasons in the NBA.

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Christian Steinmetz
Christian "Chris" Steinmetz (June 28, 1882 – June 11, 1963) was an American basketball player. He played forward for the University of Wisconsin from 1903 to 1905. He was college basketball's leading scorer in the game's first 25 years from 1895 to 1920. He became known as the "Father of Wisconsin Basketball" and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1961.
Steinmetz was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1882. He was the son of Chris, a Milwaukee real estate man, and Frances Steinmetz.
Steinmetz attended Milwaukee's South Division High School where he was a member of the school's basketball and track teams. He led South Division to the state high school basketball championship in 1902 and was the state champion in the high jump that year.
Steinmetz enrolled at the University of Wisconsin where he was a member of the Badgers' track and basketball teams from 1903 to 1905. Despite his modest size at 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) and 137 pounds (62 kg), he became one of the greatest scorers in basketball history. One writer who saw him play wrote: "He was a human dynamo on the basketball floor. Possessed of an uncanny eye for the basket and a bulldog on defense, Steinmetz always seemed to be at the right place at the right time. He was to basketball what Willie Heston (of Michigan) was to football."

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Chuck Carney
Charles "Chuck" Carney (August 25, 1900 – September 5, 1984) was an American football and basketball player. As an end and receiver, he played football for the University of Illinois from 1918-1921. He was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1966. Carney was also a two-time All-American (1920, 1922) member of the University of Illinois men's basketball team from 1920-1922. He was elected to the Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team in January 2005. Carney became the first Big Ten athlete to be named a football and basketball All-American. He was named Helms Foundation National Player of the Year for basketball in 1922.
After leaving Illinois, Carney served as end coach at Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Harvard before entering the investment banking business as a New York Stock Exchange representative for the firm of Dominick and Dominick.

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Chuck Chuckovits
Charles H. "Chuck" Chuckovitz (July 10, 1912 – August 12, 1991) was an American professional basketball player of the 1930s and 1940s.
A 6'1" All-American guard-forward from the University of Toledo, Chuckovitz played two seasons in the National Basketball League as a member of the Hammond Ciesar All-Americans and the Toledo Jim White Chevrolets. He received league MVP honors with Toledo during the 1941-42 season after leading the NBL with an 18.5 points per game average.

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Chuck Daly
Charles Jerome "Chuck" Daly (July 20, 1930 – May 9, 2009) was an American basketball head coach. He led the Detroit Pistons to consecutive National Basketball Association (NBA) Championships in 1989 and 1990, and the Dream Team to the men's basketball gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He had a 14-year NBA coaching career.
Born in St. Marys, Pennsylvania, to Earl and Geraldine Daly on July 20, 1930, Daly attended Kane Area High School in nearby Kane. He matriculated at St. Bonaventure University for one year before transferring to Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1952. After serving two years in the military, he began his basketball coaching career in 1955 at Punxsutawney (PA) High School.
After compiling a 111–70 record in eight seasons at Punxsutawney (PA) High School, Daly moved on to the college level in 1963 as an assistant coach under Vic Bubas at Duke University. During his six seasons at Duke, the Blue Devils won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and advanced to the Final Four, both in 1964 and 1966. Daly then replaced Bob Cousy as head coach at Boston College in 1969. The Eagles recorded an 11–13 record in Daly's first year at the school, and improved to 15–11 in 1971.

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Chuck Hyatt
Charles D. "Chuck" Hyatt (February 28, 1908 – May 8, 1978) was a well-known collegiate basketball player in the late 1920s.
The Syracuse, New York native played three seasons at University of Pittsburgh under Hall of Fame coach Clifford Carlson (1927–30). An exceptional shooter, Hyatt scored then-outstanding 880 points throughout his college career. He was named an All-American three consecutive times, and additionally Helms Foundation Player of the Year in 1930, when he led the nation in scoring with 12.6 ppg.
After his college career, Hyatt played AAU basketball, and later coached in the Professional Basketball League of America. Hyatt was inducted into the Helms Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in its inaugural class in 1959, and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in its inaugural class of 2006.

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Clair Bee
Clair Francis Bee (March 2, 1896 – May 20, 1983) was an American basketball coach, who led the team at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York to undefeated seasons in 1936 and 1939, as well as two National Invitation Tournament titles (1939, 1941). He was born in Grafton, West Virginia.
Bee's teams won 95 percent of their games from 1931 to 1951, including 43 in a row from 1935 to 1937. Bee holds the Division I NCAA record for highest winning percentage, winning 82.6% of the games he was head coach. Bee resigned in 1951 after several of his players were implicated in the CCNY Point Shaving Scandal. LIU shut down its athletic program shortly afterward.
Bee also coached the football team at LIU until it was disbanded in 1940.
He coached the National Basketball Association's Baltimore Bullets from 1952 to 1954, amassing a 34-116 record under his tenure.
Bee was known as the "Innovator". His contributions to the game of basketball include the 1-3-1 zone defense and the three-second rule. Bee also served as co-host of the early NBC sports-oriented television program "Campus Hoopla" on WNBT from 1946 - 1947.

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Clarence Gaines
Clarence Edward "Big House" Gaines, Sr. (May 21, 1923 – April 18, 2005) was a college men's basketball coach with a 47-year coaching career at Winston-Salem State University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Gaines was born in Paducah, Kentucky to Lester and Olivia Bolen Gaines. He helped his family by working in a garage. He attended local Lincoln High School where he excelled academically, played basketball, was an All-State football player, and played trumpet in the school band. He graduated as class salutatorian in 1941.
Despite his academic qualifications, Jim Crow Era segregation laws and the suggestions of a friend of the family led him to attend Morgan State University (then Morgan State College) in Baltimore, Maryland. He entered in the fall of 1941 on a football scholarship.
It was at Morgan State that Gaines got his nickname "Big House": a student saw the 6 ft. 3in., 265 lb Gaines and declared: "You're as big as a house." Gaines played as a lineman for the Bears football team, was a member of the basketball team, and participated in track. Gaines was an All-CIAA selection as a lineman in football all four seasons and twice elected an All-American. When it came to basketball, he described himself as "a very average basketball player." In 2004, he explained that "I was an All-America in football, but I was just on the basketball team to have something to do."

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Cliff Hagan
Clifford Oldham Hagan (born December 9, 1931, in Owensboro, Kentucky) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6-4 forward who excelled with the hook shot, Hagan, nicknamed "Li'l Abner," played his entire 10-year NBA career (1956–1966) with the St. Louis Hawks. He was also a player-coach for the Dallas Chaparrals in the first two-plus years of the American Basketball Association's existence (1967–1970).
Hagan played college basketball at the University of Kentucky under legendary coach Adolph Rupp. As a sophomore in 1951 he helped Kentucky win the NCAA Championship with a 68-58 victory over Kansas State.
In the fall of 1952, a point shaving scandal involving three Kentucky players (one of whom was a teammate of Hagan on Kentucky’s 1951 NCAA champions) over a four-year period forced Kentucky to forfeit its upcoming season, the senior year of Hagan, Frank Ramsey and Lou Tsioropoulos. The suspension of the season made Kentucky's basketball team, in effect, the first college sports team to get the "death penalty."

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Clifford Carlson
Henry Clifford "Doc" Carlson (July 4, 1894 – November 1, 1964) is a Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame inductee as the men's college basketball coach of his alma mater, the University of Pittsburgh, from 1922 to 1953. At Pitt he compiled a record of 367–247 record (.595) and led the Panthers to a 21–0 record and the Helms Athletic Foundation national championship in 1928, another Helms national championship in 1930, and the Final Four in 1941. As a student at the university, Carlson was also a First Team All-American end on Pitt's football team under coach "Pop" Warner. Carlson also lettered in basketball and baseball.
Carlson was born in Murray City, Ohio. He played high school football, basketball, and baseball (1910–1914) at Bellefonte Academy in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. During his undergraduate years at the University of Pittsburgh (1914–1918) he earned three letters in basketball, two in baseball, four in football. He played on the 1916 Pitt football team that is widely regarded as that season's national champion and was selected as an All-American football player while playing for Pitt's undefeated 1917 team.

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Clifford Fagan
Clifford B. "Cliff" Fagan (March 3, 1911 – January 18, 1995) was a high school basketball referee who became executive director of the National Federation of High School Athletic Associations (NFHSAA) and eventually president of the Basketball Hall of Fame and board member for FIBA, the international governing body for the sport of basketball. He was born in Mankato, Minnesota.
For his contributions to the sport of basketball, including his service as a member of the board of directors for the United States Olympic Committee, Fagan was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1984.

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Clifford Wells
W. R. Clifford "Cliff" Wells (March 17, 1896 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA – August 15, 1977) was an American basketball coach and administrator. As a high school basketball coach in Indiana he led his teams to winning more than 50 tournaments, including two Indiana state championships in 1919 and 1934. He also coached the Tulane University team from 1945 to 1963. He was the first full-time executive secretary and director of the Basketball Hall of Fame from 1963 to 1966. He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1972.

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Clyde Drexler
Clyde Austin "The Glide" Drexler (born June 22, 1962) is a former American professional basketball shooting guard and small forward. A ten-time All-Star and member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, the NBA named him one of basketball's fifty greatest players as of 1996. Drexler won an Olympic gold medal in 1992 and an NBA championship in 1995 with the Houston Rockets. He is the color commentator for Rockets home games.
Drexler lived in the South Park area in Houston. Drexler attended Ross Sterling High School in Houston, Texas, where he was a classmate of tennis player Zina Garrison. As a sophomore, he made the varsity baseball team as a first baseman, but soon quit in order to focus on basketball. He didn't try out for the basketball team until his junior year, and was promptly cut during tryouts due to lack of conditioning. Drexler played as a 6'6" center as a senior, and started receiving attention from college coaches following a 34-point, 27-rebound performance against Sharpstown High School during a 1979 Christmas tournament.

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Clyde Lovellette
Clyde Edward Lovellette (born September 7, 1929 in Petersburg, Indiana) is a former professional basketball player; the first basketball player in history to play on an NCAA, Olympics and NBA championship squad. His high school team fell one game short of a state championship.
Lovellette fostered the trend of tall, physical and high-scoring centers. A two-time All-State performer at Garfield High School in Terre Haute, Indiana, the six-foot-nine Lovellette later attended the University of Kansas where he became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. While at the University of Kansas he led Jayhawks to the 1952 NCAA title, capturing MOP honors and scoring a then-NCAA-record 141 points. A three-time All-America at Kansas, Clyde led the Big Seven in scoring in each of his three seasons. Playing for Basketball Hall of Fame Coach Forrest "Phog" Allen, Lovellette led the nation in scoring his senior year (1952, 28.4 ppg) and was named the Helms College Player of the Year. Lovellette played alongside basketball legend Dean Smith at Kansas. He is still the only college player to lead the nation in scoring and win the NCAA title in the same year. Lovellette's dominance in the paint landed him a place on the 1952 Summer Olympics gold medal team in Helsinki, Finland and he was the team's dominating player and leading scorer.

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Connie Hawkins
Cornelius (Connie) L. Hawkins (born July 17, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York) is a former National Basketball Association and American Basketball Association player, Harlem Globetrotter and New York City playground legend. It was on the New York City courts that he earned his nickname The Hawk.
Hawkins was born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, where he attended Boys High School. Hawkins soon became a fixture at Rucker Park, a legendary outdoor court where he battled against some of the best players in the world.^{[citation needed]}
Hawkins did not play much until his junior year at Boys High. Hawkins was All-City first team as a junior as Boys went undefeated and won New York's Public Schools Athletic League (PSAL) title in 1959. During his senior year he averaged 25.5 ppg, including one game in which he scored 60, and Boys again went undefeated and won the 1960 PSAL title. Hawkins then signed a scholarship offer to play at the University of Iowa.
During Hawkins' freshman year at Iowa, he was a victim of the hysteria surrounding a point-shaving scandal that had started in New York City. Hawkins's name surfaced in an interview conducted with an individual who was involved in the scandal. While some of the conspirators and characters involved were known to or knew Hawkins, none - including the New York attorney at the center of the scandal, Jack Molinas - had ever sought to involve Hawkins in the conspiracy.

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Courtney Alexander
Courtney Jason Alexander (born April 27, 1977 in Bridgeport, Connecticut) is an American former professional basketball player who was a member of three teams in the NBA. He is one of Grant Hill's cousins.
After playing high school basketball at Masuk High School in Monroe, CT he moved to Durham, North Carolina to play for C. E. Jordan High School to finish his high school career, Alexander, a shooting guard, was selected by the Orlando Magic with the 13th overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft after he played college basketball at University of Virginia and Fresno State; his rights were traded to the Dallas Mavericks on the same day. He led the nation in scoring in the 1999-2000 season at Fresno State. He played for the Mavericks before being traded during his rookie season to the Washington Wizards where he played until 2002. He was named to the All-Rookie 2nd Team. He was then traded in the offseason to the New Orleans Hornets. A highlight of his career was a 33-point effort for the Wizards against the Toronto Raptors on April 18, 2001 when Richard Hamilton was out with injuries. He later signed with the Sacramento Kings but was released before ever playing a game for them. On October 8, 2006, Alexander was signed by the Denver Nuggets after being out of the league for three seasons, but was waived on October 15.

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Dale Hall
Dale Stanley Hall (June 21, 1924 – August 23, 1996) was an American football and basketball player and coach. He played football and basketball at the United States Military Academy, where he was a two-time All-American in backetball and was named the Sporting News Men's College Basketball Player of the Year in 1945. Hall served as the head football coach at West Point from 1959 to 1961, compiling a record of 16–11–2. He was also the head basketball coach at the University of New Hampshire during the 1951–52 season, tallying a mark of 11–9.

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Dallas Shirley
Dallas Shirley (June 7, 1913 in Washington, D.C., US – March 1, 1994) was a basketball referee. He officiated more than 2000 basketball games in his 33-year career, which ended in 1966. He was the International Association of Approved Basketball Officials president from 1952 to 1953. He took part in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, officiating basketball. He was a member of the first NBA officiating crew. He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980.

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Dan Issel
Daniel (Dan) Paul Issel (born October 25, 1948 in Batavia, Illinois) is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player and coach.
An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, he was twice named an All American en route to a still school record 25.7 points per game. The ABA Rookie of the Year in 1971, he was a six-time ABA All-Star and one-time NBA pick.
Issel played college basketball at the University of Kentucky under legendary coach Adolph Rupp. Issel was at UK 1966-1970 and scored 2,138 points (an average of 25.7 per game) while being named an All American for two of the three seasons he was eligible for the award. His career points total remains the highest among UK men's players.
On February 7, 1970, Issel scored 53 points in a 120-85 victory over Mississippi, breaking Cliff Hagan's single-game Wildcat record of 51. Issel's mark held for almost four decades, finally falling to Jodie Meeks' 54 in a win against University of Tennessee on January 13, 2009.
Upon Issel's graduation in 1970 he was drafted by the Detroit Pistons of the NBA and the Kentucky Colonels of the ABA. Issel signed to play basketball for the Colonels and the ABA.

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Daniel Biasone
Daniel Biasone (February 22, 1909 – May 25, 1992) was the founding owner of the Syracuse Nationals, an NBA team now known as the Philadelphia 76ers. Biasone, who was a childhood immigrant to the United States from Italy, was mostly known for advocating the use of the shot clock in basketball. Biasone was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 for his contributions to the sport.
Although he did not originate the idea of a shot clock, he strongly supported its adoption in professional basketball. Biasone successfully lobbied the NBA to institute the shot clock in 1954. He was responsible for establishing the NBA shot clock at twenty-four seconds, where it has remained to this day. He supported the twenty-four second rule on the basis of his observations, experience, and basic arithmetic. Biasone asserted that basketball proved most exciting when it achieved a balance between stalling contests and wild shootouts. He envisioned a well-paced match up in which each team took around sixty shots per game. Given that professional basketball games lasted forty-eight minutes, Biasone divided 2880 (the number of seconds in forty-eight minutes) by 120 (the total number of shots taken per game when each team attempted sixty shots) and arrived at a figure he considered optimal: one shot every 24 seconds. Additionally, he was also a primary force in convincing the NBA to adopt the backcourt foul rule in 1953.

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Darrell Floyd
Darrell Floyd (c. 1933 – March 7, 2000) was an American college basketball All-American while playing for Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina from 1953–56. He was a two-time national scoring champion, two-time Consensus NCAA Division I All-America Second Team selection, two-time South Carolina Player of the Year and two-time Southern Conference Player of the Year. Floyd was just the second player to repeat as NCAA scoring champion. The first was Frank Selvy who also played for Furman with Floyd for one season (1953–54) and won consecutive scoring titles in 1953 and 1954.
Darrell Floyd began his college career in 1952–53 at Wingate (N.C.) Junior College, where in his only season there he was named a Junior College All-American. From there he transferred to Furman University where he played for three years.
As a junior in 1954–55, Floyd led the nation in scoring while averaging 35.9 points per game. On January 2, 1955 he scored 67 points in a win over Morehead State, which stands as the ninth-highest single-game scoring total in NCAA history. Also in his junior season he scored 56 points against Clemson, which is still the highest opponent total against the Tigers. Floyd was named to the Consensus All-America Second Team in 1955.

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Darrell Griffith
Darrell Steven Griffith (born June 16, 1958 in Louisville, Kentucky), also known by his nickname Dr. Dunkenstein, is a retired American basketball player who spent his entire professional career with the Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association.
Griffith starred at Louisville Male High School and was heavily recruited by colleges all across the country. He decided to attend his hometown school, the University of Louisville, much to the delight of local fans.
He didn't disappoint, delivering the school's first-ever NCAA men's basketball championship in 1980. He scored 23 points in the Cardinals' 59-54 victory over UCLA in the championship game. Due to his strong performance, he was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Griffith totaled 825 points in his senior season, setting a school record. For his efforts, he was named First Team All-American by the Associated Press and was given the Wooden Award as the best college basketball player in the nation. He left college as Louisville's all-time leading scorer with 2,333 points in his career. His jersey number, 35, was retired during ceremonies after the 1980 season.

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Dave Bing
David "Dave" Bing (born November 24, 1943) is the mayor of Detroit, Michigan, a businessman, and a retired American professional basketball player who played 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), primarily for the Detroit Pistons (1966–75). He was a seven-time All-Star. After retiring, he founded the Bing Group, which was one of the largest steel companies in Michigan.
His #21 was retired by the Detroit Pistons, and in 1996 he was named as one of the NBA's 50 Greatest Players of all time.
He was elected mayor of Detroit in a special election on May 5, 2009 and was sworn in on May 11, 2009. Bing won the full-term mayoral election on November 3, 2009, defeating challenger Tom Barrow.
Bing was born and raised in northeast Washington, D.C., as a son of a bricklayer. At age five, Bing accidentally poked his left eye with a nail of a wooden horse that he improvised. With the family unable to afford an eye operation, the eye healed on its own but left Bing with fuzzy vision since then.

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Dave Cowens
David William Cowens (born October 25, 1948, in Newport, Kentucky) is a retired American professional basketball player and NBA head coach. At 6'9", he played the center and occasionally the power forward position. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1991. He was recently an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons, and currently serves as a special assistant to Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars.
After starring in high school at Newport Catholic High in his hometown of Newport, Kentucky, Cowens played his collegiate basketball at Florida State University from 1967 to 1970. He scored 1,479 points in 78 games at Florida State, at 19.0 points per game, and ranks among Florida State's top 10 all-time scoring leaders.
He is the all-time Florida State leading rebounder with 1,340 rebounds (17.2 rebounds per game). He holds the team record for best seasonal rebound average (17.5 in the 1968-1969 season). He once grabbed 31 rebounds (second best all-time) against LSU in the 1968-69 season.

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Dave DeBusschere
David Albert DeBusschere (October 16, 1940 – May 14, 2003) was an American NBA and major league baseball player and coach in the NBA. In 1996, DeBusschere was named as one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history.
DeBusschere was born in Detroit, Michigan, and attended Austin Catholic Preparatory School, where he founded the "white shirted league" -- the tradition of wearing white shirts to the school's games, so as to make fans more visible. He was named to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame after a twelve-year career (1962–1974), in which he averaged 16.1 points and eleven rebounds while being named to eight NBA All-Star teams; he was renowned for his physical style of play and tenacious defense, as he was named to the NBA All-Defensive first team six times.
DeBusschere was drafted by the Detroit Pistons out of the University of Detroit in 1962 as a territorial draft selection (common at the time). During his rookie season he averaged 12.7 points and 8.7 rebounds per game, and was later named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. However, DeBusschere was injured during his second season and only played in 15 games, resulting in the Pistons finishing with a disappointing record of 23-59.

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Dave Gavitt
David "Dave" Gavitt (October 26, 1937, Westerly, Rhode Island – September 16, 2011) was a American college basketball coach and athletic director at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island. He was also well known as the first commissioner of the Big East Conference and as part of the committee which created the 1992 Olympic Basketball "Dream Team."
Gavitt graduated from Dartmouth College in 1959, where he was a member of the 1959-1960 varsity basketball team, the last Dartmouth basketball team to win the Ivy League championship. He spent two years as an assistant basketball coach at Worcester Academy before becoming an assistant coach at Providence under the legendary Joe Mullaney in 1962. He left in 1966 to become and then head coach at his alma mater before taking over for Mullaney at Providence in 1969.
Under his ten-year tenure, the Friars advanced to the postseason eight straight years (1971–78; five NCAA appearances, 1972-'74, '77-'78, and three NIT appearances, 1971, '75, 76). In 1973, Gavitt's team made it to the Final Four for the first time in school history. He also served as director of athletics at PC from 1971 to 1982, and was at that position when the school's women's athletics programs were started as a result of Title IX.

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Dave Schellhase
Dave Schellhase (born October 14, 1944 in Evansville, Indiana) is a retired American collegiate basketball coach and basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
Dave Schellhase attended North High School in Evansville, Indiana. He led the state in scoring during his Senior year averaging 30.5 points a game, with a total of 1,325 points in his high school career. He was a member of the Indiana All-Star Team. He fell short of winning the Indiana Mr. Basketball Award to Larry Humes.
After high school, Dave attended Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. He played basketball under head coach Ray Eddy. In his Senior year, he led the Boilermakers in scoring with 32.5 points a game while being named a Consensus All-American, Academic All-American and receivied his third straight First Team All-Big Ten selection. He was a 2nd team All-American following his junior season. Dave scored a career high 57 points on February 19, 1966 against Michigan, the second most in school history, only behind Rick Mount's 61. With 2,074 career points he was the first of five Boilermakers to reach the 2,000 point plateau, along with Rick Mount, Joe Barry Carroll, Troy Lewis and E'Twaun Moore.

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David Tobey
David "Dave" Tobey (May 1, 1898 in New York, New York, USA – July 25, 1988) was an American basketball referee. He refereed many notable pro games in New York between 1918 and 1925. In 1926 he refereed the Syracuse vs. West Point game, which featured two future Hall of Famers, Vic Hanson and John Roosma. After that game he became popular and refereed many important games from 1926 to 1945, such as the first game with a three-man officiating crew (Georgetown vs. Columbia). He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1961.

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Dean Smith
Dean Edwards Smith (born February 28, 1931) is a retired American head coach of men's college basketball. Originally from Emporia, Kansas, Smith has been called a “coaching legend” by the Basketball Hall of Fame. Smith is best known for his successful 36-year coaching tenure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Smith coached from 1961 to 1997 and retired with 879 victories, which was the NCAA Division I men's basketball record at that time. Smith has the 9th highest winning percentage of any men’s college basketball coach (77.6%). During his tenure as head coach of North Carolina, the team won two national titles and appeared in 11 Final Fours.
Smith is also known for running a clean program and having a high graduation rate for his players, with 96.6% of his athletes receiving their degrees. While at North Carolina, Smith helped promote desegregation by recruiting the University’s first African American scholarship basketball player, Charlie Scott, and pushing for equal treatment for African Americans by local businesses. Smith coached and worked with numerous individuals at North Carolina who went on to achieve notable success in basketball, as either players or coaches or both. Smith retired as head coach from North Carolina in 1997, saying that he was not able to give the team the same level of enthusiasm that he had given it for years. Since retirement, Smith has used his influence to help out in various charitable ventures and political activities.

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Del Harris
Delmer (Del) William Harris (born June 18, 1937) is a basketball coach, currently the head coach for the Texas Legends of the NBA Development League. He was an assistant coach for the NBA's New Jersey Nets, Chicago Bulls, and Dallas Mavericks. He also served as an NBA head coach for the Houston Rockets, Milwaukee Bucks, and Los Angeles Lakers.
Harris is a graduate of Milligan College in northeast Tennessee, where his basketball career landed him in the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. Early in his career Harris was coach at Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana before entering professional ranks in 1975 as an assistant coach for the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association, under head coach Tom Nissalke. When that franchise folded, Nissalke and Harris were hired as head and assistant coach, respectively for the NBA's Houston Rockets. When Nissalke was let go by the club, Harris was asked to take over head coaching duties. Harris led the Rockets to the NBA Finals in the 1981 season, where they were defeated by the Boston Celtics four games to two.

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Denise Curry
Denise Curry (born August 22, 1959 in Fort Benton, Montana) is an American former basketball player and college and professional basketball coach. As of the 2007-2008 season, she is in her fifth year as an assistant basketball coach for the Cal State Long Beach women's basketball team.
Curry moved to Davis, California by the time she was in high school. She graduated from Davis Senior High School. During her college playing career she led UCLA to AIAW National Championship in 1978, has been named All-America three times (1979, 1980, 1981), set fourteen school records and was all-time leading scorer (3,198 points) and rebounder (1,310 points). She scored in double figures in every one of the 130 games she played for UCLA. She averaged 24.6 points per game. Only one other Bruin player, Natalie Williams, averaged over 20 points per game at 20.4. As of 2008, she is still the top record holder in 10 categories for UCLA.
She was named MVP of Western Collegiate Athletic Conference three times and UCLA All-University Athlete of the Year in 1981. She was named the USA Basketball Female Athlete of the Year in 1981.

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Dennis Johnson
Dennis Wayne Johnson (September 18, 1954 – February 22, 2007) nicknamed "DJ", was an American, professional basketball player for the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Seattle SuperSonics, Phoenix Suns and Boston Celtics and coach of the Los Angeles Clippers. He was an alumnus of Dominguez High School, Los Angeles Harbor College and Pepperdine University.
A prototypical late bloomer, Johnson overcame early struggles and had a successful NBA playing career. Drafted 29th overall in 1976 by the Seattle SuperSonics, Johnson began his professional career as a shooting guard. He eventually led the Sonics to their only NBA championship in 1979, winning the Finals MVP Award. After a short stint with the Phoenix Suns, he became the starting point guard for the Boston Celtics, with whom he won two more championships. Johnson was voted into five All-Star Teams, one All-NBA First and one Second Team, and nine consecutive All-Defensive First and Second Teams. Apart from his reputation as a defensive stopper, Johnson was known as a clutch player who made several decisive plays in NBA playoffs history.

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Dennis Rodman
Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is a retired American Hall of Fame professional basketball player of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks. Born in Trenton, New Jersey, he was nicknamed "Dennis the Menace" and "The Worm" and was known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities. Playing small forward in his early years before becoming a power forward, Rodman earned NBA All-Defensive First Team honors seven times and was voted NBA Defensive Player of the Year twice. He also led the NBA in rebounds per game for a record seven consecutive years and won five NBA championships (1989, 1990, 1996, 1997, 1998). His biography at NBA.com states that he is "arguably the best rebounding forward in NBA history". On April 1, 2011, the Pistons retired Rodman's #10 jersey. Later that same year, Rodman was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Rodman experienced an unhappy childhood and was shy and introverted in his early years. After aborting a suicide attempt in 1993, he reinvented himself as a "bad boy" and became notorious for numerous controversial antics. He dyed his hair in artificial colors, presented himself with many piercings and tattoos and regularly disrupted games by clashing with opposing players and officials. He famously wore a wedding dress to promote his autobiography. Rodman pursued a high-profile affair with singer Madonna and was briefly married to actress Carmen Electra.

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Denny Crum
Denzil E. "Denny" Crum (born March 2, 1937) is a former American men's college basketball coach at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 2001, compiling a 675–295 record. He guided the Cardinals to two NCAA championships (1980, 1986) and six Final Fours. Honored in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame since 1994, Crum is one of the major figures in the history of sports in Kentucky and in college basketball in general.
As the head coach at U of L, Crum is widely credited with pioneering the now-common strategy of scheduling tough non-conference match-ups early in the season in order to prepare his teams for March's NCAA tournament, where one defeat ends the season. Crum's prolific post-season play and calm demeanor earned him the monikers "Mr. March" and his most well-known nickname, "Cool Hand Luke."
Crum was born in San Fernando, California. From 1954–1956, Denny Crum played basketball at Los Angeles Pierce College. In 1956, he transferred to UCLA to play for John Wooden. While at UCLA, Crum was honored with the Irv Pohlmeyer Memorial Trophy for outstanding first-year varsity player. He also received the Bruin Bench Award for most improved player the following year.

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Derek Fisher
Derek Lamar Fisher (born August 9, 1974) is an American professional basketball point guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder in the National Basketball Association (NBA). His NBA career has spanned more than 15 years, during which he won five NBA Championships with the Los Angeles Lakers. He currently serves as the president of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Fisher started out his basketball career at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Selected with the twenty-fourth pick by the Lakers in the 1996 NBA Draft, Fisher spent his first eight seasons with the franchise. During that time, he played a role in the Lakers' "three-peat", and was the third-leading scorer on the team behind Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. After his success with Los Angeles, Fisher signed with the Golden State Warriors, but was later traded to the Utah Jazz, where he helped lead the team to the Western Conference Finals. Due to his daughter's health, he asked to be released from his contract and rejoined the Lakers in 2007. In 2010, he won his fifth NBA Championship with the Lakers. Only he and Kobe Bryant have played in all five of the Lakers' most recent championships. The Lakers, in 2012, traded Fisher to the Houston Rockets, who bought out his contract and waived him. He was subsequently claimed by the Thunder.

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Dick Groat
Richard Morrow Groat (born November 4, 1930 in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania) is a former two-sport athlete best known as a shortstop in Major League Baseball. He played for four National League teams, mainly the Pittsburgh Pirates and St. Louis Cardinals, and was named the league's Most Valuable Player in 1960 after winning the batting title with a .325 average for the champion Pirates. From 1956 to 1962 he teamed with second baseman Bill Mazeroski to give Pittsburgh one of the game's strongest middle infields; he led the NL in double plays a record five times, in putouts four times and in assists twice. At the end of his career he ranked ninth in major league history in games at shortstop (1,877) and fourth in double plays (1,237), and was among the NL career leaders in putouts (10th, 3,505), assists (8th, 5,811) and total chances (9th, 9,690). Also an excellent basketball player, he attended Duke University and is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. He was twice an All-American at Duke and was voted as the Helms National Player of the Year in 1952 after averaging 25.2 points per game. He played one season as a guard in the National Basketball Association. In 2011 Groat was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame, becoming the first man ever inducted into both the college basketball and college baseball halls of fame. He is currently the color commentator for the Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball team.

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Dick Ives
Richard C. "Dick" Ives (April 26, 1926 – May 5, 1997) was an American basketball player for the University of Iowa from 1943–44 to 1946–47. A native of Diagonal, Iowa, Ives passed up the opportunity to play college basketball at Drake University on a full athletic scholarship so that he could play at Iowa under coach "Pops" Harrison. Ives had been a stand-out basketball player at Diagonal High School and led the team to the state championship.
Ives entered the University of Iowa in the fall of 1943 as a 17-year old freshman. Due to World War II and the lack of able-bodied male student athletes across the nation, the NCAA allowed freshmen to play varsity sports in college, which until that time had been disallowed. With this rare opportunity, Ives went on to have a highly successful four-year letter-winning career as a Hawkeye. He led the team in scoring for his first three seasons, and as a freshman he scored a then-unheard of school- and Big Ten Conference-record 43 points in a single game. It is still the third highest scoring game in Iowa history and it earned him the nickname "Diagonal Dagger." Ives was a three-time All-American, and in 1944–45 he was voted as a consensus Second Team All-American (coincidentally, fellow sophomore teammate Herb Wilkinson was also a consensus All-American). That season, the Hawkeyes also won the Big Ten Conference championship.

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Dick McGuire
Richard Joseph "Dick" McGuire (January 26, 1926 – February 3, 2010) was an American professional basketball player and coach.
One of the premier guards of the 1950s, McGuire spent eleven seasons in the NBA (1949–60), eight with the New York Knicks and three with the Detroit Pistons. McGuire led the league in assists during his rookie season with a then-record 386 assists, and was among the league's top ten playmakers for ten of his eleven seasons. He was an NBA All-Star seven times (1951,'52, '54-'56, '58, '59), and was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 1951.
McGuire became player-coach for the Pistons in his last season (1959-60), and coached them until 1963. He also coached the Knicks for three seasons, beginning in 1965. He compiled a 197-260 coaching record. McGuire was working as a senior consultant for the Knicks when he died on February 3, 2010 of a ruptured aortic aneurysm at age 84.
McGuire's brother Al was also a prominent figure in basketball who coached Marquette University to the 1977 NCAA basketball championship. They are the only pair of brothers inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. His nephew, Allie, also played in the NBA.

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Dick Schnittker
Richard D. "Dick" Schnittker (born May 27, 1928 in Kelleys Island, Ohio) is a retired American professional basketball player.
A 6'5" forward from the Ohio State University, Schnittker played six seasons (1950–1951; 1953–1958) in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Washington Capitols and Minneapolis Lakers. He averaged 8.3 points per game and won a championship with the Lakers in 1954.
In college Schnittker also played end on the Ohio State football team during the 1949 season. After starting end Sonny Gandee went down with a season-ending neck injury, coach Wes Fesler recruited Schnittker to take Gandee's place. Schnittker helped the team to a Big Ten championship and Rose Bowl appearance.

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Dick Triptow
Richard F. (Dick) Triptow (born November 3, 1922) is a retired American basketball player. At 6'0" and 170 pounds, he played as a guard and a forward.
Triptow attended Lane Tech High School and DePaul University, both in Chicago, Illinois. From 1944 to 1949, he played professional basketball in the National Basketball League and National Basketball Association as a member of the Chicago American Gears, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks, the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, and the Baltimore Bullets. Playing alongside George Mikan, Triptow won an NBL championship with the Gears in 1947. Triptow coached the Lake Forest College men's basketball team from 1959 to 1973.
In 1997, Triptow wrote a book about his experiences with the Chicago American Gears, called The Dynasty That Never Was (ISBN 0965928004).

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Dick Vitale
Richard J. "Dick" Vitale (pronounced /vaɪˈtæl/; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known as a college basketball broadcaster and for the enthusiastic and colorful remarks he makes during games, although many sports fans feel he subtracts from the sport coverage, rather than enhancing it. He is known for his catchphrases such as "baby" and "diaper dandy" (outstanding freshman player), as well as an overbearing and often bombastic style, and has authored nine books and appeared in several movies.
Vitale took his first job as a coach at an elementary school in Garfield, New Jersey in 1959. Eventually he moved up to the high school level to become head coach at Garfield High School for one season, and then at East Rutherford High School (his alma mater).
In 1971, Vitale moved to Rutgers University as an assistant coach under head coach Dick Lloyd. After two seasons there, he was hired in 1973 by the University of Detroit to become its head coach. Vitale took Detroit to the 32-team NCAA tournament in 1977. Vitale had a 78-30 record during his tenure at Detroit, which included a 21-game winning streak during the 1977 season. During that streak the Titans defeated the eventual champion Marquette on the road in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Following the 1977 season, his fourth as Detroit head coach, Vitale was named the university's athletic director.

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Dikembe Mutombo
Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo (born June 25, 1966), commonly referred to as Dikembe Mutombo, is a retired Congolese American professional basketball player who last played for the Houston Rockets of the NBA. He was the oldest player in the NBA at the time of his most recent season.
The 7 ft 2 in (2.18 m), 260-pound (120 kg; 19 st) center is commonly referred to as one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players of all time, winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award four times. On January 10, 2007, he surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the second most prolific shot blocker, in terms of career blocked shots, in NBA history, behind only Hakeem Olajuwon. He is a member of the Luba ethnic group and speaks English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Tshiluba, Swahili, Lingala and two other Central African varieties. In the second game of the first round of the 2009 NBA playoffs, Mutombo suffered a knee injury that kept him out for the remainder of the postseason. Soon after the injury, Mutombo announced he had played his last games in the NBA.

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Dino Meneghin
Dino Meneghin (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdino meneˈɡin]; born January 18, 1950) is an Italian former professional basketball player. He is widely considered as the best Italian player ever, as well as one of Europe's all time greats. A 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in) tall center, Meneghin was born in Alano di Piave, Veneto (northeast Italy). On November 20, 1966, when he was 16 years old, he played his first match in the Italian League with Ignis Varese. He played the last match of his career at the age of 45. Today, he works for the Italian Basketball Federation and for the club Olimpia Milano. On August 20, 2010, Meneghin was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame, in recognition of his play in international competition.
In total, he played in 836 games and scored 8,560 points in the Italian Championship. With the Italian national basketball team, he played in 271 games and totaled 2,847 points scored. Meneghin became the second player from a European league to be drafted by an NBA team when the Atlanta Hawks manager Marty Blake selected him with a late-round pick in the 1970 NBA Draft. He never played in the USA, however.

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Doggie Julian
Alvin Fred "Doggie" Julian (April 5, 1901 – July 28, 1967) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He served as the head basketball coach at Muhlenberg College from 1936 to 1945, at the College of the Holy Cross from 1945 to 1948, and at Dartmouth College from 1950 to 1967, compiling a career college basketball record of 379–332. Julian led Holy Cross to the NCAA title in 1947. His team, which included later NBA great Bob Cousy, almost repeated this feat in 1948, losing in the semifinals. Julian was engaged by the Boston Celtics after his college success, but he recorded only a 47–81 mark before he was dismissed in 1950. Julian was also the head football coach at Albright College from 1929 to 1930 and at Mulhlenberg from 1936 to 1944, amassing a career college football record of 56–49–2. In addition, he served as Mulhlenberg's head baseball coach from 1942 to 1944, tallying a mark of 16–18. Julian was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 1968.

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Dolph Schayes
Adolph "Dolph" Schayes (born May 19, 1928) is a retired American professional basketball player and coach in the NBA. A top scorer and rebounder, he was a member of the 1955 NBA champion Syracuse Nationals and a 12-time All-Star.
Schayes played his entire Hall of Fame career with the Nationals and their successor, the Philadelphia 76ers, from 1948 to 1964. In his 16-year career, he led the team into the post-season 15 times.
Schayes was born in New York, New York, the son of Carl, a truck driver for Consolidated laundries, and his mother Tina, a housewife. Schayes was Jewish, and both his parents were Romanian Jewish immigrants. “Dolph” grew up on Davidson Avenue and 183rd Street, off Fordham.
He is the father of retired NBA center Danny Schayes, who played in the NBA for 18 seasons. He is the grandfather of Abi, Carla, and Rachel Goettsch, who won silver medals for the U.S. volleyball team at the 2001 Maccabiah Games, Mickey Ferri, who won a gold medal in the 4x100 relay at the 2005 Maccabiah Games. Schayes settled in Syracuse in 1948, and still makes his home there, where he is a real estate developer.

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Dominique Wilkins
Jacques Dominique Wilkins (born January 12, 1960) is a retired American professional basketball player who primarily played for the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA. Wilkins was a nine-time NBA All-Star, and one of the best dunkers in NBA history, earning the nickname "The Human Highlight Film." In 2006, Wilkins was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame [2].
Wilkins was born in Paris, France because his father was stationed there while in the U.S. Air Force. Wilkins' family then moved to Washington, North Carolina, where he attended Washington High School. He was the back-to-back MVP for the team's consecutive Class 3-A State Championships (1978-1979). Wilkins then starred in the McDonald's Game, The Capital Classic, The Kentucky Derby Festival Classic, and The Dapper Dan Classic All-Star Games. He had 16 points and 12 rebounds in the McDonald's, 26 points in the Capital, and 22 points in the Derby Classic. He entered the University of Georgia in 1979 with an established reputation as an exciting player. Wilkins averaged 21.6 points a game over his career and was named SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year in 1981. He left college after his junior year and was selected third overall (behind James Worthy and Terry Cummings) by the Utah Jazz in the 1982 NBA Draft.

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Don Carlson
Donald Vernon Carlson (March 22, 1919 - October 16, 2004) was an American professional basketball player. He was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
A 6'0" (1.83 m) guard/forward from the University of Minnesota, Carlson played four seasons (1946–1947; 1948–1951) in the Basketball Association of America/National Basketball Association as a member of the Chicago Stags, Minneapolis Lakers, and Washington Capitols. He averaged 8.0 points per game in his NBA career and won two championships with the Lakers. He also played one season in the National Basketball League. After his playing days, he was a coach and athletic director at Columbia Heights High School in Columbia Heights, Minnesota.
Carlson died in 2004.

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Don Grate
Donald "Buckeye" Grate (born August 27, 1923 in Greenfield, Ohio) is a former pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and a small forward/shooting guard for the Sheboygan Redskins of the NBA. He was known for his outstanding throwing arm, including throwing the ball 445 feet and 1 inch.
Don Grate was a two-sport star at the Ohio State University, lettering in both baseball and basketball in the 1944 and 1945 seasons. As a pitcher he had impressive career totals of 95 strikeouts and only 25 walks in just 89 innings. As a basketball standout, Grate was a two-time all-Big Ten selection and earned All-America honors as a senior after scoring 272 points in 21 games. He was the captain of the 1944 team, leading the Buckeyes to a conference championship. Grate was inducted into the Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame in 1996.

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Don Haskins
Donald Lee Haskins (March 14, 1930 – September 7, 2008), nicknamed "The Bear", was an American collegiate basketball coach and player. He played for three years under legendary coach Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State University). He was the head coach at Texas Western College (renamed the University of Texas at El Paso in 1967) from 1961 to 1999, including the 1966 season when his team won the NCAA Tournament over the Wildcats of the University of Kentucky, coached by coaching great Adolph Rupp.
In his time at Texas Western, he compiled a 719–353 record, suffering only five losing seasons. He won 14 Western Athletic Conference championships, four WAC tournament titles, had fourteen NCAA tournament berths and made seven trips to the NIT. Haskins led UTEP to 17 20-plus win seasons and served as an assistant Olympic team coach in 1972.
He was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1997 as a basketball coach. The 1966 team was nominated in its entirety to the Basketball Hall of Fame, and was inducted to the Hall on September 7, 2007.

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Don Otten
Donald F. Otten (April 18, 1921–September 18, 1985) was an American professional basketball player.
A 6'10" center from Bellefontaine High School (Ohio) and Bowling Green State University, Otten began his professional career in 1946 with the Tri-Cities Blackhawks of the National Basketball League. During the 1948-49 NBL season, Otten averaged 14.0 points per game and earned league MVP honors. The Blackhawks joined the National Basketball Association in 1949, and Otten continued playing until 1953, competing for Tri-Cities as well as the Washington Capitols, Baltimore Bullets, Fort Wayne Pistons, and Milwaukee Hawks. He averaged 10.5 points per game in his NBA career.
Otten holds the NBA record for most personal fouls in a game, with eight. He set the record in a November 24, 1949 game between Tri-Cities and the Sheboygan Red Skins. NBA Rule 3, Section I permits a player to remain in the game after fouling out if no other players are available on the bench.

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Donnie Forman
Donald J. Forman (born January 17, 1926) was an American professional basketball player.
A 5'10" guard from New York University, Forman played one season (1948–49) in the Basketball Association of America as a member of the Minneapolis Lakers. He averaged 4.1 points per game and won a league championship.

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Dražen Dalipagić
Dražen Dalipagić , born November 27, 1951 (age 60) in Mostar, SR Bosnia and Herzegovina, SFR Yugoslavia) is a retired Yugoslavian professional basketball player. He was selected the best athlete of Yugoslavia in the year 1978, and is one of the most decorated athletes in Yugoslavian history. He was named one of FIBA's 50 Greatest Players in 1991. Dalipagić was enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame, as a player, on September 10, 2004. He was enshrined as a player, into the FIBA Hall of Fame, in 2007. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors.
Dalipagić was one of the most dominating players in Europe, during the late 1970s and early 1980s era, and while playing for the pro club Partizan (1971–78, 1979–80, 1981–82), he won the European Player of the Year Mr. Europa award twice, in the years 1977 and 1978, and the European Player of the Year Euroscar award, in the year 1980. He was declared the best athlete of Yugoslavia in 1978. In 1976, he led Partizan to the Yugoslav League title, and also to the FIBA Korać Cup title in 1978. He also played for Crvena zvezda in the 1990-91 season.

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Dražen Petrović
Dražen Petrović (pronounced [drǎʒɛn pɛ̌trɔʋit͡ɕ]) (October 22, 1964 – June 7, 1993) was a Yugoslav and Croatian professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he initially achieved success playing professional basketball in Europe in the 1980s before joining the American NBA in 1989. Petrović died in a car accident at the age of 28.
A star on multiple stages, Petrović earned two silver medals and one bronze in Olympic basketball, a gold and a bronze in the FIBA World Championship, a gold and a bronze in the FIBA European Championship, earned six European Player of the Year awards (four Euroscar Awards, and was named Mr. Europa in basketball twice). In 1985 he received the Golden Badge award for best athlete of Yugoslavia.
Seeking a bigger arena after his career start in Europe, Petrović joined the National Basketball Association in 1989 as a member of the Portland Trail Blazers. After playing mostly off the bench that year, Petrović experienced a break-out following a trade to the New Jersey Nets. While starting for the Nets, he became one of the league's best shooting guards.

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Dutch Dehnert
Henry G. "Dutch" Dehnert (April 5, 1898 in New York, New York – April 20, 1979 in Far Rockaway, New York) was an American basketball player whose career lasted from 1915 to 1935.
Dehnert, a bulky forward, is mostly known for his time with the Original Celtics and is sometimes credited with inventing the pivot play. He later coached several teams in the NBL, ABL and BAA.
One of those teams Dehnert coached was the Sheboygan Red Skins, who won NBL divisional titles in 1944-45 and 1945-46 under Dehnert's guidance. Dehnert's greatest coup during his time in Sheboygan was his signing of three East Coast stars: Al Lucas of Fordham, Al Moschetti of St. John's and Bobby Holm of Seton Hall. Buoyed by this added strength, the Red Skins took a 2-0 lead over the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons in the 1945 NBL championship series, only to be swept in the remaining three games. In 1946, Dehnert led Sheboygan to a meeting with the vaunted Rochester Royals in the championship series. Rochester swept the Red Skins. The next season, Dehnert became first head coach of the Cleveland Rebels for the Basketball Association of America's first season.

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Dutch Lonborg
Arthur C. "Dutch" Lonborg (March 16, 1898 – January 31, 1985) was an American collegiate basketball and football coach.
The Gardner, Illinois native coached for 23 years at McPherson College, Washburn College, and Northwestern University. Lonborg graduated in 1921 from University of Kansas, having played two years under coach Phog Allen.
In 1921 Dutch won an AAU title as a player with the Kansas City Athletic Club Blue Diamonds. In 1925 he coached Washburn College to an AAU title, the last time a college team won that championship. Later he coached at Northwestern, getting 237 wins during his time there, and leading them to the Big Ten Conference Championship in 1931 and in 1933 and a Helms Foundation title in 1931. He had an overall 323-217 college coaching record at all three schools.
After he retired from coaching, he became chairman of the NCAA Tournament Committee from 1947–60, succeeding Harold Olsen. He was the U.S. Olympic team manager for the 1960 Olympics. He also served as Kansas Jayhawks Athletic director from 1950-63.

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Dwight Howard
Dwight David Howard (born December 8, 1985) is an American basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Howard, who usually plays center but can also play power forward, had an outstanding high school career at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy. He chose to forgo college and entered the 2004 NBA Draft, and was selected first overall by the Magic. A six-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA team selection, five-time All-Defensive member, and three-time Defensive Player of the Year, Howard has been ranked consistently as one of the best in the league in rebounds, blocks, field goal percentage and free throw attempts, and has set numerous franchise and league records. He has led the Magic to three division titles and one conference title, and he was the winner of the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. In the 2008 Olympics, he was the starting center for Team USA, which went on to win the gold medal.
Before he was drafted in 2004, Howard said that he wanted to use his NBA career and Christian faith to "raise the name of God within the league and throughout the world". In November 2009, he was named one of the 10 finalists for the Jefferson Awards for Public Service, which awards athletes for their charitable work.

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Dwyane Wade
Dwyane Tyrone Wade, Jr. (born January 17, 1982), nicknamed Flash or D-Wade, is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat. Awarded 2006 Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated, Wade has established himself as one of the most well-known and popular players in the league. He had the top selling jersey in the NBA for nearly two years, as he led the NBA in jersey sales from the 2005 NBA Playoffs, until the mid-point of the 2006–07 season.
After entering the league as the fifth pick in the 2003 NBA Draft, Wade was named to the All-Rookie team and the All-Star team the following eight seasons. In his third season, Wade helped lead the Miami Heat to their first NBA Championship in franchise history. He was named the 2006 NBA Finals MVP as he helped lead the Heat to a 4–2 series win over the Dallas Mavericks. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Wade led the United States Men's Basketball team, commonly known as the "Redeem Team", in scoring, as they captured gold medal honors in Beijing, China. In the 2008–09 season, Wade led the league in scoring and earned his first NBA scoring title.

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Earl Gardner
Earl Barker Gardner (September 18, 1923 – October 15, 2005) was an American professional basketball player.
A 6'3" (1.90 m) forward from DePauw University, Gardner played one season (1948-49) in the Basketball Association of America as a member of the Minneapolis Lakers. He averaged 1.8 points per game and won a league championship.

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Earl Lloyd
Earl Francis Lloyd (born April 3, 1928 in Alexandria, Virginia) is a retired American basketball player. He was the first African-American to play in the National Basketball Association, in the 1950-51 NBA season. Three other African Americans played in the same season: Chuck Cooper, Nathaniel Clifton, and Hank DeZonie.
Lloyd, a forward known for his defense, played collegiately at West Virginia State College, was selected in the ninth-round of the 1950 NBA Draft by the Washington Capitols. On October 31, 1950, Lloyd became the first African-American to play in an NBA game, against the Rochester Royals.
Lloyd led West Virginia State to two CIAA Conference and Tournament Championships in 1948 and 1949. He was named All-Conference three times (1948–50) and was All-American twice, as named by the Pittsburgh Courier (1949–50). As a senior, he averaged 14 points and 8 rebounds per game, while leading West Virginia State to a second place finish in the CIAA Conference and Tournament Championship. In 1947-48, West Virginia State was the only undefeated team in the United States.

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Earl Monroe
Vernon Earl Monroe (born November 21, 1944, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American former professional basketball player known for his flamboyant dribbling, passing, and play-making. He was nicknamed both "Earl the Pearl" and "Jesus".
From an early age, Monroe was a playground legend. His high school teammates at John Bartram High School called him "Thomas Edison" because of the many moves he invented.
Monroe rose to prominence at a national level while playing basketball at then Division II Winston-Salem State University, located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Under the coaching of Hall of Fame coach Clarence "Big House" Gaines, Monroe averaged 7.1 points his freshman year, 23.2 points as a sophomore, 29.8 points as a junior and an amazing 41.5 points his senior year. In 1967, he earned NCAA College Division Player of the Year honors and led the Rams to the NCAA College Division Championship.
In 1967, the two-time All-American was drafted by the Baltimore Bullets (now the Washington Wizards) in the first round of the NBA draft (2nd overall pick). He won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in a season in which he averaged 24.3 points per game, and scored 56 points in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers. This still stands as the third-highest rookie total in NBA history. It was also a franchise record, later broken by Gilbert Arenas on December 17, 2006.

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Earl Mueller
Earl Edmond "Dutch" Mueller (? – 1932) was an American college basketball player. He was the 1925 national player of the year as a center at Colorado College.
Mueller, from Saint Joseph, Missouri, was an early college basketball standout at Colorado College in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He played two seasons for the Tigers, leading the team to two Colorado–Wyoming Conference titles. Mueller played the center position and was known for his ball-handling and pivot play. He was retroactively named an All-American and national player of the year for 1925 by the Helms Athletic Foundation in 1943.
Following the completion of his college career, Mueller returned to his hometown and played Amateur Athletic Union basketball with Hillyard, Inc.. Mueller won an AAU championship with Hillyard in 1926.
Mueller died in 1932 after an appendix operation. He was inducted into the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Hall of Fame in 1952.

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Earl Strom
Earl "Yogi" Strom (December 15, 1927 – July 10, 1994) was a professional basketball referee for 29 years in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and for three years in the American Basketball Association (ABA). Strom is credited as the greatest referee in the history of the NBA and was known for his flamboyant style and ability to control the game. Nicknamed "The Pied Piper", the assertive Strom made foul calls with his whistle by using a "tweet-pause-tweet-tweet" tune and pointing at the offending player. In addition to calling fouls with flair, he was known for ejecting players from games with style and he sometimes supported his rulings with physical force.
Over the course of his career, he officiated 2,400 professional basketball regular season games, 295 playoff games, 7 All-Star games, and 29 NBA and ABA Finals. For his extensive contributions to the game, Strom was posthumously elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995.

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Ed Dancker
Edward C. "Ed" Dancker (March 14, 1914 – October 3, 1991) was an American professional basketball player.
A 6'7" center who grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Dancker began his professional career in 1938 with the Sheboygan Red Skins of the National Basketball League (NBL). He averaged 7.8 points per game and served as the team captain. In his last NBL season, 1948–1949, Dancker played for the Oshkosh All-Stars. Dancker was a five-time NBL all-star and ranked fourth among all-time NBL scoring leaders.

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Ed Macauley
Charles Edward "Ed" Macauley (March 22, 1928 – November 8, 2011) was a professional basketball player in the NBA. His playing nickname was "Easy Ed."
Macauley spent his prep school days at St. Louis University High School, then went on to Saint Louis University, where his team won the NIT championship in 1948. He was named the AP Player of the Year in 1949.
Macauley played in the NBA with the St. Louis Bombers, Boston Celtics, and St. Louis Hawks. Macauley was named MVP of the first NBA All-Star Game (he played in the first seven), and was named to the NBA's All-NBA First Team three consecutive seasons. He was named to the All-NBA second team once, in 1953–54—the same season he led the league in field goal percentage. Macauley's trade (with Cliff Hagan) to St. Louis brought Bill Russell to the Celtics.
Macauley scored 11,234 points in ten NBA seasons and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960. At age 32, he still holds the record for being the youngest player to be admitted. His uniform number 22 was retired by the Boston Celtics, and he was also awarded a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.

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Ed Mikan
Edward Anton Mikan (October 20, 1925–October 22, 1999) was an American professional basketball player and the younger brother of George Mikan.
After starring at Joliet Catholic High School in Illinois, the 6'8" Mikan joined the DePaul Blue Demons men's basketball team. With his brother, he helped DePaul win the 1945 National Invitational Tournament Championship over Bowling Green State University. Coach Ray Meyer said that he "was probably the second-best center we ever had at DePaul, only behind his brother George".
From 1948 to 1954, Ed Mikan played in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Chicago Stags, Rochester Royals, Washington Capitols, Philadelphia Warriors, Indianapolis Olympians, and Boston Celtics. He averaged 6.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game in his NBA career. His best year statistically was his rookie season, when he averaged 9.9 points.
Mikan later worked as the supervisor of officials for the American Basketball Association, then focused his attention on his insurance and real estate business.

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Ed Steitz
Edward S. "Ed" Steitz (November 7, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, USA – May 21, 1990) was an American basketball coach and official. He was considered the leading worldwide authority on amateur basketball rules. A graduate of Cornell University, he was a coach of Springfield College for ten years and a director of athletics from 1956 to 1990. He worked for the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee as a secretary, editor and national interpreter from 1965 to 1990. In 1974 he founded and served as a president for Amateur Basketball Association of the United States of America (ABAUSA), now USA Basketball. He was a member of the Technical Commission of FIBA. He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984. In 2007, he was enshrined as a contributor in the FIBA Hall of Fame.

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Ed Wachter
Edward A. Wachter (June 30, 1883 – March 12, 1966) was one of the first professional basketball players. The 6 ft. 1 in. Wachter is widely regarded as the greatest center of the 1910s.^{[citation needed]}
Wachter, a native of Troy, New York, played for several professional teams, like the Troy Trojans, in his 25-year career. He later coached at several schools, including Harvard University. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1961.

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Eddie Calder
Eddie Calder was an American college basketball standout at St. Lawrence University in the 1910s. He was an Helms Athletic Foundation All-American in 1913 and was also named their National Player of the Year that season. He played the forward position and was St. Lawrence's second Helms All-American in two seasons (Thomas Canfield earned the honor in 1912).

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Eddie Hickey
Edgar S. "Eddie" Hickey (December 20, 1902 – December 5, 1980) was college men's basketball coach. He coached at his alma mater of Creighton University (1934–1943, 1946–1947), St. Louis University (1947–1958) and Marquette University (1958–1964), compiling a 429–230 record. Hickey also served as the head football coach at Creighton in 1934, tallying a mark of 2–7. After retiring from coaching, Hickey managed the American Automobile Association headquarters in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979 and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. Hickey died of a heart attack on December 5, 1980 in Mesa, Arizona.

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Edgar Diddle
Edgar Allen Diddle (March 12, 1895 in Gradyville, Kentucky, United States - January 2, 1970) was a college men's basketball coach. He is known for coaching at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky from 1922 to 1964. Diddle became the first coach in history to coach 1,000 games at one school. Diddle was known for waving a red towel around along the sidelines during his games. He was known to wave, toss, and chew on this towel, and even cover his face in times of disappointment. His red towel is now part of WKU's official athletic logo. Diddle experienced only five losing seasons in 42 years and overall, averaged 25 wins per year.
Diddle's teams claimed 32 conference championships, played in 11 postseason tournaments; won 20+ games eighteen different times, (including one stretch of ten years in a row); became the first team from the South to participate in the Olympic Trials; and won an amazing 759 games. When he stepped down in 1964 Diddle had won more games than any coach in NCAA history and today he still ranks in the top ten on the all-time list.

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Edward Gottlieb
Edward Gottlieb (born Isadore Gottlieb, September 15, 1898 – December 7, 1979), known as "Mr. Basketball" and "The Mogul", was the first coach and manager of the Philadelphia Warriors in the National Basketball Association (NBA), and the former owner and coach of the team from 1951 to 1962 (when he sold the Philadelphia Warriors to Franklin Mieuli, who moved them to San Francisco). A native of Kiev, Ukraine, he was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor on April 20, 1972. The NBA Rookie of the Year "Eddie Gottlieb Trophy" is named after Gottlieb.
A small, overweight, balding man with deep eyes and penchant for wearing bow ties, Gottlieb was described by Red Smith as "a wonderful little guy about the size and shape of a half-keg of beer."
Gottlieb organized, and played for, the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association teams in the 1920s. Along with a few other sports promoters, he organized the Basketball Association of America, the league that later became the NBA.

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Elgin Baylor
Elgin Gay Baylor (born September 16, 1934 in Washington, D.C.) is a retired Hall of Fame American basketball player and former NBA general manager who played 13 seasons as a forward for the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers/Los Angeles Lakers.
Baylor was a gifted shooter, strong rebounder, and an accomplished passer. Renowned for his acrobatic maneuvers on the court, Baylor regularly dazzled Lakers fans with his trademark hanging jump shots. The No. 1 draft pick in 1958, NBA Rookie of the Year in 1959, and an 11-time NBA All-Star, he is regarded as one of the game's all-time greatest players. In 1977, Baylor was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Baylor spent twenty-two years as GM of the Los Angeles Clippers, being named the NBA Executive of the Year in 2006, before being relieved of his duties shortly before the 2008-09 season began.

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Elmer Ripley
Elmer H. Ripley (July 21, 1891 – April 29, 1982) was an American college men's and professional basketball coach. In over 30 years, he coached collegiately at seven different schools as well as professionally for several teams. Once celebrated, Ripley now is an almost forgotten figure in the history of American basketball.
Ripley was born in Staten Island, New York on July 21, 1891. After graduating from local Curtis High School, he attended Brown University.
Considered to be one of the great basketball coaches of the last century, Ripley began his career as a player before making the switch to coach in 1922. At age 19, Ripley decided to leave Brown to play basketball professionally with the Interstate League Brooklyn Trolly Dodgers, the New York League's Uyica Utes and the "Original Celtics" club. Ripley would enjoy numerous achievements including being voted among the ten best pro players from 1909 to 1926.
After playing, he went on to coach basketball at several major American universities and traveled the world teaching the game. Ripley began his first professional coaching tenure with Wagner College in 1922, before moving into a position at Georgetown University in 1927. His skills as a coach were evident as he won 12 of his first 13 games. During his many years with the Georgetown, he achieved a 133–82 record and lead the Hoyas to the NCAA tournament twice. Ripley was in high demand and was hied away by several prestigious colleges including Columbia University, University of Notre Dame, and Yale University, which he coached to the 1933 Ivy League championship.

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Elton Brand
Elton Tyron Brand (born March 11, 1979 in Cortlandt Manor, New York^{[citation needed]}) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was the 1st overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft, selected by the Chicago Bulls.
At the age of thirteen, Brand enrolled in Peekskill High School, where he was immediately added to the varsity basketball roster. He averaged 40 points and 20 rebounds per game, played AAU basketball with future NBA players Lamar Odom and Ron Artest, and by his senior year he was consistently ranked among the top high school basketball players in the country and was selected as New York State Mr. Basketball. At the same time, he became something of a cult hero in Peekskill, helping his team win two state championships while demonstrating a humble calm and an articulate intelligence. The former Governor of New York, fellow Peekskill native George Pataki, was once asked about being the town's favorite son, and he answered that Peekskill's favorite son was not the Governor but Elton Brand. Recruited heavily after his successful high school career, Brand decided to enroll at Duke University alongside a cluster of other high school stars, including Shane Battier.

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Elvin Hayes
Elvin Ernest Hayes (born November 17, 1945 in Rayville, Louisiana) is a retired American basketball player and radio analyst for Houston Cougars men's basketball, where he played college basketball. He is a member of the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team, and an inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
A quiet, introverted youth, Hayes first picked up a basketball in eighth grade, by accident. He was wrongly blamed for playing a classroom prank and was sent to the principal's office. But another teacher, Reverend Calvin, saw Hayes and said he was welcome in his class. Although the youngster showed no inclination for any sports, Calvin thought he would benefit by playing basketball and put him on the school team. Hayes was so clumsy, however, that he evoked laughter with his awkward attempts at shooting and dribbling.
But young Hayes was determined to improve, and during the summers he practiced long hours. As a 6'5" ninth grader he was a benchwarmer on the junior varsity squad at Britton High School when he became determined to crack the starting lineup. "I was too weak to shoot the turnaround then," Hayes recalled, "so all summer long I shot with a small rubber ball at a basket in my yard. My development was almost overnight."

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Emil Liston
Emil S. "Liz" Liston (August 21, 1890 – October 26, 1949) was an athletic coach and administrator. He coached basketball, football and baseball at Wesleyan University and Baker University. He was the founder of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, organized the NAIA college basketball tournament in 1937 and served as the first executive director of the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (predecessor to the NAIA) from 1940 to 1949. He was posthumously inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975.
A native of Stockton, Missouri, Liston attended Michigan College of Mines (now known as Michigan Technological University) where he was a star football player.
In September 1918, Liston was hired by Wesleyan University as coach of the school's football team. He left Wesleyan in June 1919 to play professional baseball for the Wichita, Kansas team in the Western League. After spending the summer playing baseball in Wichita, Liston returned to Wesleyan as the head football coach in the fall of 1919. In two years as Wesleyan's football coach, Liston compiled a 10-3-0 record. His .769 winning percentage at Wesleyan remains the highest of any Wesleyan football coach with at least ten games as coach. Liston also coached the basketball and baseball teams at Wesleyan. In April 1920, Liston announced his resignation from Wesleyan.

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Erling Platou
Dr. Erling S. Platou was an American standout college basketball player at the University of Minnesota and, later, a pediatrician at the University of Minnesota Medical Center.
As a guard on the basketball team, Platou led the 1918–19 Golden Gophers to an undefeated season (13–0 overall, 10–0 conference) by averaging a then-remarkable 11.6 points per game. In the early days of basketball, such a scoring average was unheard of, and it was his prowess that earned him the Helms Foundation National Player of the Year honor that season as a junior. The Helms Foundation also awarded Minnesota a retroactive national championship years later for the 1918–19 season.
Platou's basketball career was disrupted due to World War I. He played on the team in 1914–15 and 1915–16, but then the war temporarily ceased all intercollegiate sports at Minnesota. They resumed play in 1918–19, and Platou finished his career in 1919–20 before graduating that spring.

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Ernest Blood
Ernest A. Blood (October 4, 1872 in Manchester, New Hampshire, United States – February 5, 1955) was a high school and college men's basketball coach. He was best known for his "Wonder Teams" at New Jersey's Passaic High School, which lost only one game in the span of a decade and set an American high school record for most consecutive victories.
As a basketball innovator who focused on team play and a clean lifestyle in which players were prohibited from drinking or smoking, Blood emphasized the fast break, well-controlled passing and the full-court press over individual performance. Known as the "Professor", he was also a showman who would wrestle the team's bear cub mascot at halftime and could toss a 16-pound shot put into the air and catch it on the back of his neck.
Between 1915 and 1924 he coached Passaic High School to a remarkable 200-1 record, winning seven state basketball championships during his tenure, though the team's success on the court created conflict between Blood and the school's principal, Arnold D. Arnold, who thought that the team's overwhelming athletic accomplishments were distracting students from their academics. Passaic High's 1921–22 basketball team finished the season with a record of 33–0 and outscored its opponents by a margin of 2,293–612, scoring almost four times as many points as their foes did in each game. Passaic was unbeaten for more than five seasons, and won 159 consecutive games from 1919 to 1925, a feat which is considered to be the longest winning streak in high school basketball history in the United States. The streak ended on February 6, 1925, after Blood had already left Passaic High, in a game the Hilltoppers lost 39–35 to the Hackensack High School Comets. The game, played at the Hackensack Armory, was said to have been designed to slow down the Passaic High fast break through the placement of sawdust on the playing surface.

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Ernest Houghton
Ernest Houghton was an American college basketball standout at Union College in the 1910s. He was an Helms Athletic Foundation All-American in both 1914 and 1915, and was named their National Player of the Year after the 1914–15 season. After college, Houghton played in one of the earliest professional basketball leagues in the United States – the New York State League. He played for Hudson and was a high scoring player, but the league was disrupted and ultimately folded due to World War I. In 23 games, Houghton scored 100 career points.

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Ernest Schmidt
Ernest J. Schmidt (February 12, 1911 in Nashville, Kansas, USA – September 6, 1986) was an American college basketball player. He played college basketball for Kansas State Teachers College in the early 1930s and was considered one of the best players of his time. He led the team to 47 straight victories and four straight conference titles. He was nicknamed "One Grand" for scoring exactly 1,000 points during his college career. He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1974.

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Ernie Calverley
Ernest A. "Ernie" Calverley (January 30, 1924 – September 20, 2003) was an American basketball guard for the University of Rhode Island. His famous "shot heard round the world," a midcourt shot, as time expired at Madison Square Garden in the National Invitation Tournament moved URI past Bowling Green State University into the semifinal round. The Rams would eventually lose in the NIT final against Adolph Rupp's Kentucky Wildcats.
Calverley led the Basketball Association of America in assists per game in the league's first and second years, while playing for the Providence Steamrollers. In his rookie season, Calverley was selected to the All-BAA Second Team. After playing three seasons in the BAA, Caverley retired. He later returned to URI to coach the Rams and led them to two NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament appearances.

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Evan Turner
Evan Marcel Turner (born October 27, 1988), nicknamed The Villain, is an American basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers. Turner was drafted 2nd overall by the 76ers in the 2010 NBA draft. Turner plays the point guard, shooting guard and small forward positions. Turner was a first-team 2010 NCAA Men's Basketball All-American and the 2010 National Player of the Year. Turner was also a two-time Big Ten Conference scoring champion and the 2010 Big Ten Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year. He was twice the only player named as a unanimous first-team selection by both the coaches and the media to the All-Big Ten team (2008–09, 2009–10). By finishing first in scoring and second in both rebounds and assists in the conference in the 2009–10 season, he was the first men's basketball player to finish in the top two in each of these categories and in fact, the first to finish in the top five in each category in the same season.
Turner attended St. Joseph High School in Westchester. By his senior season, he was one of the top high school basketball players at his position in the nation. As a true freshman, he helped lead the Buckeyes to the 2008 National Invitation Tournament championship. The following year, he was the Big Ten Conference scoring champion for the 2008–09 season and was a first-team 2009 All-Big Ten selection. That season, he was also an honorable mention All-American and was selected as a member of the 2009 All-Big Ten Conference Tournament team, and he became one of five Big Ten players to have been among the top ten in the conference in average points, rebounds, and assists in the same season.

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Everett Case
Everett Norris Case (June 21, 1900 – April 30, 1966), nicknamed "Gray Fox", was a basketball coach most notable for his tenure at North Carolina State University, from 1946 to 1964.
Born in Anderson, Indiana, Case graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1923. He compiled a 726-75 record while coaching 23 years in high school basketball, including winning 4 Indiana state championships while coaching in Frankfort, Indiana (1925, 1929, 1936, 1939). Frankfort's Case Arena is named after him. Case is one of only five coaches to win at least 4 state titles in Indiana basketball (the others being Marion Crawley, Glenn M. Curtis, Jack Keefer with 4 and Bill Green with 6).
Case enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1941. He was commissioned a senior-grade lieutenant and reported to Annapolis for a four-week training course. He then traveled to Chicago for five weeks training before reporting to Naval Pre-flight school at St. Mary's College in California, where he served as assistant athletic director and director of basketball. He also served as athletic director at the Alameda Naval Air Station.

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Everett Dean
Everett S. Dean (March 18, 1898 – October 26, 1993) was a college men's basketball and baseball coach.
Born in Livonia, Indiana, Dean was the head baseball and basketball coach at his alma mater, Indiana University, from 1924 to 1938. In 1938, Dean was named head basketball coach at Stanford University, where he coached the team to the 1942 NCAA championship. Dean was named baseball coach at Stanford in 1950, and led Stanford's baseball team to the 1953 College World Series.
Dean is the only coach named to both the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame and the College Baseball Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1965. He also has the distinction of being the first basketball All-American from Indiana University.
His fondness for the local history of his native Washington County, Indiana led him to push for the creation of the John Hay Center of Salem, Indiana.
NCAA, NCAA March Madness: Cinderellas, Superstars, and Champions from the NCAA Men's Final Four : Chicago: Triumph Books, 2004. ISBN 1-57243-665-4

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Everett Shelton
Everett F. Shelton (May 12, 1898 – April 16, 1974) was a well-known college men's basketball coach in the 1940s and 1950s. Shelton played quarterback for the Phillips University football team. The Cunningham, Kansas native coached 46 years at the high school, college and AAU levels and compiled an 850-437 record. He is mostly known for coaching the University of Wyoming Cowboys basketball team from 1939 to 1959. While at Wyoming, Shelton had a record of 328 wins and 201 losses for a .620 winning percentage. He guided the Cowboys to eight conference championships and eight NCAA Tournament appearances. During his career, he was President of the National Association of Basketball Coaches.
Ev's 1943 team at Wyoming, captained by broadcasting legend Curt Gowdy, won the fifth NCAA national championship. Ev nearly repeated the feat of winning a national championship at Sacramento State College, where his Hornets lost in overtime to Mount St. Mary's in the NAIA championship in the early 1960s.

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Ferenc Hepp
Dr. Ferenc Hepp (November 3, 1909 in Békés, Hungary – November 27, 1980) was a basketball administrator. He is considered "the father of Hungarian basketball". He became the president of the Hungarian Basketball Federation in 1954 and was a member of the FIBA Central Board in the 1950s and 1960s. He was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1981. In 2007, he was enshrined as a contributor into the FIBA Hall of Fame

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Forest Sale
Forest E. "Aggie" Sale (June 25, 1911 – December 4, 1985) was a standout American college basketball player at the University of Kentucky from 1930–31 to 1932–33. He played for coach Adolph Rupp and was one of Rupp's first NCAA All-Americans.
Sale attended Kavanaugh High School in Anderson County, Kentucky prior to matriculating at UK. As a 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) forward/center, he was a rather tall player for his era. Sale used his height to his advantage and was noted as both a good scorer and rebounder. In his three seasons with the Wildcats team, Sale played in 50 career games and scored 657 points. He was twice named a consensus All-American, and as a senior in 1932–33 Sale was selected as the Helms Athletic Foundation (HAF) National Player of the Year. That year, Kentucky won the Southeastern Conference regular season and SEC Tournament titles, finished with a 21–3 overall record, and were named the HAF National Champions.
After college, Sale became a high school history teacher and basketball coach before joining the United States Navy and fighting in World War II for a year. He returned to being a teacher and coach, and then from 1964 to 1967 he ran his own Sale Sporting Goods Store. He entered politics in 1971 as a Democrat and was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives from the 55th District. Sale was re-elected four times before ending his political career.

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Forrest DeBernardi
Forrest S. "Red" DeBernardi (February 3, 1899 – April 29, 1970) was a well-known collegiate basketball player in the 1920s. Standing 6 ft. 1 inches tall, DeBernardi was one of the best centers of his era, but played all five positions. Born in Nevada, Missouri, he attended University of Kansas from 1920 to 1921, but transferred to Westminster College, where he played from 1921 to 1923. He was named All-Conference in both 1922 and 1923.
Following his impressive collegiate career, DeBernardi became an outstanding Amateur Athletic Union player. Between 1920 and 1929, when he played with Kansas City Athletic Club (1920–22), Hillyard Shine Alls (1923–27) and Cook's Painter Boys (1928–29), he participated in 10 national AAU tournaments and was named to the AAU All American team eight times. Five times he has been part of a national championship team.
In 1938 the Associated Press selected DeBernardi as the center on its All-Time All America college basketball team. He was also awarded with the Helms Athletic Foundation Hall of Fame Award in 1952. In 1961, DeBernardi was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

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Frank Burgess
Franklin D. "Frank" Burgess (March 9, 1935 – March 26, 2010) was an African American standout college basketball player and, later, a United States federal judge.
Burgess was born in Eudora, Arkansas. A man with a good sense of humor, he once described his hometown as being so small that "the only fast food we had in that town was if you hit a deer going 70 (miles per hour)." He attended Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College (Arkansas AM&N), a small school now known as the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, for one year while also playing on the basketball team. He then joined the Air Force and spent a four-year tour of duty in Europe. Burgess still played basketball even in Germany and was so good that he was picked to be one of the 10 best Air Force players in the world. While stationed at Hahn Air Force Base he averaged 33.4 points per game. It was during this time that Burgess met Mel Porter, a fellow American Air Force officer and Gonzaga University alumnus. Porter recognized Burgess' talent and played middle man to Burgess and the Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball coach, Hank Anderson. Although Burgess had also started to receive serious interest from Kansas and USC, he ultimately chose to attend Gonzaga because he felt that that school would get him the most prepared for life after basketball. "You have to remember, I had gotten out of the service, and I was married with twin girls. I was about getting an education and taking care of my family," he said to a newspaper reporter later in his life.

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Frank Hamblen
Frank Hamblen is a National Basketball Association (NBA) coach and scout, and a former college basketball player at Syracuse University. He has served as an interim head coach for two different teams; for the Milwaukee Bucks in 1992 and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2005. He also has served as an assistant coach on four NBA teams (Kansas City/Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee Bucks, Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers), often alongside Phil Jackson. Hamblen has been an assistant coach on seven championship teams, two with Jackson's Bulls and five with Jackson's Lakers. Jackson retired after the 2010–11 season, and Hamblen's contract with the Lakers expired as well.

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Frank Keaney
Frank William "Menty" Keaney (June 5, 1886 – October 10, 1967) was a college men's basketball coach and known as the architect of modern "run-and-shoot" basketball.
Keaney was a native of Boston, Massachusetts, and attended Cambridge Latin School, graduating in 1906. He graduated from Bates College, where he played several sports, in 1911. He coached at Rhode Island State College (now the University of Rhode Island) from 1920 to 1948 and taught a style of basketball using a fast-breaking offense and a full-court defense. In his 28 years at Rhode Island, Keaney never had a losing season. In 1939, Keaney's Rams became the first college team to score more than 50 points per game, and in 1943 the team had an average of more than two points per minute (80.7 points per game), which led to the Rams being dubbed "The Firehouse Gang". During his tenure the URI team had four National Invitation Tournament appearances. Keaney's career record was 401-124 (.764).
After retiring from coaching collegiate basketball, Keaney almost became head coach of the Boston Celtics. Keaney's doctor, however, refused to let him take the job. He remained as Rhode Island State/URI's athletic director until 1959. URI named the Frank W. Keaney Gymnasium-Armory in his honor in 1953. Keaney was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960.

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Frank McGuire
Frank Joseph McGuire (November 8, 1914 – November 11, 1994) was an American athletic coach who gained his greatest renown in collegiate basketball.
Born in New York City as the youngest of thirteen children in an Irish-American family, to New York police officer, Robert McGuire and his wife, the former Anne Lynch (his father dying when Frank was only two years old). He attended Xavier High School graduating in 1933, McGuire graduated from St. John's University in 1936. He served in the United States Navy during World War II, interrupting his work as a teacher and coach at his high school. Prior to 1947 he also played pro basketball briefly in the American Basketball League; he then became the head basketball and baseball coach at his alma mater.
After bringing the baseball team to the College World Series in 1949 and the basketball team to the Final Four in 1952 – becoming one of only three coaches to achieve both accomplishments – he left St. John's to become basketball coach at the University of North Carolina.

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Frank Morgenweck
Frank (Pop) Morgenweck (July 15, 1875 in Egg Harbor, New Jersey, USA – December 8, 1941) was an American basketball player, coach and team owner. He began his career in the National League in 1901, and won that league's championship with the Camden Electrics in 1904. After retiring in 1916, he became a coach and an owner of professional teams, operating teams in ten different leagues and in more than 18 cities. As a coach, he won the Metropolitan League title with Paterson Legionnaires in 1923 and Kingston Colonials in 1928. He retired as a coach in 1938 with over 500 career victories. He was enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1962.

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Frank Selvy
Franklin Delano "Frank" Selvy (born November 9, 1932 in Corbin, Kentucky) is a former NBA basketball player who is best known for holding the record for the most points in a Division I college basketball game with 100 points. Selvy was an All-State basketball player at Corbin High School and was a teammate of College Football Hall of Fame inductee Roy Kidd.
Selvy is best remembered for scoring 100 points in a college game for South Carolina's Furman University against Newberry College on February 13, 1954, the only NCAA Division I player ever to do so. The game was played towards the end of Selvy's final collegiate season, and Furman coach Lyles Alley had designated the game "Frank Selvy Night" in order to garner recognition for the player who was already certain to finish the season leading the nation in scoring and earn first-team All-American honors, two accomplishments he had already attained the year before. The game was the first to be broadcast live on television in South Carolina and a large contingent from Selvy's hometown, including his family, had made the six-hour trek just for the occasion. The instructions from Coach Alley were simply to get the ball to Selvy so he can score as much as possible. Selvy obliged, hitting 41 of 66 field goals and 18 of 22 free throws, his last two points coming on a desperate heave near midcourt at the buzzer. (The game was played well before the introduction of the three-point line; Selvy would later estimate that about a dozen of his shots that day would have been three-pointers today.)

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Fred Schaus
Frederick (Fred) Appleton Schaus (June 30, 1925 – February 10, 2010) was an American basketball player, head coach and athletic director for the West Virginia University Mountaineers, player for the NBA's Fort Wayne Pistons and New York Knicks, general manager and head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers, head coach of Purdue University basketball, and a member of the NCAA Basketball Committee. He was born in Newark, Ohio.
Schaus played basketball at West Virginia, where he earned the record of first to score 1,000 career points (1,009). He was also selected to the All-American team in 1949.
Schaus left West Virginia to join the Fort Wayne Pistons in the 1949–1950 season. He scored 14.3 points a game and a year later scored a career-best 15.3 points a game. He was selected to play in the first NBA All-Star Game and scored eight points for the West. However, he only averaged 14.1 points per game in 1952, and then in 1953 it dropped to 10.1 points per game.
He was traded to the New York Knicks halfway through the 1954 season and ended his NBA career that season with 7.1 points per game average.

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Fred Zollner
Fred Zollner (January 22, 1901 – June 21, 1982) was called "Mr. Pro Basketball" as the founder and longtime owner along with his sister Janet of the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons (now the Detroit Pistons) and a key figure in the merger of National Basketball League and Basketball Association of America into the National Basketball Association in 1949.
Zollner, an industrialist, was born in Little Falls, Minnesota and received a degree from the University of Minnesota in 1927. Zollner Corporation, formed in 1912, was a Tier-1 supplier of pistons to companies such as Ford, General Motors, International Harvester (now Navistar), John Deere and Outboard Marine. At one time, he employed more than 1200 people in his Fort Wayne, Indiana foundry. The company had 230 employees when it was acquired by Kolbenschmidt Pierburg AG in 1999.
The Zollner Pistons began playing in 1941 in an industrial league. In 1974, he recalled that, "Instead of making friends, we made enemies, because no one could beat us." He personally recruited his players, including later Hall of Famers Andy Phillip, Bob McDermott, Bob Houbregs, Buddy Jeannette and George Yardley. The Zollner Pistons were a very popular franchise, winning the world championship in 1944 and 1945, and reaching the NBA Finals in 1954 and 1955, losing both times. He was the first pro basketball team owner to hire a bench coach.

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Freeman Williams
Freeman Williams (born May 15, 1956) is a retired American college and professional basketball player. He was the 1978 NCAA men's basketball Division I scoring champion, and the Portland State University all-time scoring leader.^{[citation needed]} Williams was the NCAA Division I national men's basketball individual scoring leader in 1977 and 1978. Williams was a consensus second team All-American in 1978. He is second in Division I history in scoring, trailing only Pete Maravich. He was born in Los Angeles, California.
He was a 1978 first round draft pick (8th overall) by the Boston Celtics. His pro playing career started in 1978 with the San Diego Clippers. He finished in the top 10 for three point field goals in three consecutive seasons, 1980 through 1982. In December 1980, Freeman became the first Clippers player to win a Player of the Month award, and the only one in franchise history until Elton Brand did so 25 years later.
In September 1982, Freeman Williams was traded by the Atlanta Hawks along with John Drew, and cash to the Utah Jazz in exchange for Dominique Wilkins who was drafted by the Jazz and refused to sign. After that season (1982-83), Williams only played in 27 more games: 18 with Utah in 1983 and nine with the Washington Bullets in 1986.

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Fuzzy Vandivier
Robert P. "Fuzzy" Vandivier (December 26, 1903 – July 30, 1983) was a well-known high school and collegiate basketball player during the 1920s. At Franklin High School he led a squad nicknamed "Franklin Wonder Five", a team that compiled an 89-9 record, won three state championships (1920, 1921, 1922) and is considered the greatest Indiana High School team of all-time.
Vandivier has been named All-State three times (1920, 1921, 1922), being the first player ever to achieve this feat (since then, John Wooden, Oscar Robertson and George McGinnis also achieved this level of success). Hall of Fame coach John Wooden considered Vandivier the greatest high school basketball player of all time.
Following his outstanding high school career, Vandivier attended local Franklin College (1922–26). In each year he was named All-State, and in 1926 he was an All-Midwest College All-Star. Due to a painful back ailment in his senior year, Vandivier's playing career was cut short. After graduating from Franklin, he returned as basketball coach to his high school. Vandivier coached the Franklin High School basketball team from 1926 to 1944. In 1939, under his leadership, they earned a place in the Indiana state finals.

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Gail Goodrich
Gail Charles Goodrich Jr. (born April 23, 1943 in Los Angeles, California) is a retired American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He is best known for scoring a then record 42 points in the 1965 NCAA championship game vs. Michigan, and his part in the Los Angeles Lakers' 1971–72 season. During that season the team won a still-record 33 games consecutively, posted what was at the time the best regular season record in NBA history, and also won the franchise's first NBA championship since relocating to Los Angeles. Goodrich was the leading scorer on that team. He is also acclaimed for leading UCLA to its first two National Championships under the legendary coach John Wooden, the first in 1963-64 being a perfect 30-0 season. In 1996, 17 years after his retirement from professional basketball, Goodrich was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
A native of the Los Angeles area, Goodrich was the captain of the John H. Francis Polytechnic High School basketball team that dominated the 1961 Los Angeles City high school basketball championship.

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Gene Englund
Gene E. Englund (October 21, 1917 – November 5, 1995) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for one season, 1949–50, and split the season playing for the Boston Celtics and Tri-Cities Blackhawks. Although he played professionally, Englund is best remembered for being a star college basketball player for Wisconsin, where as a senior in 1940–41 he led the Badgers to win the NCAA National Championship.
Englund was born in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He attended Rhinelander High School in Rhinelander where he graduated in 1937. When deciding where to play college basketball, he decided to stick close to home and enrolled at the University of Wisconsin (now University of Wisconsin–Madison).
As a 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m), 205-lb (93 kg) forward and center, Englund was a large player for the late 1930s and early 1940s. He broke out during his senior season in 1940–41 when he was team captain. He scored 162 points in Big Ten Conference games, which set a new conference scoring record at the time, and was also named the Big Ten MVP. Additionally, he (alongside star teammate John Kotz) led Wisconsin to the school's first and only men's basketball national championship when they defeated Washington State, 39–34. At the end of the season Englund was named a consensus Second Team All-American.

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Geno Auriemma
Luigi "Geno" Auriemma (born March 23, 1954 in Montella, Italy) is an American college basketball coach and the head coach of the University of Connecticut Huskies women's basketball team, which he has led to seven NCAA Division I national championships (in 1995, 2000, 2002–2004, 2009 and 2010). He has won six national Naismith College Coach of the Year awards. Auriemma is also the head coach of the 2009-12 United States women's national team.
He emigrated with his family to Norristown, Pennsylvania, U.S. when he was seven years old,. and spent the rest of his childhood there. After graduating from West Chester University of Pennsylvania in 1977, Auriemma was hired as an assistant coach at Saint Joseph's University, where he worked in 1978 and 1979. He then took a two-year absence from college basketball, serving as an assistant coach at his former high school, Bishop Kenrick, before assuming an assistant coaching position with the University of Virginia Cavaliers in 1981. Auriemma became a naturalized United States citizen in 1994, noting in his autobiography that he finally decided to naturalize when his UConn team was slated to tour Italy that summer and he was concerned about potential problems because he had never done any required national service.

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George Gervin
George "The Iceman" Gervin (born April 27, 1952) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Virginia Squires, San Antonio Spurs, and Chicago Bulls. Gervin averaged at least 14 points per game in all 14 of his ABA and NBA seasons, and finished with an NBA career average of 26.2 points per game. Gervin is widely regarded to be one of the greatest shooting guards in NBA history.
Nicknamed Iceman for his cool demeanor on the court, Gervin was primarily known for his scoring talents. He led teams at both Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan and Long Beach State. After leaving college due to an altercation, Gervin was set to try out for the Virginia Squires of the ABA. According to legend, Gervin made 22 of 25 three-point attempts at the tryout; he was immediately signed despite the fact that Virginia officials had never seen him play competitively.
His first scoring crown came in 1978, when he narrowly edged David Thompson for the scoring title by seven hundredths of a point (27.22 to 27.15). Although Thompson came up with a memorable performance for the last game of the regular season, scoring 73 points, Gervin maintained his slight lead by scoring 63 points (including an NBA-record at the time 33 points in the second quarter) in a loss in his last game of the season. With the scoring crown in hand, he sat out some of the third, and all of the fourth quarter. Gervin went on to lead the NBA in scoring average three years in a row from 1978 to 1980 (with a high of 33.1 points per game in 1979-80), and again in 1982. The Spurs drafted high scoring guards Oliver Robinson of UAB and Tony Grier from South Florida to take some offensive pressure off Gervin. Prior to Michael Jordan, Gervin had the most scoring titles of any guard in league history.

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George Glamack
George Gregory Glamack (June 7, 1919 - March 10, 1987) (born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania) was an American basketball player.
The 6'7" giant,^{[peacock term]} during that era, attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Glamack, an All-America^{[clarification needed]} in 1940 and 1941, was nicknamed the Blind Bomber because of his poor eyesight and remarkably^{[peacock term]} accurate hook shot. Glamack actually shot the ball based on the painted lines on the floor.^{[clarification needed]} He scored 45 points against Clemson in 1941, still the fourth-highest total in UNC history. That year, he led UNC to a Southern Conference championship and the NCAA tournament. In both 1940 and 1941 he won the Helms Foundation Player of the Year which was the only MVP award of that time. He is one of eight players to have his jersey number retired by UNC, the others being Jack Cobb, Lennie Rosenbluth, Phil Ford, James Worthy, Michael Jordan, Antawn Jamison, and Tyler Hansbrough.
Glamack had a modest professional career in which he was one of the keys who led the Rochester Royals to a pair of National Basketball League championships.

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George Grebenstein
George Warren Grebenstein (September 19, 1884 – May 1980) was an All-American basketball player at Dartmouth College as a junior in 1905–06. A forward, he was the first Dartmouth player to be named an All-American while leading the Big Green to a 16–2 record. The Helms Athletic Foundation would retroactively named Dartmouth the national champion that season since it occurred prior to the NCAA Tournament. He graduated from Dartmouth in 1907.
Grebenstein went on to coach the Harvard men's basketball team in 1907–08 and 1908–09. He compiled a record of 5–19.

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George Hepbron
George T. Hepbron (August 27, 1863 in Still Pond, Maryland, US – April 30, 1946) was one of basketball's first referees and rules pioneers. He is also credited with writing the game's first book, How to Play Basketball, in 1904.
Hepbron was a close friend of Dr. James Naismith, and subsequently played a major role in the early development of the game, especially in the area of rules. Active in many sports organizations, Hepbron was the first secretary of the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) Basketball Committee (1896) and in 1915, became secretary of the newly formed National Basketball Rules Committee (NBRC).
Hepbron was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960 as a referee.

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George Hoyt
For 34 years, George Hoyt was known as New England's foremost basketball referee, earning him the moniker "Mr. Basketball". A tireless worker, Hoyt's talents were not merely requested, but demanded. He would often officiate two games a day at both the high school and college level. A champion in developing a uniform set of rules and procedures, Hoyt penned The Theory and Practice of Basketball Officiating, a classic textbook that discussed many officiating distinctions, including the difference between Eastern and Western referees.
George Hoyt was born on August 9, 1883 in Boston, Massachusetts. After years of officiating both high school and college games, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall Of Fame as a referee in 1961. He was a pioneer of the more open style of play that we see in today's basketball, he created rules to discourage defensive holding and to free up offensive players. While serving as Chief of Officials for the Eastern Massachusetts High School Basketball Tournament (which became Honorary Chief Official on retirement), he helped found the New England Interscholastic Basketball Tournament. George Hoyt died on November 11, 1962.

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George Keogan
George E. Keogan (March 8, 1890 – February 17, 1943) was an American collegiate basketball coach, most known for coaching University of Notre Dame from 1923 to 1943. Keogan never had a losing season in his 20 years at Notre Dame.
The Minnesota Lake, Minnesota native attended University of Minnesota from 1909 to 1913. He began coaching high school varsities after his freshman year in college, guiding first Lockport High School (1910–11) followed by Riverside High School (1911–12). Meanwhile he was also coaching several college basketball teams: Charles City College in Iowa (1909–1910), Superior State Teachers College in Wisconsin (1912–14), Saint Louis University (1914–15) and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota (1915–16). During World War I he served at Great Lakes Naval Training Station.
After briefly coaching Allegheny College in Meadville, Pennsylvania (1917–18) and Valparaiso University (1918–20), Keogan arrived at University of Notre Dame. He served as head basketball and baseball coach, as well as assistant to the legendary football coach Knute Rockne. Keogan compiled a 327-96-1 at Notre Dame. After he died at age 52, his greatest player and fellow Hall of Famer Moose Krause took over his job.

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George Levis
George Levis (November 22, 1894 – October 1980) was an American college basketball player and coach during the 1910s and 1920s, respectively. He was a two-time All-American as a player while at Wisconsin from 1912–13 to 1915–16, and was also the Helms Foundation National Player of the Year as a senior in 1915–16. A native of Madison, Wisconsin, Levis decided to stay in his hometown for college, and while enrolled he also played on the school's baseball team.
Levis played the forward position and helped lead the Badgers to a 20–1 overall record and the Big Ten Conference championship in 1915–16, and that season would also see them retroactively declared as national champions by the Helms Foundation. Levis also led the conference in scoring as a senior: in 12 Big Ten contests he scored 109 points, which was a lot of points for an era of basketball in which very low scoring games were standard.
After graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 1916, Levis became the head coach at Indiana. He spent two seasons guiding the Hoosiers and compiled an overall record of 25–16, including a 9–12 record in conference play. He was set to start his third season as coach in 1922–23 but resigned during the preseason in order to work at his family's glass company in Illinois. It was at Illinois Glass Company where Levis was instrumental in helping to design the glass backboard, the predecessor to the plexi-glass backboards used in basketball today.

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George Mikan
George Lawrence Mikan, Jr. (June 18, 1924 – June 1, 2005), nicknamed Mr. Basketball, was an American professional basketball player for the Chicago American Gears of the National Basketball League (NBL) and the Minneapolis Lakers of the NBL, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA). Invariably playing with thick, round spectacles, the 6 ft 10 in 245 lb. Mikan is seen as one of the pioneers of professional basketball, redefining it as a game of so-called big men with his prolific rebounding, shot blocking and his talent to shoot over smaller defenders with his ambidextrous hook shot, result of his own Mikan Drill.
Mikan had a successful player career, winning seven NBL, BAA and NBA championships, an All-Star MVP trophy, three scoring titles and being member of the first four NBA All-Star and the first six All-BAA and All-NBA Teams. Mikan was so dominant that he caused several rule changes in the NBA, among them widening the foul lane—known as the "Mikan Rule"—and introducing the shot clock.

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George Senesky
George Lawrence Senesky (April 4, 1922 in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania – June 26, 2001 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) was an American professional basketball player and coach. A 6'2" guard from Saint Joseph's University, he played for eight seasons in the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball Association (NBA), all with the Philadelphia Warriors.
He later coached the franchise, from 1955 through to 1958, winning the NBA title in 1956.

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George Yardley
George Harry Yardley III (November 3, 1928 in Hollywood, California – August 12, 2004 in Newport Beach, California, USA), best known as simply George Yardley, was an NBA Hall of Fame basketball player. He was the first player in history to score 2,000 points in one season, breaking the 1,932-point record held by fellow Hall of Famer George Mikan. He was nominated (but not selected) into NBA 25th Anniversary Team in 1971.
A two-time All-American at Stanford University, Yardley was a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, and earned the nickname "Yardbird" due to the chores he was required to complete by his fraternity brothers. [1] The nickname was later shortened to "Bird". After his three year career at Stanford, Yardley played one year of AAU basketball and served in the United States Navy for two years. During his navy stint, Yardley's amateur team won the national A.A.U. championship in 1951, with Yardley being selected the national amateur player-of-the-year. He was drafted by the NBA Fort Wayne Pistons in 1950.

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Gerald Tucker
Gerald Tucker (March 14, 1922 – May 29, 1979) was the head coach on the 1956 USA Men's Basketball Gold Medal Olympic Team. He was the coach of Bartlesville Phillips 66ers for four seasons from 1954-58 having the most wins in the National Industrial Basketball League in each of those 4 seasons. In 1955 Bartlesville Phillips 66ers won the AAU National Basketball Championship against the Luckett-Nix Clippers of Boulder, Colorado, winning 66-64 and in 1956 they were the runner ups to the Buchan Bakers of Seattle, losing 59-57.
Before that he was a star center at 6-foot, 6-inches for University of Oklahoma and in the AAU. In 1943 and 1947 he was named a Helms Foundation All American. In 1947 he was the Helms Foundation Player of the Year. He went on to play for Bartlesville Phillips 66ers of the National Industrial Basketball League where he was a AAU All American and made the AAU All-Star Basketball Team which was based on how one played in the National AAU Basketball Tournament in 1949 and 1950.

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Gil Halstead
George "Gil" Halstead (April 1, 1893 – June 1970) was an American college basketball standout at Cornell University in the 1910s. He was an Helms Athletic Foundation All-American in both 1913 and 1914, and was named their National Player of the Year after the 1913–14 season in which he helped the Big Red win back-to-back Eastern Intercollegiate League season championships.

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Gilmore Kinney
Gilmore Kinney was an American college basketball standout at Yale University in the 1900s. He was a two-time Helms Athletic Foundation All-American (1905, 1907) and was named their National Player of the Year as a senior in 1906–07. That year, he led the Yale Bulldogs to their first-ever Eastern Intercollegiate League season championship title, and was the league's leading scorer at 10.1 points per game.

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Glen Rice
Glen Anthony Rice (born May 28, 1967) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the NBA. The 6'8" tall Rice was a three-time NBA All-Star guard/forward, ranking 11th in NBA history with 1,559 three-point field goals made during his 15-year career. As a player, Rice won an NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship and an NBA Championship. Rice has won both the NBA All-Star Game MVP and the NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player awards. In recent years, Rice has taken up MMA fight promotion as owner and head of G-Force Fights, based out of Miami, Florida.
Rice played college basketball for the University of Michigan Wolverines for four seasons (1985–1989), a starter for three of those seasons. He became the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,442 points. He led Michigan to the 1989 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, scoring an NCAA-record 184 points in tournament play, a record that still stands. Rice was also voted the tournament's Most Outstanding Player and was part of the Associated Press All-America second-team, after averaging 25.6 points for the season, while shooting 58% from the floor and 52% from three-point range. After Rice's junior year, he was invited to try out for the 1988 United States Olympic basketball team, but was cut before reaching the group of 48. On February 20, 2005, Rice's No. 41 jersey was retired during a ceremony at Michigan's Crisler Arena. Rice made the cover of Sports Illustrated on April 10, 1989.

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Glenn Robinson
Glenn A. "Big Dog" Robinson (born January 10, 1973) is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA. He last played during the 2004–05 season.
Robinson was born to Christine Bridgeman in Gary, Indiana. With his mother being an unmarried teenager, Glenn rarely saw his father. In a city known for its crime and drugs, his mother kept him straight. Not receiving the best of grades at school, his mom once pulled him off of the basketball team, and he took a job at an air-conditioning and refrigeration shop.
Robinson attended Gary Roosevelt High School, in Gary, where he started playing organized basketball during the 8th grade. During his senior season, he led his school to an Indiana state basketball championship, winning the final game against Brebeuf Jesuit and their star Alan Henderson. Glenn also won the 1991 Indiana Mr. Basketball award. He was selected as a McDonald's All-American. He was one of the MVPs of the Dapper Dan Roundball classic, along with Chris Webber.
After high school, Glenn Robinson attended Purdue University to play under head coach Gene Keady and his recruiter/assistant coach Frank Kendrick. Due to struggles with NCAA eligibility, resulting from Proposition 48 which requires minimum academic standards, he had to redshirt for his freshman season. He worked as a welder during the summers while at Purdue. Eligible for his sophomore season, Glenn led the Boilermakers with 24.1 points and 9.4 rebounds a game in his first season as a Boilermaker. He led them to an 18–10 record on the season, which included a victory against the Michigan "Fab Five" in the regular season, and an NCAA appearance. He received First Team All-Big Ten and Second Team All-American honors.

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Grady Wallace
Grady A. Wallace (January 20, 1934 – August 17, 2006) was an All-American basketball player for the South Carolina Gamecocks in 1955–56 and 1956–57. As a senior in 1957, Wallace led the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) scoring at 31.3 points per game, which edged out future Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers Elgin Baylor (29.7) and Wilt Chamberlain (29.6) for the scoring title. Prior to attending the University of South Carolina, Wallace spent two years at Pikeville Junior College in his home state of Kentucky. Born in Mare Creek (now called Stanville) and raised in Betsy Layne in Floyd County, Wallace attended Betsy Layne High School from 1949 to 1953.
In Wallace's junior season of college, his first with the Gamecocks, he averaged 23.9 points per game (ppg). When he then led the nation in scoring as a senior, he did so without the benefit of a three-point line because that rule had not yet been implemented in basketball. He scored a then-school record 54 points against Georgia on December 21, 1956 (John Roche would later score 56 in 1971) and owns four of the top six single game scoring outputs in USC history. His career average of 28.0 ppg is the highest in school history, and his career rebound average of over 12 per game is the second highest.

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Greg Guy
Greg Guy is a retired American professional basketball most known for being the NCAA Division I scoring champion during the 1992–93 season.
A native of Oak Park, Illinois, Guy went to Oak Park and River Forest High School. He attended Fresno State University for the first two and a half years of college before transferring to the University of Texas–Pan American in the middle of his junior season. Guy, a 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), 190 lb. point guard/shooting guard, led the Broncs in scoring in each of his seasons with the team. He also made an immediate impact as a transfer player by leading all of Division I in scoring with a 29.3 points per game average. Despite his explosive scoring ability, the Broncs finished the season with a 2–20 overall record. Guy, therefore, holds the distinction of being on the worst team in college basketball history to have the nation's leading scorer on its roster. Texas–Pan American improved to 16–12 for Guy's senior season, and although he led the team in scoring, he did not repeat as the country's leading scorer.

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Hakeem Olajuwon
Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon (/ɵˈlaɪdʒəwɒn/; [olaɟuwɔ̃]; born January 21, 1963) is a retired Nigerian-American professional basketball player. From 1984 to 2002, he played the center position in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Houston Rockets and Toronto Raptors. He led the Rockets to back-to-back NBA championships in 1994 and 1995. In 2008, he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Listed at 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) (but closer to 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) by his own admission), Olajuwon is considered one of the greatest centers ever to play the game.

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Hal Greer
Harold Everett Greer (born June 26, 1936, in Huntington, West Virginia) is a retired American professional basketball player.
He attended Douglass Junior and Senior High School in Huntington. He played college basketball at Marshall University and was drafted by the Syracuse Nationals of the NBA in 1958. Greer played for Syracuse for five seasons, raising his scoring average to 22.8 points a game in 1961. He was selected for the NBA All-Star team that year. In 1963, the Syracuse Nationals moved to Philadelphia to become the Philadelphia 76ers. There, Greer became well known as a teammate of Wilt Chamberlain, and starred on the powerful 1966-67 team that ended the eight-year championship reign of the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics. In the 76ers' 15 playoff games that season, Greer averaged a team-best 27.7 points. Greer had an unusual but highly effective free throw technique, shooting a jump shot from the charity stripe. He is usually considered the third-best guard of the 1960s, behind Oscar Robertson and Jerry West.

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Hank Gathers
Eric "Hank" Gathers (February 11, 1967 – March 4, 1990) was an American college basketball star at Loyola Marymount University who collapsed and died during a game. He was the second player in NCAA Division I history to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding in the same season. He originally played at the University of Southern California, but transferred with teammate Bo Kimble to LMU after his freshman year. Gathers was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was listed as 6'7" in height.
Gathers played prep ball with Kimble at Dobbins Technical High School in Philadelphia with the pair leading the team to the Public League City championship in 1985.
Both Gathers and Kimble were recruited to the University of Southern California by Head Coach Stan Morrison and his top assistant, David Spencer. They were joined by high school All-American, Tom Lewis, and Rich Grande as the "Four Freshmen" star recruiting class. Following an 11-17 season coaching USC, Morrison and Spencer were fired after the 1985-86 season was over, despite winning the Pac-10 Conference the previous year. It was reported that the players would not remain unless certain conditions were met, including having a say in the next coaching staff. USC hired George Raveling as the next head coach of the Trojans. Raveling gave the players a deadline to respond whether they would remain on the team. When they did not respond, he revoked the scholarships of Gathers, Kimble, and Lewis. Raveling's controversial statement was, "You can't let the Indians run the reservation," he said. "You've got to be strong, too. Sometimes you have to tell them that they have to exit." Kimble and Gathers transferred together from USC to Loyola Marymount. Lewis transferred to Pepperdine. Grande remained at USC.

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Hank Luisetti
Angelo "Hank" Luisetti (June 16, 1916 - December 17, 2002) was an American college men's basketball player and one of the great innovators of the game. In an era that featured the traditional two-handed set shot, Luisetti developed the running one-handed shot. Equipped with such an offensive weapon, Luisetti became one of the most dominant players in American college basketball history.
A graduate of Galileo High School in his native city, San Francisco, he went on to play for Stanford. He became the first player to score 50 points in a game on January 1, 1938, against Duquesne. Luisetti was named the second-best player of the mid-century (behind George Mikan) by an Associated Press poll of sportswriters and broadcasters in 1950.
Luisetti’s influence was aided by a celebrated game between Long Island University and Luisetti’s Stanford Indians. Long Island, at the time of the game, had a 43 game winning streak. The game was played in the evening of Dec. 30, 1936, in Madison Square Garden and a crowd of 17,623 was on hand to see Long Island, the nation's No. 1 team, play Stanford.

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Harlan Page
Harlan Orville "Pat" Page (March 20, 1887 – November 23, 1965) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player and coach. He was one of basketball's first star players in the early 1900s. The 5'9" Chicago, IL native played guard at the University of Chicago (1906–1910) and was known as a defensive specialist. While leading Chicago to three national championships (1908–1910), the Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively named him an All-American each time and named National Player of the Year in 1910. Page also played football at Chicago. Walter Camp selected him as a second-team All-American at the end in 1908 and a third-team All-American at the same position in 1909.
Following his playing days, Page embarked on a coaching career. He served as the head basketball coach at the University of Chicago (1911–1920), Butler University (1920–1925) and the College of Idaho (1936–1938), compiling a career college basketball record of 269–140. In 1924, he coached Butler to the AAU title. Page was also the head football coach at Butler from 1920 to 1925 and at Indiana University from 1926 to 1930, tallying a career college football mark of 51–38–5. In addition, Page coached baseball at the University of Chicago from 1913 to 1920 and again in 1931, amassing a record of 63–35. In 1962, he was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player.

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Harold Anderson
W. Harold Anderson (September 11, 1902 – June 13, 1967) was a college men's basketball coach at Bowling Green State University and the University of Toledo. As a player, he played at Otterbein College, a small liberal arts college outside of Columbus, Ohio. As a coach, he was one of the first to win more than 500 games on the collegiate level. While pioneering the run and gun, up-tempo style of play, the Akron, Ohio native Anderson developed a host of All-America athletes, the most prominent being Nate Thurmond.
The Bowling Green Falcons now play basketball in Anderson Arena, named in honor of their legendary coach. Anderson was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985.

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Harold Olsen
Harold G. Olsen (May 12, 1895 – October 29, 1953) was a college men's basketball coach. The Rice Lake, Wisconsin native was the head coach of the Ohio State University from 1922 to 1946. That year he became the first head coach of the BAA's Chicago Stags, where he coached almost three seasons before being replaced by Philip Brownstein. Olsen also coached a single season at Northwestern University (1950–1951).
While playing at University of Wisconsin–Madison (1913–17), Olsen was named two-time All-Big Ten. After graduating from Wisconsin, he began his coaching career at Ripon College. In 1922 Olsen followed George Trautman as head coach of the Ohio State University. In 24 years he guided the Buckeyes to a 265–81 record, as well as five Big Ten championships (1925, 1933, 1939, 1944, 1946). In 1939, Olsen spearheaded efforts to create the NCAA postseason national playoffs, now known as the NCAA Tournament. Olsen also helped initiate the 10-second rule. In 1959 he was inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor.

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Harry Gallatin
Harry J. " The Horse" Gallatin (born April 26, 1927) is a retired American professional basketball player and coach. Gallatin played nine seasons for the New York Knicks in the NBA from 1948 to 1957, as well as one season with the Detroit Pistons in 1958. In 1954 Gallatin led the NBA in rebounding, and was named to the All-NBA First Team. Gallatin was named to the All-NBA Second Team in 1955. For his career, Gallatin played in seven NBA All-Star Games. A member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, he is is also a member of the SIU Edwardsville Athletics Hall of Fame, the Truman State University Athletics Hall of Fame, the Missouri Basketball Hall of Fame, the Illinois Basketball Hall of Fame, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Hall of Fame, and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Hall of Fame.
Growing up in Roxana, Illinois, Gallatin had taken interest in all sports and has been quoted as saying, "Competition has always been my cup of tea." His drive for competition was amplified during his first year in high school as he attended Wood River High School from 1940–41. Since Roxana and some other outlying communities like Bethalto did not have high schools of their own at the time, all of the athletes in the area attended Wood River and thus increased the level of competition among the athletes. The following year, Roxana had a high school of its own. He graduated from Roxana High School in 1944 and was granted a basketball scholarship by Northeast Missouri State Teachers' College (now known as Truman State University). However, after graduating from Roxana High School, Gallatin enlisted in the United States Navy and served until the end of World War II.

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Harry Litwack
Harold "Chief" Litwack (September 20, 1907 – August 7, 1999) was a college men's basketball coach. He served as head coach of Temple University from 1947 to 1973, compiling a 373-193 record.
Litwack was born in Poland, but raised in Philadelphia, USA. He graduated from Temple in 1930. He began his coaching career at Simon Gratz High School (1930–31), then he became head coach of the freshman team at Temple. Meanwhile he was playing pro basketball with Eddie Gottlieb's all-Jewish Philadelphia Sphas, from 1930 to 1936. After he became head coach at Temple in 1947, he also served briefly as assistant coach for the Philadelphia Warriors (1948–51).

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Henry Iba
Henry Payne "Hank" Iba (pronounced /ˈaɪbə/; August 6, 1904 – January 15, 1993) was an American basketball and baseball coach.
Iba was born and raised in Easton, Missouri. He played college basketball at Westminster College, where he became a member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity.
After coaching stints at Maryville Teachers' College (now Northwest Missouri State University) and the University of Colorado, Iba came to Oklahoma A&M College in 1934. He stayed at Oklahoma A&M, renamed Oklahoma State University in 1957, for 36 years until his retirement after the 1969–70 season. For most of his tenure at A&M/OSU, he doubled as athletic director. Additionally, Iba coached OSU's baseball team from 1934 to 1941.
Iba's teams were methodical, ball-controlling units that featured weaving patterns and low scoring games. Iba's "swinging gate" defense (a man-to-man with team flow) was applauded by many, and is still effective in today's game. He was known as "the Iron Duke of Defense." Iba is thought to be one of the toughest coaches in NCAA history. He was a very methodical coach, and he always wanted things done perfectly.

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Herb Magee
Herb Magee (born June 20, 1941), commonly referred to as the Shot Doctor, is a Division II men's college basketball coach at his alma mater, Philadelphia University, known as Philadelphia College of Textiles & Science until 1999. He will be entering his 45th year as head coach and 52nd year as both a player and a coach, amassing 941 wins all at the same university. On August 12, 2011, Magee became a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2011.
Magee played his high school basketball at Philadelphia's famed West Catholic High, where his teammates included former Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach Jim Lynam and former St. Joseph's coach Jim Boyle.
As a five-foot-ten inch, 150-pound Philadelphia Textile player, he scored 2,235 points (before the introduction of the 3-point shot), leading his team to 75 victories. Magee was a two-time All-American and drafted by the Boston Celtics (the 62nd pick of the 1963 NBA draft)
His exploits as a coach have not gone unnoticed, as his list of awards and achievements can attest. The Kodak District Coach of the Year in 1993, Magee was also tabbed New York Collegiate Athletic Conference Coach of the Year that season and again in 1994. In addition, he has been honored as regional Coach of the Year four times, national Coach of the Year twice, and Co-Coach of the Year in the Mideast Collegiate Conference twice. He was also inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1979. He led the Rams to the College Division National Championship in 1970.

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Herb Wilkinson
Herbert Leroy "Herb" Wilkinson (born January 9, 1923) was an American college basketball player who won the 1944 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as a freshman while playing for Utah, then transferred to Iowa as a sophomore and became a three-time All-American.
Wilkinson was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and raised as a Mormon. He grew up playing basketball but his home also had a high jump pit, and consequently Wilkinson became an excellent high jumper (he got so good, in fact, that he placed fourth at the NCAA Division I track and field championships in 1945.) He attended East High School in Salt Lake City, and when Wilkinson was a sophomore he only stood 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m). By the time he enrolled in college, however, he had grown to 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m), which more suited his ability to play basketball at the next level.
Wilkinson matriculated at the University of Utah in the fall of 1943. He had stopped growing at 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) but still possessed the dribbling and shooting abilities he had honed as a smaller high school player. As a very tall guard for that era, he helped lead the Utes to the NCAA tournament.

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Herm Schaefer
Herman H. Schaefer (December 20, 1919–March 21, 1980) was an American professional basketball player and coach.
A 6'0" guard/forward from Indiana University, Schaefer played in the National Basketball League and National Basketball Association from 1941 to 1950 as a member of the Fort Wayne Pistons, Indianapolis Kautskys, and Minneapolis Lakers.
Schaefer later served as coach of the Indianapolis Olympians.

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Hersey Hawkins
Hersey R. Hawkins, Jr. (born September 29, 1966, in Chicago, Illinois) is a retired American professional basketball player. After starring at Westinghouse High School in Chicago, the 6' 3" (1.90 m) shooting guard attended Bradley University. Hawkins was known for his stealing skills and outside-shooting ability. He wore numbers 3, 32 and 33 in his 12-year basketball career.
Hersey spent four seasons at Bradley University. In the 1987-1988 season, he averaged an NCAA Division I-high 36.3 points per game and was National College Player of the Year. He led NCAA Division 1 in scoring. His basketball career in college was successful. Before being drafted into the NBA, he was a member of the USA men's national basketball team at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul with 11 other future NBA stars coached by John Thompson. They disappointingly finished with the bronze medal after losing to the Soviet Union in the semifinals.
He was then drafted 6th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers in first round of the 1988 NBA Draft, but his rights were immediately traded to the Philadelphia 76ers for the draft rights to former 1988 Olympic teammate Charles Smith. On the 76ers, "Hawk" was the second scoring option after Charles Barkley. Hawkins earned NBA All-Rookie First Team Honors in 1989. In 1991 he averaged 22.1 points and appeared in the NBA All-Star Game. In a game against the Boston Celtics, he made 9 steals. He also scored a career-high 43 points in a game against the Orlando Magic.

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Hortência Marcari
Hortência Maria de Fátima Marcari (born September 23, 1959 in Potirendaba, São Paulo, Brazil) is a former basketball player who is often considered to be one of the greatest women's basketball players in Brazil, alongside with Paula, and regarded by specialists as one of the world's greatest women's basketball players of all time. Marcari is a member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted in 2002), the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (inducted in 2005), and FIBA Hall of Fame (inducted in 2007). She is known in her country as Hortência, and her nickname is The Queen.
Hortência is of Italian background, her grandparents having moved to Brazil from that European nation. Hortência's father was a laborer.
When Hortência was ten years old, her family moved to São Paulo, and Hortência became interested in sports. Her family disapproved of her choice to play sports—her father had been disabled on the field so they wanted her to work bringing home part of the earnings her father used to--- but they eventually gave up trying to prevent her from doing her favorite activity.

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Howard Cann
Howard Gardsell Cann (October 11, 1895 - December 18, 1992) was an American sportsman best known as the long-time men's basketball coach at New York University. He was also an Olympic shot putter and a college basketball and football player.
Cann was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, into a family of accomplished sportsmen. His father, Frank Cann, was the director of physical education at New York University, which both Howard and his younger brother Tedford Cann attended. Tedford was an Olympic swimmer and world-record holder in the 200 meter freestyle.
Howard first attended Barringer High School in Newark, New Jersey, and then the High School of Commerce in New York City. At Commerce he was captain of the basketball team, member of the track team and member of the Omega Gamma Delta Fraternity.
He briefly attended Dartmouth College and then transferred to New York University. During his freshman year in 1914, Howard was the leading scorer on the NYU Violets men's basketball team. He was captain of the 1916-1917 football team, where he played as a tackle, a punter, and also played in the backfield.

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Howard Hobson
Howard Andrew "Hobby" Hobson (July 4, 1903 – June 9, 1991) was a college basketball coach, who authored numerous books on the subject. He also has the distinction of coaching the team who won the National Collegiate Athletic Association Championship with the Oregon Ducks in its inaugural year of 1939.
Hobson played basketball for four years at Franklin High School in Portland, Oregon, from which he graduated in 1922. During his time there, he was team captain for two years, and led the state championship-winning team in 1921.
He was captain of the University of Oregon's basketball team from 1924 to 1926, and in 1925, his team tied Oregon State Agricultural College for the conference title. However, they lost in the playoffs. A year later, the team won the conference title, but lost to the University of California in the playoffs. This 1926 team was nevertheless undefeated in the conference, with a win record of 10-0. In the same year, he graduated from the University with a bachelor's degree. He went on to obtain a master's degree in 1929 and a doctorate in 1945, both from Columbia University.

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Howard Komives
Howard K. "Butch" Komives (pronounced KO-myvz) (May 9, 1941 – March 22, 2009) was an American professional basketball player who spent ten seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the New York Knickerbockers, Detroit Pistons, Buffalo Braves and Kansas City-Omaha Kings.
Born in Toledo, Ohio, he graduated from Woodward High School (Toledo) in 1960.
Komives played college basketball at Bowling Green State University (BGSU), where he led the team in scoring in each of his three varsity seasons. As a starting shooting guard, he teamed with Nate Thurmond, the school's all-time leading rebounder, to lead the Falcons to back-to-back Mid-American Conference (MAC) championships and NCAA tournament appearances in 1962 and 1963.
Despite Thurmond's graduation and the team's fall to third place in the conference, Komives led the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in scoring during the 1963–64 season with 36.7 points per game, still BGSU and MAC records. Even though he no longer is the school's all-time leading scorer (his 1,834 total points is currently third), his 25.8 scoring average is still a Falcons record.

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Howie Dallmar
Howard Dallmar (May 24, 1922 – December 19, 1991) was an American professional basketball player and coach.
A 6'4" (1.93 m) forward from San Francisco, California, Dallmar played collegiately at Stanford University. He led Stanford to the 1942 NCAA Championship, earning Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. After transferring to Penn, he was an All-American selection in 1945. From 1946 to 1949, he played professionally for the Philadelphia Warriors of the Basketball Association of America (a forerunner to the NBA). Dallmar was the third leading scorer (behind Joe Fulks and Angelo Musi) on the team which won the 1947 BAA Championship.
Dallmar coached the University of Pennsylvania basketball team from 1948 to 1954, before returning to Stanford as head basketball coach in 1954. He remained at Stanford for 21 seasons, compiling a 256-264 record. He died of congestive heart failure in 1991.

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Howie Schultz
Howard Henry "Howie" Schultz (July 3, 1922 – October 30, 2009), nicknamed "Stretch" and "Steeple", was an American baseball and basketball player from Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Due to his height, 6-foot-6-inch (1.98 m), he was not allowed to serve in the armed forces during World War II. From 1943 to 1948, Schultz, played Major League Baseball as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, and Cincinnati Reds. He primarily played as a first baseman and has a career batting average of .241. Schultz was traded by Brooklyn to make room for Jackie Robinson.
Schultz turned to basketball in 1949, embarking on a four year National Basketball Association career as a member of the Anderson Packers, Fort Wayne Pistons, and Minneapolis Lakers. He averaged 5.3 points per game and was on one championship Laker squad. Schultz was one of the few players who qualified for pensions from both major league baseball and the NBA.
Howie Schultz died on October 30, 2009, aged 87, after a brief battle with cancer.

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Hubie Brown
Hubert Jude "Hubie" Brown (born September 25, 1933 in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, USA) is a retired American basketball coach and a current television analyst. Brown is a two-time NBA Coach of the Year, the honors being separated by 26 years. Brown was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005.
Born in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, Brown moved to Elizabeth, New Jersey at the age of 3 and was raised there, graduating from St. Mary of the Assumption High School in 1951.
Hubie Brown played college basketball at Niagara University, graduating in 1955 with a degree in education. After leaving Niagara, Brown joined the U.S. Army where he joined the Army's basketball team. After being honorably discharged in 1958, Brown briefly played for the Rochester Colonels of the Eastern Professional Basketball League (the forerunner to the Continental Basketball Association) before they folded after just eight games. He averaged 13.8 points per game in his brief stint as a pro and was an excellent defender as a player.

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Isiah Thomas
Isiah Lord Thomas III (

/aɪˈzeɪ.ə/; born April 30, 1961), nicknamed "Zeke", is a retired American basketball player who played collegiately for the Indiana University Hoosiers. He went on to play professionally as point guard for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1981 until 1994 and led the "Bad Boys" to the NBA Championship in the 1988–89 and 1989–90 seasons. He was a 12-time NBA All-Star and named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. After his playing career, he was an executive with the Toronto Raptors, a television commentator, an executive with the Continental Basketball Association, head coach of the Indiana Pacers, and an executive and head coach for the New York Knicks. He was later the men's basketball coach for the Florida International University (FIU) Golden Panthers for three seasons from 2009 to 2012.
Thomas was born on April 30, 1961, in Chicago, Illinois. The youngest of nine brothers and sisters, he commuted from the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago to play high school basketball at St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois for Gene Pingatore. He would wake up at 5 am and commute 90 minutes to attend the private school. During his junior year, he led St. Joseph to the State Finals and was considered one of the top college prospects in the country.

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Jack Cobb
Jack Cobb (1904-1966) was a college basketball player at the University of North Carolina in the 1920s. Cobb led the Tar Heels to their first undefeated season in 1924 and to three straight Southern Conference titles (1924, 1925, 1926). Cobb was named national player of the year for 1926 by the Helms Athletic Foundation. The 1924 team was retroactively named national champion by the Helms Foundation in 1936.
Cobb is one of eight Tar Heels basketball players who have had their jersey retired.
Cobb's dreams of pursuing a coaching career were dashed when he had a motorcycle accident in 1929 and lost part of his lower right leg. Cobb did continue to coach Little League baseball teams throughout much of his life.

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Jack Dwan
John Dwan (May 3, 1921–August 4, 1993) was an American professional basketball player.
A 6'4" (1.93 m) forward/guard from Loyola University Chicago, Dwan played two seasons (1947–49) in the National Basketball League and Basketball Association of America as a member of the Minneapolis Lakers. He won a BAA championship in 1949.

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Jack Givens
Jack "Goose" Givens (born September 21, 1956 in Lexington, Kentucky) is a retired American collegiate and professional basketball player. Givens led the University of Kentucky to the 1978 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship and was named that year's Final Four Most Outstanding Player due in most part to his 41-point performance in Kentucky's 94-88 victory over Duke University in the championship game. He was a 6'5" (1.96 m), 205 lb (93 kg) forward.
Givens earned Kentucky Mr. Basketball and Parade All-America honors after his senior year at Lexington's Bryan Station High School in 1974. UK finished Givens' freshman season as national runners-up, falling 92-85 to UCLA in the 1975 Final Four championship game. In 1978, Givens and Kentucky returned to the Final Four at the Checkerdome in Saint Louis, Missouri. After leading Kentucky to a semifinal victory over the University of Arkansas, he scored a career-high 41 points and made 18 of 27 field goal attempts against Duke to help Kentucky clinch their fifth NCAA Championship in men's basketball.

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Jack Kent Cooke
Jack Kent Cooke (October 25, 1912 – April 6, 1997) was a Canadian entrepreneur and former owner of the Washington Redskins (NFL), the Los Angeles Lakers (NBA), and the Los Angeles Kings (NHL), and built The Forum in Inglewood, California and FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.
Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Cooke moved with his family to The Beaches area of Toronto in 1921, where he attended Malvern Collegiate Institute.
At age 14, Cooke got a job selling encyclopedias door to door. At the end of his first day, he took home over $20 to his mother, and is reported as later saying "I think that was the proudest moment of my life." He later became a runner on the floor of the Toronto Stock Exchange. He was selling soap in Northern Ontario for Colgate-Palmolive in 1936 when he met Roy Thomson, who hired Cooke to run radio station CJCS in Stratford, Ontario. The two became partners in 1941, buying radio stations and newspapers in Ontario and Quebec.
With the financial backing of J. P. Bickell, Cooke purchased CKCL in 1945, changing the call letters to CKEY. He also continued to work with Thomson, and the two acquired the Canadian edition of Liberty magazine in 1948, naming it New Liberty. The following year, Thomson sold his half of the magazine to Cooke.

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Jack McCracken
Jack "Jumping Jack" McCracken (June 15, 1912 - January 5, 1958) was a basketball player in 1930s and 1940s. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) players of all time and was officially named as the greatest player of all time by the AAU organization.
A native of Chickasha, Oklahoma, McCracken went to Classen High School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He attended Northwest Missouri State Teachers College (now Northwest Missouri State University) in Maryville, Missouri and played for legendary coach Henry Iba, who had also coached him in high school. McCracken never turned pro.
After leaving Northwest Missouri State Teachers College, he went to Denver, Colorado to play in the AAU.

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Jack Nicholson
Not to be confused with Nicholas Jackson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson (born April 22, 1937) is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. His twelve Oscar nominations make him the second most nominated actor of all time, behind only Meryl Streep, and tied with Katharine Hepburn.
Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and for As Good as It Gets. He also won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the 1983 film Terms of Endearment. He is tied with Walter Brennan for most acting wins by a male actor (three). Nicholson is well known for playing villainous roles such as Jack Torrance in The Shining, Frank Costello in The Departed, and the Joker in 1989's Batman, among many other roles.
Nicholson is one of only two actors who have been nominated for an Academy Award for acting in every decade from the 1960s to 2000s; the other is Michael Caine. He has won seven Golden Globe Awards, and received a Kennedy Center Honor in 2001. In 1994, he became one of the youngest actors to be awarded the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award. Notable films in which he has starred include Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Chinatown, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Passenger, The Shining, Reds, Terms of Endearment, Batman, A Few Good Men, As Good as It Gets, About Schmidt, The Departed and Anger Management .

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Jack Ramsay
Jack T. Ramsay (born February 21, 1925, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American former basketball coach, commonly known as "Dr. Jack" (as he holds an earned doctorate, see below). He is best known for coaching the Portland Trail Blazers to the 1977 NBA Title, and for his broadcasting work with the Indiana Pacers, the Miami Heat, and for ESPN TV and ESPN Radio. Ramsay is among the most respected coaches in NBA history and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Ramsay graduated from Upper Darby High School (UDHS) in 1942. He was inducted into the school's Wall of Fame in 1979. He received his bachelor's degree from Saint Joseph's College in 1949, and his master's and doctorate degrees (the latter in education) from the University of Pennsylvania in 1952 and 1963, respectively.
After coaching in the high school and minor-league ranks for the early postwar years, he became head coach at his alma mater, Saint Joseph's College, in 1955. In his first season, Ramsay would lead the Hawks to their first Big 5 crown and their first-ever postseason berth (in the NIT). Ramsay would remain there through 1966, leading the Hawks to six more Big 5 crowns and ten postseason appearances (including a Final Four) in all.

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Jack Twyman
John Kennedy "Jack" Twyman (May 21, 1934 – May 30, 2012) was an American professional basketball player and sports broadcaster.
A 6'6" forward from the University of Cincinnati, he spent eleven seasons (1955–1966) in the NBA as a member of the Rochester/Cincinnati Royals franchise (now the Sacramento Kings). Along with Wilt Chamberlain, Twyman became the first NBA player to average more than 30 points per game in a single season when he averaged 31.2 points per game during the 1959–60 season. He scored a career high 59 points in a game that same season. Twyman scored 15,840 points in his career, he was named to the All-NBA Second Team in both 1960 and 1962, and he appeared in six NBA All-Star Games.
Twyman was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1983.
Twyman was also known for his humanitarian efforts. He became the legal guardian of his teammate Maurice Stokes, who was paralyzed due to the aftereffects of a head injury suffered during the final game of the 1958 regular season, to help with medical finances. Twyman also organized the NBA's Maurice Stokes Memorial Basketball game, held at Kutsher's Country Club in Monticello, New York, to raise funds for needy former players from the game's early years – first to raise funds for Stokes's care and after his death, for other players. (The fundraising effort later became replaced by a pro-am golf event featuring NBA players.) Twyman also helped Stokes to obtain workers’ compensation and helped him to learn to communicate by blinking his eyes to denote individual letters.

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Jameer Nelson
Jameer Nelson (born February 9, 1982) is an American professional basketball player for the Orlando Magic of the NBA. He played college basketball at Saint Joseph's University and was drafted in the first round of the 2004 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets but was traded to the Orlando Magic, where he has played for his entire professional career.
Nelson attended Chester High School in Chester, Pennsylvania and was a student and a letterman in basketball. In basketball, he helped lead his team to two PIAA state championships.
Nelson began his play at Saint Joseph's University in the 2000–2001 NCAA season. He had a breakout freshman season in which he was named unanimous National Freshman of the Year. During his junior season in 2002–2003, he averaged 19.7 points per game, 5.1 rebounds per game, and 4.7 assists per game. He declared for the NBA Draft in 2003, but remained for his senior season because he wanted to improve his draft status.^{[citation needed]}

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James Enright
James Enright (April 3, 1910 – December 20, 1981) was a college and professional basketball referee and sportswriter. He was born in Sodus, Michigan and began officiating at 20 years old.
After retiring in 1964 from a refereeing career that saw him officiate the 1954 NCAA tournament Final Four and the 1948 and 1952 Olympic basketball qualifying tournaments, Enright resumed a career he had abandoned for refereeing in 1930 and covered basketball and baseball for such publications as The Sporting News and the Chicago Evening American.
In 1968, Enright became president of the United States Basketball Writers’ Association and, in 1978, in view of his contributions to the game of basketball as a referee, Enright was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.

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James Naismith
James Naismith (November 6, 1861 – November 28, 1939) was a Canadian sports coach and innovator. He invented the sport of basketball in 1891 and is often credited with introducing the first football helmet. He wrote the original basketball rulebook, founded the University of Kansas basketball program, and lived to see basketball adopted as an Olympic demonstration sport in 1904 and as an official event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, as well as the birth of both the National Invitation Tournament (1938) and the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship (1939).
Born in Canada, Naismith studied physical education in Montreal before moving to the United States, where he developed basketball in late 1891 while teaching at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts. Naismith also studied medicine in Denver, taking his MD in 1898 before moving to the University of Kansas. After a decade (1898–1907) serving there as a faculty member and part-time basketball coach during the sport's fledgling years, he became the Kansas Jayhawks' athletic director. He became a U.S. citizen in 1925.

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James Worthy
James Ager Worthy (born February 27, 1961) is a retired Hall of Fame American college and professional basketball player. Named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, "Big Game James" was a seven-time NBA All-Star and three-time NBA champion. A standout for the North Carolina Tar Heels, the 6 ft 9 in (2.05 m) small forward was the MOP of the 1982 NCAA Tournament and #1 pick of the 1982 NBA Draft. He was born in Gastonia, North Carolina.
Worthy was an All-American high school basketball player at Ashbrook High School in Gastonia. Worthy averaged 21.5 points, 12.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists during his senior season, for a team that lost in the state championship game. Worthy was also selected to play in the 1979 McDonald's All-American game that also featured future Naismith Hall of Famers Isiaih Thomas, Dominique Wilkins and Ralph Sampson.
After graduating high school, Worthy attended the University of North Carolina (UNC). He quickly became a standout at UNC but saw his freshman year cut short by a broken ankle suffered near mid-season. As a sophomore he was a key member of that school's 1981 NCAA runner-up team, playing with Al Wood and Sam Perkins.

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Jason Conley
Jason Conley (born July 21, 1981) is an American professional basketball player for Kataja Basket Club in Finland. A 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) shooting guard and small forward, Conley is best known for being the only freshman to ever lead NCAA Division I in scoring.
Jason Conley was born in San Antonio, Texas and attended Montrose Christian School in Rockville, a perennial national high school basketball power that has sent many players to the Division I and professional levels. He did not catch many college basketball recruiters' attention, but Virginia Military Institute, a small Division I university located in Lexington, Virginia offered him a scholarship.
Conley is dyslexic and failed to attain the minimum SAT entrance exam score to be eligible to play college basketball right after high school. To try to help him qualify, he spent one year at a postgraduate school called Millersburg (Ky.) Military Institute, but Conley still fell short of his SAT requirement. As a partial qualifier, he sat out one year at VMI but did not lose a year of eligibility.

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Jerry Buss
Gerald Hatten "Jerry" Buss (born January 27, 1934) is an American businessman, real estate investor, and a former chemist. He is the majority owner of the Los Angeles Lakers professional basketball team along with other professional sports franchises in Southern California. Announced as a member of the 2010 induction class of the Basketball Hall of Fame on April 5, 2010, he was formally enshrined as a contributor to the sport on August 13 of that same year.
Buss worked his way through the University of Wyoming, graduating with a B.S. degree in two and a half years in 1953. He moved to Los Angeles and attended the University of Southern California, where he earned a M.S. and Ph.D. in physical chemistry by age 24. Buss started as a chemist for the Bureau of Mines (now the Mine Safety and Health Administration); he then briefly worked in the aerospace industry and was on the faculty of USC's chemistry department. He originally went into real estate investing in order to provide an income so he could continue teaching. His first investment in the 1960s was $1,000 in a West Los Angeles apartment building. Finding great success in the real estate business, he pursued real estate investing full time. In 1979 Jerry purchased Pickfair Mansion in Beverly Hills from the estate of Mary Pickford. He was also the co-owner of a real estate investment company called Mariani-Buss Associates with his long time business partner Frank Mariani.

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Jerry Colangelo
Jerry Colangelo (born November 20, 1939), is an American businessman and sports executive.
He formerly owned the Phoenix Suns of the NBA, the Phoenix Mercury of the WNBA, the Arizona Sandsharks of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League and the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball. He was also instrumental in the relocation of the Winnipeg Jets of the NHL to Phoenix to become the Phoenix Coyotes.
In the summer of 2005, Colangelo was named director of USA Basketball whose team represented the United States in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2010 FIBA World Championship. Colangelo also serves as Chairman of the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), a nonprofit nonpartisan educational foundation that promotes Italian American culture and heritage.
Colangelo has been known for a no-nonsense ownership style. Players like the Suns' Dennis Johnson and Jason Kidd and the Diamondbacks' Bobby Chouinard have been traded or released after their personal problems became public.

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Jerry Lucas
Jerry Ray Lucas (born March 30, 1940) is a former basketball player who played from the 1950s to the 1970s. He is now a memory education expert. In 1996, the NBA's 50th anniversary, he was named one of the 50 greatest players in National Basketball Association history. He was named to Sports Illustrated's five-man College All-Century Team in 1999.
Lucas was born in Middletown, Ohio, then a community of 30,000+ halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati, that in the 1940s and 1950s boasted one of the most respected high school basketball programs in the United States. Greatly encouraged, Lucas began pouring hours each day into the town's game during his early teens.
Lucas had become a local playground legend by age 15, in Sunset Park. Sunset Park was then a regional summer hotbed for high school, college and even some pro players. Future Cincinnati Royals teammates Wayne Embry and Oscar Robertson were visitors there. Lucas was already at almost his full-grown height of 6 ft 8 in (2.06 m) by age 15, out-playing college players with his advanced game.

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Jerry Sloan
Gerald Eugene "Jerry" Sloan (born March 28, 1942), is an American former National Basketball Association player and head coach, and a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame. NBA commissioner David Stern called Sloan "one of the greatest and most respected coaches in NBA history." Sloan had a career regular-season win–loss record of 1,221–803, placing him third all-time in NBA wins at the time he retired. Sloan was only the fifth coach in NBA history to reach the 1,000 victories and is the only coach in NBA history to record 1,000 wins with one club (the Utah Jazz). He also coached for one team longer than anyone in NBA history. The 2009–10 season was his 22nd season (and 21st full season) as coach of the Jazz. Sloan coached the Jazz to 15 consecutive playoff appearances from 1989–2003. Although he never won a Coach of the Year award, he is one of only three coaches in NBA history with 15-plus consecutive seasons with a winning record (Pat Riley and Phil Jackson are the others). He led Utah to the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 but lost to the Chicago Bulls both times.

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Jerry West
Jerry Alan West (born May 28, 1938) is a retired American basketball player who played his entire professional career for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames include "Mr. Clutch," for his ability to make a big play in a clutch situation, such as his famous buzzer-beating 60-foot shot that tied Game 3 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the New York Knicks; "The Logo," in reference to his silhouette being incorporated into the NBA logo; and "Zeke from Cabin Creek," after the creek near his birthplace of Chelyan, West Virginia. Playing the small forward position early in his career, West was a standout at East Bank High School and at West Virginia University, leading the WVU Mountaineers to the 1959 NCAA championship game, earning Most Valuable Player honors despite the loss. He then embarked on a 14-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers, and was the co-captain of the 1960 U.S. Olympic gold medal team in Rome, a squad that would be inducted as a unit into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.

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Jewell Young
Jewell Young (January 18, 1913 – April 16, 2003) was an American basketball player. He was an All-American at Purdue University and an early professional.
Young played at Lafayette Jefferson High School in Lafayette, Indiana and played collegiately at nearby Purdue University for future Hall of Fame coach Ward "Piggy" Lambert. Young was a two-time consensus All-American at Purdue in 1937 and 1938. He led the Western Conference both years at 14.3 and 15.3 points per game respectively.
Following the completion of his collegiate career, Young played professionally with the Indianapolis Kautskys of the National Basketball League until the Kautskys ceased operations in 1942 due to World War II. Young played one season with the Oshkosh All-Stars in 1942–3, then completed his NBL career with the Kautskys in 1946. In his five NBL seasons, he averaged 7.8 points per game. He later became a high school coach for 17 years for Southport High School in Indianapolis.
Young was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1964.

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Jim Boeheim
James Arthur "Jim" Boeheim (

/ˈbeɪhaɪm/; born November 17, 1944) is the head coach of the men's basketball team at Syracuse University. Boeheim has guided the Orange to nine Big East regular season championships, five Big East Tournament championships, and 28 NCAA Tournament appearances, including three appearances in the national title game. In those games, the Orange lost to Indiana in 1987 and Kentucky in 1996 before defeating Kansas in 2003.
Boeheim currently stands in third place on the wins list of Men's NCAA Division I coaches. Among active coaches, only Mike Krzyzewski of Duke University has more wins, with a career record of 927 wins, achieved at two different schools, Army and Duke. Boeheim earned his 880th win on February 8, 2012, surpassing Dean Smith's 879 wins at North Carolina, for the most career wins as head coach at a single school.
Boeheim has served as an assistant coach for the United States men's national basketball team at the 1990 FIBA World Championship, the 2006 FIBA World Championship, the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2010 FIBA World Championship. In these outings, Team USA finished with two bronze medals and two gold medals, respectively. He will continue to serve in the same capacity at the 2012 Summer Olympics. In addition, Boeheim currently serves as the chairman of the USA Basketball 2009–12 Men's Junior National Committee, has served as the 2007–08 President of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), and currently sits on its Board of Directors. For his accomplishments, Boeheim was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2005.

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Jim Calhoun
James A. Calhoun (born May 10, 1942) is the head coach of the University of Connecticut's men's basketball team. His teams have won three national championships (1999, 2004, 2011), played in four Final Fours (most recently in 2011), won the 1988 NIT championship, and have won seven Big East tournament championships (in 1990, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2004, and 2011). In 2005 he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. On Feb 25, 2009, Jim Calhoun won his 800th game when Connecticut beat Marquette, 93–82. On April 4, 2011, Calhoun won his third NCAA Men's Championship as the Connecticut Huskies defeated the Butler Bulldogs 53–41. The victory over Butler made Calhoun, at 68, the oldest coach to win an NCAA Division I men's basketball title.
A self-described Irish Catholic, Calhoun was born and raised in Braintree, Massachusetts, where he was a standout on the basketball, football, and baseball teams at Braintree High School. After his father died of a heart attack when Calhoun was 15, he was left to watch over his large family that included five siblings.

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Jim Holstein
James H. Holstein (September 24, 1930 – December 17, 2007) was an American professional basketball player.
A 6'3" forward/guard from the University of Cincinnati, Holstein played four seasons (1952–1956) in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Minneapolis Lakers and Fort Wayne Pistons. He averaged 3.8 points per game and won two league championships with the Lakers.

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Jim Lacy
Jim Lacy (born April 1926) was an American basketball player for Loyola College of Maryland in 1943–44 and then 1946–47 to 1948–49. He was regarded as one of the top college basketball scorers of his era.
As a freshman for the Loyola Greyhounds in 1943-44, Lacy was the state's leading scorer. He turned 18 after the season and subsequently enlisted in the United States Navy due to World War II. He later returned to Loyola and led the nation in scoring in 1946-47 at 20.8 points per game. On February 3, 1947, he had perhaps the most memorable game of his career against the #1 team in the east, Seton Hall, when he scored 20 points to lead Loyola to a 54-53 upset.
In his junior year, Lacy finished second in the national scoring race. He scored 44 points in a game against Western Maryland to set a school record that still stands. He was team captain during his senior year. From 1946 to 1949, he led the Greyhounds to three Mason-Dixon Conference championships and its first NAIA tournament win. Lacy was the first player in NCAA history to score 2,000 career points, finishing at 2,154. Despite playing before the introduction of the three-point shot, he is still Loyola's all-time leader in points scored. He also holds the school records for career field goals (796) and career free throws made (613). During his four years in college, he shot 79.8% from the free throw line.

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Jim Pollard
James Clifford "Jim" Pollard (July 9, 1922 – January 22, 1993) was an American professional basketball player.
In college, Pollard played for Stanford and was a key member of Stanford's 1942 national championship team (though due to illness, he did not play in the final game). During WWII he starred in Coast Guard teams from Alameda to Honolulu. Following the War, Pollard played for the San Diego Dons and the Oakland Bittners, making four trips to Denver for AAU playoffs. In the NBA, Pollard was considered one of the best forwards in the 1940s and 1950s, and was known for his leaping ability (Pollard would occasionally dunk from the free throw line during warmups) earning him the nickname "The Kangaroo Kid".
In 1952, players who had performed in the NBA since its inception (after the merging of the NBL and the BAA) selected Pollard as the best player of the period. Pollard teamed with George Mikan and Vern Mikkelsen for the Minneapolis Lakers, forming one of the best front courts in basketball history. The Lakers won six professional basketball titles: 1948 (NBL), 1949 (BAA), 1950 (NBA), 1952 (NBA), 1953 (NBA), 1954 (NBA).

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Jimmer Fredette
James Taft "Jimmer" Fredette (born February 25, 1989) is an American professional basketball player with the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association. He gained national fame during his collegiate career at Brigham Young University, where he was the leading scorer in all of NCAA Division I basketball during his senior season and earned every major National Player of the Year honor, including the Wooden Award, the Naismith Award, the Adolph Rupp Trophy, and the Oscar Robertson Trophy. Fredette is a native of Glens Falls, New York.
James Taft Fredette was born in Glens Falls, New York to parents Al and Kay Fredette, as the youngest of three children. His mother wanted to call him something unique and nicknamed him "Jimmer".
From his early childhood, Jimmer showed unusual dedication to athletics. His older brother TJ recalled, "He was the most determined, competitive four-year-old I had ever seen." TJ helped Jimmer train for his basketball career since before kindergarten. He regularly played with TJ, seven years older, and TJ's friends on the family's backyard court. Fredette was able to hit three-pointers at age 5, and developed moves to get around his larger opponents. TJ also remembered that his brother "willed himself to find ways to win, even if he was physically outmatched. From the time he was 10, I was telling everybody he was going to make the NBA."

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Jody Conradt
Jody Conradt (born May 13, 1941) is a retired women's basketball coach. She was the head coach for the women's team at University of Texas at Austin (UT). Her coaching career spanned 38 years, with the last 31 years at UT from 1976 to 2007. She also served concurrently as the UT women's athletic director from 1992 to 2001. During her tenure at UT, she achieved several notable personal and team milestones in collegiate basketball. At retirement, she had tallied 900 career victories, second place in all time victories for a NCAA Division I basketball coach.
She was born in Goldthwaite, Texas, United States. She was a standout basketball player at Goldthwaite High School (Texas), where she averaged 40 points per game. After high school, she played collegiate basketball at Baylor University, earning a degree in physical education in 1963. She finished her collegiate basketball career averaging 20 points per game. After graduation, she taught and coached at Waco Midway High School and earned her master's degree from Baylor in 1969.

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Joe Dumars
Joe Dumars III (born May 24, 1963), nicknamed Joe D, is a retired American basketball player in the NBA, and currently the Detroit Pistons' President of Basketball Operations. At 6'3" (190 cm) Dumars could play either shooting guard or point guard on offense and was a highly effective defender. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Dumars and Isiah Thomas combined to form one of the best backcourts in NBA history. Initially a shooting guard, Dumars moved over to point guard following Thomas's retirement in 1994, sharing ball-handling duties with Grant Hill. Dumars was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Dumars was born in Shreveport, Louisiana. Dumars' mother, Ophelia, was a custodian at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches while his father, Joe (Big Joe), was a truck driver.
Dumars grew up in an athletic family, but, surprisingly, basketball was not his favorite sport as a child. Football was more popular in the region and all five of his brothers were defensive standouts at Natchitoches Central High School. His brother David later played professional football in the USFL. Dumars followed in his brothers’ footsteps playing defensive back on the football team until junior high school when a big hit on the field directed him toward basketball. Ever the supportive father, Big Joe built a hoop, made of an old bicycle wheel and half of a wooden door, in the Dumars' backyard where Little Joe spent hours practicing his jumper.

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Joe Fulks
Joseph Franklin "Jumping Joe" Fulks (October 26, 1921 - March 21, 1976) was an American professional basketball player, sometimes called "the first of the high-scoring forwards". He was one of the first players, albeit posthumously, enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978. The 63 points Fulks scored on February 10, 1949, was the most in an NBA game (then called the Basketball Association of America) until Elgin Baylor scored 64 points on November 8, 1959. Fulks' 63-point outburst came during a Warriors 108-87 victory over the Indianapolis Jets. Fulks made 27 of 56 field goal attempts and nine of 14 free throws. Along the way he shattered the record for most points in one half (33), field goals, and field goal attempts.
Fulks was born in Birmingham, Kentucky, a small town in the state's far-western Purchase region that was inundated in the 1940s after the Tennessee Valley Authority dammed the Tennessee River to create Kentucky Lake. He played college ball at Murray State University for two years before leaving school to join the Marines.

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Joe Jakubick
Joe Jakubick is a retired American basketball player and current high school basketball coach. Jakubick was an All-American player at the University of Akron and led the nation in scoring in the 1983–84 NCAA Division I men's basketball season.
Jakubick, a 6'5 guard, attended Madison High School, then signed with the nearby University of Akron. At Akron from 1980–84, Jakubick became one of the top scorers in the nation. He scored 2,583 points in his four-year career, and led the nation in scoring in his senior year, averaging 30.1 points per game. Jakubick was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year twice, in 1983 and 1984, and was an honorable mention All-American both years. He graduated as Akron's all-time leading scorer, a status he still holds, and left Akron holding most school scoring records.
After his college career was over, Jakubick was selected in the seventh round of the 1984 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, but never played in the NBA. He is currently head girls' basketball coach at St. Vincent – St. Mary High School.

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Joe Lapchick
Joseph Bohomiel Lapchick (b. April 12, 1900 in Yonkers, New York – d. August 10, 1970 in New York City) was a professional basketball player, mostly known for playing with the Original Celtics in the 1920s and 30s. He is commonly regarded as the best center of his era, overshadowed (if anything) in his later years only by Tarzan Cooper. After ending his playing career in 1937, Lapchick became head coach at St. John's University, a position he held until 1947, when he took over the New York Knicks in the NBA. Lapchick coached the Knicks until 1957, leading them to three consecutive NBA Finals appearances (1951–53). He returned to St. John's, coaching them until 1965.
From star player to successful coach to popular author to respected dignitary, Joe Lapchick played a variety of roles in his more than 50 years in the game of basketball. He was an eminently influential figure who helped nurture the sport from its crude beginnings into its modern form.
Lapchick picked up a basketball for the first time just two decades after the game was invented. Basketball became his life. As a star center with the Original Celtics and other barnstorming teams, a college coach at St. John’s, an NBA coach with the New York Knicks, and an ambassador of the sport, Lapchick cast a broad shadow across the game and its history.

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Joe Mullaney
Joseph A. Mullaney (November 17, 1925 – March 8, 2000) was a successful American basketball player and coach.
Mullaney was born on Long Island, New York. After graduating from Chaminade High School in Mineola he played college basketball at Holy Cross and with Bob Cousy was on the team that won the 1947 NCAA Championship. He played briefly for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association.
After college, Mullaney was with the FBI before returning to basketball as coach at Norwich University in Vermont.
Mullaney became head basketball coach at Providence College in 1955. He coached the Friars from that time until 1969. He returned to Providence as head coach in 1981 and remained there until 1985. Mullaney won 319 games in his 18 seasons at Providence, losing 164 for a career winning percentage there of .660. Mullaney won the 1961 and 1963 National Invitation Tournament championships at Providence. Mullaney also took the Friars to the NIT four other times and into the NCAA tournament three times. His assistant and protégé at Providence, Dave Gavitt, went on to be a successful coach of the Friars in his own right, taking them to the 1973 Final Four and eventually providing the catalyst to the founding of the Big East Conference.

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John Beckman
John Beckman (October 22, 1895 in New York, NY – June 22, 1968 in Miami, Florida) was an early professional basketball player.
During his 27 years lasting pro career (1914–41) he was known as the "Babe Ruth of basketball". He is mostly known for his time with the Original Celtics (1918/19, 1921–27, 1929).
He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1973.

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John Bunn
John W. Bunn (September 26, 1898 – August 13, 1979) was an American basketball coach and key contributor to the game of basketball. The Wellston, Ohio native played three seasons under coach Phog Allen at University of Kansas while earning his bachelors degree (1917–21). He later became an assistant to Allen for nine seasons (1921–30). In 1930 he became men's basketball head coach at Stanford University, where he coached college all-time great Hank Luisetti. After he left Stanford, Bunn went on to coach Springfield College (1946–56) and Colorado State College (now the University of Northern Colorado) (1956–63).
Bunn served as Chairman of the Basketball Hall of Fame form 1949 to 1963. On October 1, 1964, Bunn was inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor. For his contribution, the Basketball Hall of Fame annually presents an award in his name.

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John Castellani
John Castellani is a former professional basketball coach. He coached the Minneapolis Lakers during the 1959-1960 season. Prior to his short coaching stint with the Lakers, Castellani coached Seattle University from 1956 to 1958. With Elgin Baylor starring in his lineup, Castellani led the Chieftains to the 1958 NCAA Championship game only to lose 84-72 to legendary coach Adolph Rupp and his Kentucky Wildcats.
However, just a month after the championship game, NCAA violations came to light concerning airfare bought for recruits Ben Warley and George Finley. The result was that Castellani resigned under fire, Baylor left for the NBA, and Seattle was given a two-year postseason ban. Castellani returned to coaching for one year, again coaching Elgin Baylor as an assistant coach for the Lakers in the 1959–60 NBA season.
Currently, he is an attorney in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and can frequently be seen at Milwaukee Bucks and Marquette Golden Eagles basketball games.

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John Havlicek
John J. "Hondo" Havlicek (pronounced /ˈhævlɨtʃɛk/ HAV-lə-chek; born April 8, 1940 in Martins Ferry, Ohio) is a retired American professional basketball player who competed for 16 seasons with the Boston Celtics, winning eight NBA titles, half of them coming in his first four seasons.
In the NBA, only teammates Bill Russell and Sam Jones won more championships during their playing careers. Havlicek is considered one of the best NBA players in history, especially on defense, and was inducted as a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1984. He was a three sport star at Bridgeport High School in Bridgeport, Ohio and one of his boyhood friends was Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Phil Niekro. The Bridgeport High School Gymnasium was renamed the "John J Havlicek Gymnasium" in January 2007. He shares the honor with National High School Hall of Fame member Frank Baxter, a long time coach at Bridgeport High School. The court is named after Baxter.
One of the most famous play-by-play calls in NBA history came on April 15, 1965, when Celtics broadcaster Johnny Most exclaimed "Havlicek steals it! Havlicek stole the ball!" after Havlicek intercepted Hal Greer's inbound pass to clinch the Eastern Conference Championship against the Philadelphia 76ers.

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John Kundla
John Albert Kundla (born July 3, 1916 born in Star Junction, PA) is a former college and professional basketball coach.
After attending and playing baseketball for Minneapolis Central High School in Minneapolis (which closed in 1982), Kundla was a standout for the Minnesota Gophers basketball team in the late 1930s. Following graduation, he stayed on at the university as an assistant coach to Dave MacMillan. He would then move to the high school ranks as the head coach of DeLaSalle High School in Minneapolis, MN. After two years there, the United States entered World War II and Kundla joined the Navy, where he was assigned to LST units in both the European and Pacific theaters. After the war, he was hired to coach the College of St. Thomas.
Following the Tommies' 1946-47 season, the infant Minneapolis Lakers would extend an offer to Kundla to coach the team, then playing in the National Basketball League. However, Kundla turned the offer down as he was not impressed with the professional ranks. Team representatives returned, and this time the offer had been upped to $6,000 (twice his St. Thomas salary) and Kundla took the job.

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John McLendon
John B. McLendon, Jr. (April 15, 1915 – October 8, 1999) was a pioneering American basketball coach who is recognized as the first African American basketball coach at a predominantly white university. He was a major contributor to the development of modern basketball and coached on both the college and professional levels during his career. He is enshrined in both the Basketball Hall of Fame and the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Born in Hiawatha, Kansas, McLendon was part African American and part Delaware Indian. He soon became an all-around athlete who chose basketball as his favorite sport. He studied in the 1930s at the University of Kansas, where he learned the intricacies of basketball from the sport's inventor, Dr. James Naismith, who was the athletic director at the school. However, McLendon was not permitted to actually play college basketball, as the KU varsity team was segregated and would not suit up its first black player until 1951.
He went on to become a successful high school and college coach, at schools such as North Carolina College for Negroes, the Hampton Institute, Tennessee State A&I University, Kentucky State College and Cleveland State University. In his early years, his teams were restricted to playing only against other all-black teams. However, while coaching at North Carolina College, McLendon participated in "The Secret Game", a match against a team from Duke University, which was the first collegiate basketball contest where blacks and whites competed on the same floor. McLendon's teams were credited with increasing the pace of the game of basketball from the slow tempo of its early years to the faster tempo that prevails today.

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John Moir
John Moir (May 22, 1915 – November 15, 1975) was a professional basketball player between 1938 and 1946 in the United States' National Basketball League.
Moir was born in Rutherglen, Scotland, to parents John and Elizabeth Moir. His father was a carpenter by trade, and Moir also had two siblings. In 1923, their family immigrated to the United States and chose to live in Niagara Falls, New York. As a freshman at Niagara Falls High School, Moir stood only 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m) tall. When he graduated from NFHS he enrolled at Trott Vocational School, at which point he had finished growing to 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) and 184 lbs. It was at Trott where Moir first played basketball. When he finished his vocational education, Moir got a job at American Sales Book Company as their bookkeeper. He played on the company's industrial league basketball team, but it was actually his job performance that afforded him the opportunity to attend college.
Moir decided to enroll at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. Back then, NCAA rules prohibited freshmen from playing varsity sports, so it was not until Moir's sophomore year of 1935–36 that he was able to play basketball for coach George Keogan.

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John Nucatola
John Nucatola (b. 17 November 1907, New York City -9 May 2000, aged 92) was a professional basketball player, coach and referee. He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on 1 May 1978.
John Nucatola officiated some of the greatest games in the ECAC, Atlantic Coast, Southern and Big Eight Conferences, along with the NCAA and NIT tournaments. He also dabbled in the professional arenas of the American Basketball League, Basketball Association of America, and the NBA.
Nucatola was one of the original referees in the NBA when the league was organized as the BAA in 1946. Nucatola was one of the founding fathers of the College Basketball Officials Association and served as supervisor of officials for the Ivy League and the ECAC before being named the NBA Supervisor of Officials. In a life dedicated to the development of basketball and basketball officiating, Nucatola conducted more than 1,200 clinics worldwide, as well as authoring Officiating Basketball.
He was called basketball's "greatest official" by Hall of Famer Clair Bee. Nucatola believed the referee's most important duty was to make the right call rather than merely assert authority. He often urged officials to be willing to reconsider their calls, and was a strong advocate of the three-man officiating crew.

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John Roosma
John S. Roosma (September 3, 1900 – November 13, 1983) was an amateur basketball great during the 1920s. He played for the United States Military Academy for five years, graduating in 1926. The Passaic, New Jersey native was a prolific scorer and became the first college player to total 1,000 points for his career.
As a member of Ernest Blood's Passaic "Wonder Teams" Roosma gained almost legendary status already in high school on a team that won 179 consecutive games. Roosma captained the team and led them as scorer in three state tournaments (1919–21). After graduating from Passaic High School in 1921, General Douglas MacArthur recruited Roosma to play for the Army Black Knights. In five years the Roosma-lead Black Knights compiled a 73-13 record and won 33 consecutive games at one point. After a 74-game career, Roosma totaled 1,126 points, being the first college player to score more than 1,000 in his career (Christian Steinmetz held the record with 950 points, nevertheless he played only 40 games in three years overall). Roosma was inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1961. West Point's basketball Most Valuable Player award is named after him.

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John Schommer
John J. Schommer (January 29, 1884 – January 11, 1960) was an outstanding American multi-sport athlete in the 1900s. The Chicago, Illinois native was the first athlete in University of Chicago history to win 12 letters in American football, basketball, baseball and track. Schommer was a four-time All-American in basketball and led the Maroons to three straight Big Ten championships (1907–09). He was inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959.

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John Stockton
John Houston Stockton (born March 26, 1962) is a former American professional basketball player who spent his entire career as a point guard for the Utah Jazz of the NBA from 1984 to 2003. John Stockton is regarded as one of the best point guards of all time, holding the NBA records for most career assists and steals by considerable margins. Stockton is a former All-Star and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009.
Stockton was born in Spokane, Washington to Clementine Frei and Jack Stockton and had Irish and Swiss German ancestry. He attended grade school at St. Aloysius and moved on to high school at Gonzaga Prep, graduating in 1980. He then played college basketball for Gonzaga University in his hometown where he averaged 20.9 points per game while shooting 57% from the field in his senior year. His grandfather, Houston Stockton had also been a well known athlete at Gonzaga University. John Stockton was selected by the Utah Jazz with the 16th overall pick in the 1984 NBA Draft.

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John Wooden
John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood", he won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period—seven in a row—as head coach at UCLA, an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 consecutive games. He was named national coach of the year six times.
As a player, Wooden was the first to be named basketball All-American three times and he won a national championship at Purdue. Wooden was named a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player (inducted in 1961) and as a coach (in 1973), the first person ever enshrined in both categories. Only Lenny Wilkens and Bill Sharman have since had the same honor.
He was one of the most revered coaches and was beloved by his former players, among them Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton. Wooden was renowned for his short, simple inspirational messages to his players, including his "Pyramid of Success". These often were directed at how to be a success in life as well as in basketball.

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Johnny Jorgensen
John J. Jorgensen (December 28, 1921 – January 19, 1973) was an American professional basketball player.
A 6'2" guard/forward from DePaul University, Jorgensen played two seasons (1947–1949) in the Basketball Association of America as a member of the Chicago Stags, Baltimore Bullets, and Minneapolis Lakers. He averaged 2.3 points per game in his BAA career and won a championship with the Lakers in 1949. He also played in the National Basketball League.

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Johnny Neumann
Carl John Neumann (born September 11, 1951 in Memphis, Tennessee) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. At 6'6" and 200 pounds, he played the guard and forward positions.
Following a standout career at Overton High School in Memphis, Neumann took his game to the University of Mississippi, where he played from 1969 to 1971. During his sophomore season, he drew comparisons to Pete Maravich after averaging an NCAA-high 40.1 points per game. His strongest performances included a 63 point game against Louisiana State University and a 60 point game against Baylor University. Neumann earned All-America and SEC Men's Basketball Player of the Year honors at the end of the season.
After his sophomore season at Ole Miss, Neumann became the first player in basketball history to sign a hardship clause as he signed a five-year, $2 million contract with the Memphis Pros of the American Basketball Association. Neumann was later drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the 6th round of the 1973 NBA Draft.

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Julius Erving
Julius Winfield Erving II (born February 22, 1950), commonly known by the nickname Dr. J, is a retired American basketball player who helped launch a modern style of play that emphasizes leaping and play above the rim. Erving helped legitimize the American Basketball Association (ABA). He was the best known player in the ABA when the ABA-NBA merger joined it with the National Basketball Association (NBA) after the 1976 season.
Erving won three championships, four Most Valuable Player Awards, and three scoring titles while playing with the ABA's Virginia Squires and New York Nets, and the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. He is the fifth-highest scorer in professional basketball history, with 30,026 points (NBA and ABA combined). He was well known for slam dunking from the free throw line in Slam Dunk Contests and was the only player to have been voted Most Valuable Player in both the ABA and the NBA.
Erving was named to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time team and in 1993 was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2004, he was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame. Many consider him among the most spectacular basketballers ever, and one of the best dunkers of all time. While players such as Connie Hawkins, "Jumping" Johnny Green, Elgin Baylor, and Gus Johnson were performing spectacular dunks before Erving's time, "Dr. J" is usually the one most people credit with bringing the practice into the mainstream. His signature dunk was the "slam" dunk, since incorporated into the vernacular and basic skill set of the game, in the same manner as the "cross-over" dribble and the "no look" pass.

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Karl Malone
Karl Anthony Malone (born July 24, 1963), nicknamed "The Mailman," is a retired American professional basketball power forward. In his basketball career, Malone spent his first 18 seasons (1985–2003) with the Utah Jazz and formed a formidable duo with his teammate John Stockton. He played his final season (2003–04) with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Malone grew up in rural Summerfield, Louisiana and played college basketball at Louisiana Tech University. In his three seasons with Louisiana Tech, he helped the Bulldogs basketball team to its first-ever NCAA tournament in 1984 and to first place in the Southland Conference in 1985. The Jazz drafted Malone in 1985 with the 13th overall pick in the first round.
Having scored 36,298 points in his career, the second most career points in NBA history, and holding the record for most free throws both attempted and made, Malone is generally considered one of the greatest NBA power forwards. In 1997 and 1999, Malone won the NBA Most Valuable Player award. Malone appeared in the playoffs every season in his career, including three NBA Finals: in 1997 and 1998 with the Jazz and in 2004 with the Lakers. Internationally, Malone competed with the United States national team in the Summer Olympic games of 1992 and 1996; in both years he won gold medals. After retiring from the NBA, Malone joined the staff of the Louisiana Tech basketball team in 2007 and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.

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Kay Yow
Sandra Kay Yow (March 14, 1942 – January 24, 2009) was an American basketball coach. She was the head coach of the NC State Wolfpack women's basketball team from 1975 to 2009. A member of the Naismith Hall of Fame, she had more than 700 career wins. She also coached the U.S. women's basketball team to an Olympic gold medal in 1988 despite having been diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987. In April 2010, CollegeInsider.com created a new award called the Kay Yow National Coach of the Year Award in her honor. It will be presented annually to the women's college basketball head coach who displays great personal character on and off the court.
Yow received her Bachelor of Science degree in English from East Carolina University in 1964, she was a member of the Delta Zeta Sorority. After graduation she worked as English teacher, librarian and girls' basketball coach at Allen Jay High School in High Point, North Carolina. She then earned her Master's degree in Physical Education from the UNC-Greensboro in 1970 and then took the position of women's athletics coordinator and women's basketball coach at Elon College.

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Ken Loeffler
Kenneth D. Loeffler (April 14, 1902 – January 1, 1975) was an American collegiate and professional basketball coach. He was mostly known for guiding the La Salle University men's basketball team to the 1954 NCAA Championship and the 1952 National Invitation Tournament Championship.
After earning a Bachelor's degree at Pennsylvania State University (1920–24) and a short pro basketball career (1924–29), the Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania native began his collegiate coaching career at Geneva College (1928–34). In 1934 he became basketball head coach at Yale University, and also assistant coach to the football and baseball varsity. In seven years at Yale Loeffler put up a 61-82 record. During World War II he served in the U.S. Air Force.
After the war Loeffler began coaching pro teams in the Basketball Association of America. First the St. Louis Bombers (1946–48), then the Providence Steamrollers (1948–49). In 1949 he returned to the college ranks when he became head coach at La Salle. With players like future Hall of Fameer Tom Gola, Loeffler's La Salle teams went on to dominate college basketball over half a decade in the early 1950s. In six seasons at La Salle, Loeffler led the Explorers to a post-season appearance in every single season. Under Loeffler, La Salle made four trips to the NIT (before it was considered "second-rate") and two visits to the NCAA Tournament. In 1955 Loeffler moved on to become the head coach at Texas A&M College, a post he held until 1957.

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Ken Sailors
Kenneth L. Sailors (born January 14, 1921 in Bushnell, Nebraska) is an American former professional basketball player. A 5-foot-10-inch (1.78 m) guard, he is notable for popularizing the jump shot as an alternative to the two-handed, flat-footed set shot.
Sailors grew up on a farm south of Hillsdale, Wyoming, where he developed his effective jump shot while playing against his 6'4" older brother Bud. He eventually brought his skills to the University of Wyoming, and in 1943 he led the Cowboys to the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship. Sailors was named the NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player for his efforts. He was the unanimous selection as College Basketball Player of the Year in 1943. He would earn the honor again in 1946. Sailors was the only player in the history of Wyoming Cowboys basketball to be selected as an All-American three times. He earned the honors in 1942, 1943 and 1946.
From 1946 to 1951, Sailors played professionally in the BAA and NBA as a member of the Cleveland Rebels, Chicago Stags, Philadelphia Warriors, Providence Steamrollers, Denver Nuggets, Boston Celtics, and Baltimore Bullets. He scored 3,480 points in his professional career. Sailors was inducted into the University of Wyoming Athletics Hall of Fame on October 29, 1993. In 2012, Sailors was named to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

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Kent Benson
Michael Kent Benson (born December 27, 1954 in New Castle, Indiana) is a retired American collegiate and professional basketball player.
Kent Benson attended New Castle Chrysler High School, located in New Castle, Indiana, home of the New Castle Trojans. He was named Indiana's "Mr. Basketball" in 1973.
Kent attended Indiana University, located in Bloomington, Indiana, where he played college basketball for coach Bobby Knight. As a freshman, Benson averaged 9.3 points per game, while shooting 50.4 percent. He helped lead Indiana to the CCAT Championship, and onto a 23-5 record and a Big Ten title.
In his sophomore season, Kent Benson helped lead the Hoosiers to an undefeated conference record (18-0) and onto an Elite Eight appearance, where they lost their only game on the season to Kentucky. Helping lead the team to a 31-1 record on the season, he averaged 15 points and 8.9 rebounds a game.
With seniors Quinn Buckner and Scott May, he led Indiana to the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Championship in the 1975-76 season. That season, they were undefeated throughout the entire regular and post season. That team was the last Division I Men's Basketball team to accomplish that feat. He averaged 17.3 points and 8.8 rebounds a game on the season with his college season high of 57.8 percent from the field. He scored his career high of 38 points against Michigan State.

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Kenyon Martin
Kenyon Lee Martin (born December 30, 1977) is an American professional basketball player. Nicknamed "K-Mart", he plays for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He previously played for the New Jersey Nets and the Denver Nuggets of the NBA, and the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of China. He is 6'9" and 240 lbs, and was the first overall pick of the 2000 NBA Draft.
Martin played for the Cincinnati Bearcats under the direction of Bob Huggins. As a senior, he averaged 18.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game. He was the consensus National Player of the Year, earning numerous awards from various organizations, but suffered a broken leg in the Conference USA Tournament, keeping him out of the NCAA Tournament that year. Cincinnati retired his #4 jersey on April 25, 2000. Later that year, he was selected first overall in the 2000 NBA Draft by the New Jersey Nets. Martin is currently the last American-born college senior to have been the top overall pick; the top picks since him consist of three high school players (Kwame Brown, LeBron James and Dwight Howard), one international player with two years of U.S. college experience (Andrew Bogut), two international players with no American college experience (Yao Ming and Andrea Bargnani), four college freshmen (John Wall, Greg Oden, Derrick Rose and Kyrie Irving) and a college sophomore (Blake Griffin).

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Kermit Washington
Kermit Alan Washington (born September 17, 1951 in Washington, D.C.) is an American former professional basketball player. Washington is best remembered for punching opposing player Rudy Tomjanovich during an on-court fight in 1977. The punch nearly killed Tomjanovich, and it resulted in severe medical problems that ultimately ended his playing career. During his pro years and after his retirement, Washington has struggled with the negative perception of him that resulted from the punch.
Washington was not a highly coveted player coming out of high school and barely got into college on an athletic scholarship. He averaged a mere four points per game (ppg) during his senior season of high school. He improved rapidly once at American University, and became one of only seven players in NCAA history to average 20 points and 20 rebounds throughout the course of their career.
A big defensive forward, Washington was known for his ability to gather rebounds. He averaged 9.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game in ten National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons and played in the All-Star Game once. Washington was drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers with the fifth overall pick in the 1973 NBA Draft. He played sparingly his first three seasons, and sought the help of retired basketball coach Pete Newell before his fourth season. Under Newell's tutelage, Washington's game rapidly improved and he became a starter for several teams. He played for the Lakers, Boston Celtics, San Diego Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors.

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Kevin Bradshaw
Kevin Bradshaw (born February 13, 1965 in Gainesville, Florida) is a retired American professional basketball player and current collegiate basketball coach. He is best known as the NCAA record-holder for most points in a single game against a Division I opponent.
Kevin Bradshaw, a 6'6" guard, played high school basketball at Buchholz High School in Gainesville, Florida. Playing alongside future NBA player Vernon Maxwell, Bradshaw averaged 30.6 points per game as a senior in 1983 and was named first team All-State.
Bradshaw turned down his hometown Florida Gators, instead opting to play for the smaller Bethune-Cookman University. After his sophomore season, he left the school and joined the Navy. After being stationed on a submarine tender near San Diego, Bradshaw began playing with the All-Navy team. He would go on to travel the country playing with the Navy All Stars and later the All-Armed Forces team, alongside future NBA star David Robinson. After getting permission from the Navy to once again pursue his education, Bradshaw was recruited by Gary Zarecky, head coach of the Gulls of U.S. International University, who saw a great fit for his team's fast-paced style of play. It was the perfect match of player and system, as Kevin Bradshaw went on to lead the NCAA in scoring as a senior in 1990-91 at 37.6 points per game.

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Kevin Durant
Kevin Wayne Durant (born September 29, 1988) is an American professional basketball forward with the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A 6'9" small forward, Durant was the consensus 2007 National College Player of the Year and the 2006–2007 Big 12 Player of the Year, amongst other awards. After a standout freshman season at the University of Texas, Durant opted to enter the NBA Draft, where he was selected second overall by the Seattle SuperSonics. There he went on to win the NBA Rookie of the Year Award after his debut season. In 2007, Durant signed an endorsement contract with Nike. In the 2009–10 season Durant led the NBA in scoring and became the youngest player ever to win the NBA scoring title. He would later be named to the 2010 All NBA First Team.

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Kevin Garnett
Kevin Maurice Garnett (born May 19, 1976) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays power forward for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). In high school, Garnett was a 1995 McDonald's All-American at Farragut Career Academy and won a national player of the year award. Garnett entered the 1995 NBA Draft, where he was selected with the 5th overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves and became the first NBA player drafted directly out of high school in 20 years.
Garnett made an immediate impact with the Minnesota Timberwolves leading them to eight-consecutive playoff appearances. In 2004, Garnett led the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals and was voted Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the 2003–04 season. Since his second season in the NBA, Garnett has been named to 14 All-Star Games, winning the All-Star MVP award in 2003, and is currently tied for 3rd-most All-Star selections in NBA history. He was awarded the regular season's NBA Defensive Player of the Year in the 2007–08 season and has been a nine-time member of the All-NBA Teams selection and a twelve-time member of the All-Defensive Teams selection. Garnett currently holds several all-time Timberwolves franchise records.

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Kevin Granger
Kevin Granger is a retired American expatriate professional basketball player who is best known for leading NCAA Division I in scoring with a 27.0 points per game average in 1995–96.
Granger grew up in Scooba, Mississippi and attended Kemper County High School (KCHS). He earned First Team All-District, First Team All-State and All-America honors after leading KCHS to the 3-A State Championship. Granger then attended Texas Southern University and became a four-year starter on the varsity basketball team while playing the point guard position. By the time he graduated in 1996 he had established himself as one of the school's all-time leaders in points, assists (467) and steals (146). Granger was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, 1994 SWAC Tournament MVP, and was a two-time First Team All-SWAC and Black College All-American selection.
He did not get selected in the 1996 NBA Draft, so Granger took his game overseas. In three professional seasons, he played in Cyprus, Argentina and Italy. Upon returning to the United States, Granger became a high school basketball coach and special education teacher at Worthing High School in Houston, Texas. He left the school to become an assistant coach at his alma mater with the promise of becoming the new head coach once interim coach Robert Moreland resigned. Granger and TSU had entered a gentleman's agreement, but once TSU's old athletic director was fired by the school president, John Rudley, he was never given the chance to become the head coach. He filed a lawsuit in response. Granger married his college sweetheart, Tracy, who was also a Texas Southern cheerleader, and they have one child together, Kevin Granger, Jr.

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Kevin Houston
Kevin Houston (born c. 1964) is a former American basketball player who is best known for leading NCAA Division I in scoring during his senior season at Army in 1986–87. He averaged 32.9 points per game in 29 games played and set still-standing school records for points in a single game (53) and season (953).
Houston was raised in Pearl River, New York and was a three-year starter on the varsity basketball team at Pearl River High School. He was a diminutive 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m), 165 lbs. in his prime during college, so as a high school player was even smaller. His small stature played a big role in why he was overlooked by college scouts.
Houston decided to attended the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School in New Jersey for one year after high school. The United States Military Academy (Army), located in his home state of New York, was the only university that had shown Houston any interest during his basketball recruitment. He enrolled at Army in the fall of 1983 to play for the Black Knights. During his four year career, Houston started every single one of the 113 games he played in, which ties him for the most all-time games played in Army history. By the time he graduated from the Academy in 1987, he had re-written the school's record book. Houston scored still-standing program records for points in a game (53), season (953), career (2,325), and season points per game (32.9) among others. He was the first ever Army player to be named the Haggerty Award winner, an honor that he shared as a senior with St. John's Mark Jackson, which is given to the best men's basketball player in the greater New York City metropolitan area. Houston was also the 1986–87 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year and the NCAA season scoring champion. He was a three-time All-MAAC honoree, two-time honorable mention All-American and one-time third team All-American.

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Kevin Love
Kevin Wesley Love (born September 7, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The two-time All-Star is one of the top rebounders in the NBA, and he holds the longest streak for consecutive games recording double figures in points and rebounds since the merger between the American Basketball Association (ABA) and the NBA. The Associated Press called Love the new face of the Timberwolves franchise. He is also known for his outlet passing, which led to comparisons to Wes Unseld.
A top ranked prospect out of Lake Oswego High School in Oregon, Love played one season of college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and led the team to a Final Four appearance in the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Love was named the Pac-10 Conference Player of the Year and consensus First Team All-American following the season. Love chose not to complete his three remaining years of college eligibility and entered the 2008 NBA Draft. He was taken fifth overall by the Memphis Grizzlies, and was traded to the Timberwolves on draft night for the third overall selection, O. J. Mayo, in an eight-player deal. Love was a member of the gold medal-winning United States men's national basketball team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship.

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Keydren Clark
Keydren "Kee-Kee" Clark (born October 8, 1984 in Alabama, USA) is an American professional basketball player. He is 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) in height and he plays at the point guard position. He is currently playing for Team Umana Reyer in Venice, Italy.
Clark was one of the most prolific scorers in NCAA Division I history, amassing 3,058 points and averaging 25.9 points per game for his career. Not heavily recruited from a Rice High School team in New York City that featured four Division I-bound seniors, Clark became one of the shortest players ever to lead the Division I in scoring at 5 ft 11 (1.80 m), doing so twice and finishing in the top five his senior year.
A guard at Saint Peter's College from 2002 to 2006, Clark scored 435 three-pointers in his college career, briefly holding the record for the most three-point shots made in NCAA history during the end of his senior season. Clark finished as the career leader at the end of the 2006 MAAC tournament, but was soon passed by J. J. Redick, who now holds the NCAA record for three point field goals made with 457.

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Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant (born August 23, 1978) is an American professional basketball player who plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Bryant enjoyed a successful high school basketball career at Lower Merion High School, where he was recognized as the top high school basketball player in the country. He decided to declare his eligibility for the NBA Draft upon graduation, and was selected with the 13th overall pick in the 1996 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets, then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. As a rookie, Bryant earned himself a reputation as a high-flyer and a fan favorite by winning the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest.
Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three consecutive NBA championships from 2000 to 2002. A heated feud between the duo and a loss in the 2004 NBA Finals was followed by O'Neal's trade from the Lakers after the 2003–04 season. Following O'Neal's departure Bryant became the cornerstone of the Los Angeles Lakers franchise. He led the NBA in scoring during the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons, setting numerous scoring records in the process. In 2006, Bryant scored a career-high 81 points against the Toronto Raptors, the second most points scored in a single game in NBA history, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962. He was awarded the regular season's Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) in 2008. After losing in the 2008 NBA Finals, Bryant led the Lakers to two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010, earning the NBA Finals MVP Award on both occasions.

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Krešimir Ćosić
Krešimir Ćosić (November 26, 1948 – May 25, 1995) was a Croatian professional basketball player who represented Yugoslavia internationally, a member of FIBA Hall of Fame and Basketball Hall of Fame. He was also a notable church leader and missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as the deputy ambassador of Croatia to the U.S. in Washington, D.C.
He was born in Zagreb and raised in Zadar, where he started his basketball career in 1965, playing for KK Zadar. He came to the United States to play college basketball at Brigham Young University from 1971 to 1973. In April 1972 at the 1972 NBA Draft he was picked by Portland Trail Blazers as the number 1 pick in the 10th round (144th overall). The following year at the 1973 NBA Draft he was picked by Los Angeles Lakers as the pick number 15 in the 5th round (84th overall). He was the first foreign player to earn All-American honors from the United Press International, garnering them in 1972 and 1973. After his college career, he rejected several professional offers and returned home to Yugoslavia.

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Kurt Rambis
Darrell Kurt Rambis (born February 25, 1958) is a retired American professional basketball player and former head coach for the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves.
Rambis was born in Terre Haute, Indiana. His family moved to Cupertino, California in his preschool years; his number is retired at Cupertino High School. He graduated from Santa Clara University, where he played from 1976 to 1980, becoming its second leading rebounder and all-time leading scorer with 1,736 points. During his Santa Clara years he was awarded the WCC Freshman of the Year and Conference Player of the Year as a senior. His jersey #34 was retired on December 29, 2008.
Rambis was drafted by the New York Knicks as the 58th pick in the 1980 NBA Draft, but he was subsequently waived by the Knicks before playing in Greece, where he also holds citizenship. There he joined the Greek League club AEK Athens, under the name Kyriakos Rambidis, and he won the Greek Cup in 1981.
He was re-signed by the Knicks in 1981 but never played a game for them. His success as an NBA player started when he was signed as a free agent by the Los Angeles Lakers in 1981. Rambis spent most of his 14 seasons in the NBA with the Lakers, winning championships in 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988. Rambis also played for the Charlotte Hornets, Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings before returning to the Lakers in 1993.

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Larry Bird
Larry Joe Bird (born December 7, 1956) is a former American NBA basketball player and coach. Drafted into the NBA sixth overall by the Boston Celtics in 1978, Bird started at small forward and power forward for thirteen seasons, spearheading one of the NBA's most formidable frontcourts that included center Robert Parish and forward Kevin McHale. Due to chronic back problems, he retired as a player in 1992. Bird was voted to the NBA's 50th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1996 and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1998. He served as head coach of the Indiana Pacers from 1997 to 2000. In 2003, he assumed the role of president of basketball operations for the Pacers, which he currently holds. He is the only person in NBA history to be named Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year.
Larry Bird was born in West Baden, Indiana, the son of Georgia (née Kerns) and Claude Joseph "Joe" Bird. He grew up in both West Baden and the adjacent town French Lick, which earned him the nickname "the Hick from French Lick" in his professional basketball career. Bird recalled how his mother would make do on the family's meager earnings: "If there was a payment to the bank due, and we needed shoes, she'd get the shoes, and then deal with them guys at the bank. I don't mean she wouldn't pay the bank, but the children always came first." According to Bird, his being poor as a child "motivates me to this day". He sometimes was sent to live with his grandmother due to the family's struggles. The Bird family's struggle with poverty was compounded by the alcoholism and personal difficulties of Joe Bird, who likely suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from serving in the Korean War. Joe Bird committed suicide on February 3, 1975, when Larry was 18 years old.

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Larry Fogle
Larry Fogle (born March 19, 1953) is a retired American basketball player. He was an ABA and NBA draft pick. He played in two games for the New York Knicks during 1975-1976 before playing for the CBA and starring on the team that won the league championship in the 1977-78 season.
Fogle, born in Brooklyn, New York, played basketball at Cooley High School in Detroit, Michigan. In February 1972, Fogle established a city league single-game scoring record of 73 points (versus Cody High); at seasons end, Larry Fogle was named Michigan High School Player of the Year by the Detroit News. Upon graduating from Cooley, Fogle played collegiate basketball for the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) and Canisius College.
A 6' 5" (1.96 m) and 205 lb (93 kg) guard, Fogle was selected as an underclassman in the 1974 ABA draft in the eighth round by the Denver Nuggets after leading the NCAA in individual scoring, averaging 33.4 points per game and 14 rebounds per game in the 1973-74 season. That year Fogle was named an All-American by the United States Basketball Writers Association and the National Association of Basketball Coaches named him a third team All-American. Fogle opted to stay in college and the following year he was drafted in the second round of the 1975 NBA Draft by the New York Knicks and in the fifth round of the 1975 ABA Draft by the Spirits of St. Louis.

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Larry Mikan
George Lawrence Mikan III (born April 8, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player.
The son of Hall of Famer George Mikan and nephew of Ed Mikan, Larry Mikan prepped at Benilde High School (now Benilde-St. Margaret's) where he played center. In college he competed for the University of Minnesota in the late 1960s and early 1970s. After graduating, he played one season with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association. He averaged 3.0 points and 2.6 rebounds in 53 games.

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Lauren Gale
Lauren "Laddie" Gale (April 22, 1917—July 29, 1996) was an American collegiate and professional basketball player.
A native of Oakridge, Oregon, the 6'4" Gale played forward for the University of Oregon under head coach Howard Hobson. He was the second-tallest player (behind 6'8" Urgel "Slim" Wintermute) on the team, which was dubbed "The Tall Firs."
Gale led the Ducks in scoring in 1938 and 1939, earning all-Pacific Coast Conference honors in each season. In 1939, Gale led the Ducks to a national championship in the first-ever Division I men's basketball tournament.
After graduation, Gale played professionally in 1939 and 1940 for the Detroit Eagles of the National Basketball League. He left the Eagles in to serve in World War II, reportedly after being the first Oregon draftee selected by lottery. After the war, he played on several semi-pro teams and retired from basketball in 1949.
He died in Gold Beach, Oregon on July 29, 1996.
For his stellar collegiate play, for being the first college player regularly to employ a one-handed shot, and for helping to popularize the sport of basketball in the American West, Gale was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977 and was an inaugural inductee of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1980. He is also a member of the University of Oregon Hall of Fame.

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Lawrence Fleisher
Lawrence "Larry" Fleisher (September 26, 1930, Bronx, New York, US — May 4, 1989) was an American attorney and sports agent.
Fleisher, a 1953 graduate of Harvard Law School, at the request of professional basketball player Tom Heinsohn, helped found the National Basketball Association Players’ Association, of which he would serve as president from 1962 to 1968, during which time pensions, minimum salaries, and disability pay were secured for the membership.
For 19 additional years, Fleisher would continue to serve, without salary, as general counsel for the Players’ Association, notably arguing before Congress and the National Labor Relations Board to gain players the right of free agency, which right was eventually won in 1976.
Having guided players to the American Basketball Association in the late 1960s, Fleisher later helped broker the merger between the ABA and NBA and worked to set up relationships between the NBA and professional leagues in Europe and South America; he would represent little-known foreign players as well as established American stars, including Bill Bradley, John Havlicek, Bob Lanier, Willis Reed, and Jerry West, and, in an effort to promote basketball globally, would lead his clients on playing tours to Europe, South America, and Asia.

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Lawrence Tanter
Lawrence Tanter is an American public address announcer best known for his work for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association. In addition to his duties with the Lakers, Tanter is also the program director for public jazz radio station KKJZ.
Tanter began working as the Lakers' public address announcer at the start of the NBA's 1981-82 season and has been a fixture at Laker home games ever since. He is the longest tenured Lakers PA announcer ever. During his tenure behind the microphones of both The Forum and the Staples Center, Tanter has seen the Lakers win 15 NBA Western Conference titles and 9 NBA Championships. In addition, he has seen the Lakers miss the NBA Playoffs only twice (1994 & 2005) during his time as the team's PA announcer.
When World Wrestling Entertainment fought with the Denver Nuggets over an arena booking for a playoff game in 2009, Tanter was recruited as guest ring announcer for the main event of a newly relocated Raw at Staples Center. In the match, five heel (villain) wrestlers in Denver Nuggets jerseys competed against five face (good guy) wrestlers in Lakers garb, and the Lakers team won. Soon afterward, the Lakers eliminated the Nuggets in the 2009 Western Conference Finals 4-2. They then went on to defeat the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals and capture another NBA title.

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LeBron James
LeBron Raymone James (/ləˈbrɒn/; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he was a three-time "Mr. Basketball" of Ohio in high school, and was highly promoted in the national media as a future NBA superstar while a sophomore at St. Vincent – St. Mary High School. He was selected with the number one pick in the 2003 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Listed as a small forward, James has set numerous youngest player records since joining the league. He was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2003–04, was named the NBA Most Valuable Player in 2009, 2010, and 2012 and has been both an All-NBA selection and an All-Star every season since 2005. In 2010, a much-publicized free agency process ended with James signing with the Miami Heat.
James led the Cleveland Cavaliers to consecutive playoff appearances from 2006 through 2010. In 2007, the Cavaliers advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history, but lost to the San Antonio Spurs. In 2011, James and the Miami Heat advanced to the NBA Finals but lost to the Dallas Mavericks. James has been a member of the USA national team, winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Olympics and gold at the 2008 Olympics.

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Lennie Rosenbluth
Leonard Robert "Lennie" Rosenbluth (born January 22, 1933, in New York City, United States) is an American former basketball player.
Rosenbluth attended Staunton Military Academy in Staunton, Virginia. In 1957 he led the University of North Carolina Tar Heels to a 32–0 record. At 6’ 5” Rosenbluth averaged 27.9 points and 8.6 rebounds per game during the regular season. The Helms Hall of Fame named him “Collegiate Player of the Year,” over Kansas's Wilt Chamberlain. This was North Carolina's first NCAA national championship, and it brought credibility to the Atlantic Coast Conference. He was named the ACC Male Athlete of the Year in 1957.
His first year of varsity basketball in 1955, he was the leading scorer of the Tar Heels. He was named third team All-America, averaging 25.5 ppg and 11.7 rebounds. In 1956 he also achieved All-America honors, but this time they were split between various first and second team selections. He again led the Tar Heels in scoring with a 26.7 average.
In Rosenbluth’s senior season his Tar Heels defeated Chamberlain’s Kansas Jayhawks 54–53 in triple overtime for the NCAA championship. The UNC forward scored 20 points in the championship final, was the tournament’s overall top scorer, 28.0 ppg, and was named to the All-Tournament Team. North Carolina had defeated Michigan State 74-70 the previous night also in a triple overtime game.

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Lenny Sachs
Leonard David Sachs (August 7, 1897 - October 27, 1942) was an American basketball and football coach and player. In 1961, he was posthumously enshrined as a coach in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
He was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 7, 1897. Sachs attended Carl Schurz High School in Chicago, Illinois, where he earned 11 varsity letters before his graduation in 1914. Upon graduation from high school, Sachs joined the US Navy during World War I, where he continued playing sports, earning an All-Service team honorable mention in football in 1918 while playing on the Cleveland Naval Reserves football team.
After the war, Sachs enrolled at Chicago's American College of Physical Education (which later merged with DePaul University) and graduated in 1923. While at college, Sachs played for the Chicago Cardinals in the National Football League from 1920 to 1922.
Sachs was hired as basketball coach in 1923 at Loyola University Chicago, even while continuing his NFL career. From 1923 to 1926 Sachs played for the Milwaukee Badgers, Hammond Pros, and Louisville Colonels, ending his career as a player-coach for the 1926 Louisville Colonels, a road-only team based in Chicago. Sachs was also an assistant football coach at Loyola on the staff of head coach Roger Kiley.

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Lenny Wilkens
Leonard Randolph "Lenny" Wilkens (born October 28, 1937, in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.) is a retired American basketball player and coach in the NBA. He has been inducted three times into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, first in 1989 as a player, as a coach in 1998, and as part of the US Olympic "The Dream Team" for whom he was an assistant coach.
He is only three victories behind Don Nelson for most career regular season wins as an NBA coach, with 1332, but he has five more playoff wins than Nelson.
Wilkens grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. His father was African American and his mother was Irish. Wilkens was raised in the Roman Catholic faith.
At Boys High School, Wilkens was a basketball teammate of longtime Major League Baseball star Tommy Davis.
Wilkens was a two-time All-American (1959 and 1960) at Providence College. He led the team to their first NIT appearance in 1959, and to the NIT finals in 1960. When he graduated, Wilkens was, with 1,193 points, the second-ranked scorer in Friar history (he has since dropped to twentieth as of 2005). In 1996, Wilkens' No. 14 jersey was retired by the college, the first alumnus to receive such an honor.

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Leo Klier
Leo Anthony "Crystal" Klier (May 21, 1923 – June 4, 2005) was an American collegiate and professional basketball player.
Klier, a 6'2 guard/forward, played collegiately at Notre Dame after a standout high school career at Washington High School in Washington, Indiana. He played for the Fighting Irish from 1942-1946. Klier was named a consensus first-team All-American in 1944 as he notched Notre Dame's single-season scoring record (since broken). However, Klier missed the 1944-45 season as he served in the United States Navy during World War II. Klier returned and was again named a consensus first-team All-American in 1946.
He was elected to the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977 and was selected to the Notre Dame All-Century basketball team in 2004.
Following his collegiate career, Klier played Indianapolis Kautskys of the National Basketball League from 1946–48. During the 1948-49 and 1949-50 seasons, Klier played in 113 games for the Fort Wayne Pistons, averaging 7.4 points per game. He then finished his career with the Anderson Packers for the 1950–51 season.

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Leon Barmore
Leon Barmore (born June 3, 1944, in Ruston, Louisiana, United States) is a college women's basketball coach. He coached at Louisiana Tech University from 1982 to 2002, serving the first three years as co-head coach with Sonja Hogg, who had begun the program in 1974 at the invitation of university president F. Jay Taylor. Upon his retirement, Barmore's .869 winning percentage was the best in major-college basketball history (both men's and women's).
Barmore was born June 3, 1944 to Jasper Barmore and Flora McCurry. He earned All-State honors as a basketball player at Ruston High School. He went on to play basketball at Louisiana Tech and earned Gulf States All-Conference honors.
After a stint as head men's coach at Ruston High, Barmore joined the Louisiana Tech staff in 1977, nominally as Hogg's top assistant. In truth, Barmore handled nearly all game strategy. He was named associate head coach in 1980 and co-head coach in 1982. He took over the reins full-time in 1985, when Hogg left Ruston.

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Leroy Edwards
Leroy Edwards (April 11, 1914 – August 25, 1971), nicknamed "Cowboy" and "Lefty", was one of the greatest basketball players of his era. He was an NCAA All-American at the University of Kentucky and also one of the most lauded professional players in the United States' National Basketball League's history.
Edwards was a 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) center who starred at Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis, Indiana. Back then, he was known as the "East Side Terror", and it was between his sophomore and junior years that he learned how to do a hook shot after watching a barn-storming basketball team perform the feat. He played for the varsity team in 1930–31, 1931–32 and 1932–33, leading the team in scoring his final two seasons while also helping to win the Indianapolis City Crown all three of his varsity seasons. Edwards was an all-state player who twice led the North Central Conference in scoring and also led Arsenal to the state quarterfinals as a junior in an era when there were no divisional breakdowns based on school enrollment. In his senior season of 1932–33, Arsenal Tech lost in the sectional final against Shortridge High School, a team they had beaten twice during the regular season, but still finished the year with a 22–3 record.

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Lester Harrison
Lester "Les" Harrison (August 20, 1904 – December 23, 1997) was an American professional basketball player, coach, and team owner and is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Upon his graduation from East High School in Rochester, New York, in 1923, Harrison began playing, coaching, and organizing semi-professional basketball, working for the Rochester Seagrams and later the Rochester Ebers.
In 1945, with his brother Joseph (Jack), Harrison founded his own semi-pro team, the Rochester Pros; in 1946, the franchise changed its name to Royals and began play in the National Basketball League (NBL). Harrison coached the NBL iteration of his team for three years, leading the Royals to three straight NBL finals (of which the team won one, over the Sheboygan Red Skins in 1946) and amassing a record of 99 wins and 43 losses. In 1946, Harrison, as team owner, signed Long Island University standout Dolly King; King became the first African-American to have played in the league since 1943 and the first to see substantial playing time for his team.

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Lew Hitch
Lewis Rufus Hitch (July 16, 1929 – February 8, 2012) was an American professional basketball player. He was born in Griggsville, Illinois.
A 6'8" forward/center from Kansas State University, Hitch played six seasons (1951–1957) in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Minneapolis Lakers, Milwaukee Hawks, and Philadelphia Warriors. He averaged 5.0 points per game in his career and won two championships with the Lakers.
He died on February 8, 2012 after an extended illness.

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Lloyd Leith
Lloyd R. Leith (December 7, 1902 – September 30, 1974) was an American basketball referee and high school coach. The San Francisco, California native officiated 16 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships between 1939 and 1955. He also served as head coach at Balboa High School (1931–36), George Washington High School (1936–42) and Mission High School (1945–72).

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Lou Carnesecca
Luigi P. "Lou" Carnesecca (born January 5, 1925 in New York City) is a retired American college basketball coach at St. John's University. He coached the men's basketball program to 526 wins and 200 losses over 24 seasons (1965–70, 1973–92). The colorful "Looie" (as he was popularly known by fans and by the media) reached the post-season in every season he coached the team, including a Final Four appearance in 1985. He was selected as the National Coach of the Year in 1983 and 1985 by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association.
Carnesecca is widely known for his sense of humor and his signature sweaters. In November 2004, St. John's University officially dedicated and renamed the historic Alumni Hall to Carnesecca Arena.
Carnesecca graduated from St. John's in 1950. He also coached his high school alma mater, St. Ann's (now academic and athletic powerhouse Archbishop Molloy High School), where he was succeeded by Jack Curran. Carnesecca also coached the New York Nets of the defunct American Basketball Association, now the NBA's New Jersey Nets, in the early 1970s, when they were playing in Island Garden in West Hempstead, New York.

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Louis Wilke
Louis G. Wilke (October 10, 1896 in Chicago, Illinois, USA – February 28, 1962) was an American basketball coach and administrator. After coaching basketball on a high school level, he became the coach for Phillips University in 1928. He also coached the AAU Phillips 66ers from 1929 to 1931 to a 98-8 record. After his coaching career he served as a chairman of the AAU Basketball Committee for seven terms and was an executive board member of the US Olympic Committee from 1956 to 1960. He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1983.

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Lusia Harris
Lusia "Lucy" Harris-Stewart (born Lusia Harris; February 10, 1955) is a former American basketball player. Harris is considered to be one of the pioneers of women's basketball. She played for Delta State University and won three consecutive Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) National Championships, the predecessors to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) championships, from 1975 to 1977. In international level, she represented the United States' national team and won the silver medal in the 1976 Olympic Games, the first ever women's basketball tournament in the Olympic Games. She played professional basketball with the Houston Angels of the Women's Professional Basketball League (WBL) and was the first and only woman ever officially drafted by the National Basketball Association (NBA), a men's professional basketball league. For her achievements, Harris has been inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

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Lute Olson
Robert Luther "Lute" Olson (born September 22, 1934) is a retired American men's basketball coach. He was most recently head coach at the University of Arizona for a period of 25 years. He was also head coach at the University of Iowa for 9 years and California State University, Long Beach for one season. Olson was known for player development, and many of his former players have gone on to impressive careers in the NBA after having played under him. On October 23, 2008 Olson announced his retirement from coaching. Most recently, he was initiated into the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity by the Gamma Delta chapter at the University of Arizona in 2012.
Olson was born in Mayville, North Dakota of Norwegian-American parentage, and is a graduate of Augsburg College in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Prior to his tenure with the Arizona Wildcats, Olson coached the University of Iowa and Long Beach State basketball teams, Long Beach City College four years, after having coached high school teams in Mahnomen and Two Harbors, Minnesota, and Anaheim and Huntington Beach, California.

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Lynette Woodard
Lynette Woodard (born August 12, 1959 in Wichita, Kansas) is a retired American basketball player who made history by becoming the first female member of the Harlem Globetrotters and who tasted success abroad before finally reaching, at age 38, her dream of playing in an American women's professional basketball league.
While at Wichita North High School, Woodard won two state basketball titles.
Woodard went on to play college basketball with the University of Kansas (KU) in 1978, playing there until 1981. She was a four-time All-American at KU, and she averaged 26 points per game and scored 3,649 points in total during her four years there, and was the first KU woman to be honored by having her jersey retired. She is major college basketball's career women's scoring leader.
In 1981, she was signed by an Italian team, UFO Schio (Vicenza), to participate in their league.
In 1984, she was a member of the United States' women's basketball team that won the gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympic Games.

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Magic Johnson
Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is a retired American professional basketball player who played point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After winning championships in high school and college, Johnson was selected first overall in the 1979 NBA Draft by the Lakers. He won a championship and an NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his rookie season, and won four more championships with the Lakers during the 1980s. Johnson retired abruptly in 1991 after announcing that he had contracted HIV, but returned to play in the 1992 All-Star Game, winning the All-Star MVP Award. After protests from his fellow players, he retired again for four years, but returned in 1996, at age 36, to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time.
Johnson's career achievements include three NBA MVP Awards, nine NBA Finals appearances, twelve All-Star games, and ten All-NBA First and Second Team nominations. He led the league in regular-season assists four times, and is the NBA's all-time leader in average assists per game, at 11.2. Johnson was a member of the "Dream Team", the U.S. basketball team that won the Olympic gold medal in 1992.

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Marcus Camby
Marcus D. Camby (born March 22, 1974 in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American professional basketball center with the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was named Defensive Player of the Year during the 2006–07 NBA season, leading the league in blocked shots per game. Camby is also a four-time member of the NBA all-defensive team.
Camby, a native of Connecticut, began his high school career at Conard High School in West Hartford. He transferred to Hartford Public High School where he finished his high school education. In his senior season, Camby averaged 27 points, 11 rebounds, 8 blocks and 8 assists, en route to a 27-0 record and state title. He was named Gatorade's Connecticut Player of the Year.
Camby played three seasons for the UMass Minutemen. He is second all-time in total blocked shots (336) at UMass and the fourth-ever college player to have at least 300 total career blocked shots. He had an NCAA freshman record 105 total rejections during his first year at UMass, and was named the Atlantic 10's Freshman of the Year. Camby was named to the A-10's First Team during his sophomore season in 1994-95, as the Minutemen reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

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Mark Aguirre
Mark Anthony Aguirre (born December 10, 1959 in Chicago, Illinois) is a retired American basketball player in the National Basketball Association. Aguirre played from 1981–1994 and won two championships with the Detroit Pistons after being sent to Detroit from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Adrian Dantley. Aguirre was a three-time All-Star for Dallas.
While playing at DePaul University, he averaged 24.5 points over three seasons with the Blue Demons, and in 1981 was The Sporting News College Player of the Year. He also was the USBWA College Player of the Year and James Naismith Award winner in 1980, and a 2 time member of The Sporting News' All-America first team. As a freshman in 1978–1979, he led the Demons to the Final Four, where they lost to Indiana State, led by future NBA Hall of Famer Larry Bird.
The Chicago native played on the same DePaul team as future NBA star Terry Cummings and found himself in the national spotlight during his three years at the university. He averaged 24.0 points as a freshman in 1978–79 and led the Blue Demons to the NCAA Final Four. Over the next two seasons he scored 26.8 and 23.0 points per game, respectively, and he was named College Player of the Year in 1980–81. A member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic basketball team, Aguirre left school after his junior year. The Dallas Mavericks took him with the first overall pick in the 1981 NBA Draft.

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Marques Haynes
Marques Haynes (born October 3, 1926) is an American former professional basketball player and member of the Harlem Globetrotters, notable for his remarkable ability to dribble the ball and keep it away from defenders. According to the movie Harlem Globetrotters: Six Decades of Magic(1988), Haynes could dribble the ball as many as six times a second.
Haynes learned to dribble the basketball from his sisters, and perhaps was aided by the skill of handling the ball on the dirt courts of his hometown. A native of Sand Springs, Oklahoma, he played basketball for Langston University from 1942-1946. While at Langston, he once dribbled out the clock in a conference tournament game to ridicule an opponent, Southern University, which had just run up the score against an inferior team (Sam Huston College, later Huston-Tillotson University), which incidentally, was coached by a young Jackie Robinson. Haynes' own coach, the legendary Zip Gayles, reprimanded him for the showboating display, but it helped draw the attention of the Globetrotters, always on the search for trick ballhandlers; Langston was invited to play an exhibition game against the Globetrotters in Oklahoma City. In that game, Haynes led Langston to a 4-point win and was immediately invited to join the Globetrotters, and (after returning to Langston to complete his degree) his long professional career began.

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Marques Johnson
Marques Kevin Johnson (born February 8, 1956) is an American retired professional basketball player. The small forward played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1977–1989, where was a five-time All-Star. He spent a majority of his career with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Johnson was a Los Angeles City Section player of the year in high school before attending the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and won a national championship in 1975. In his senior year, he won multiple national player of the year awards. Johnson was the third overall pick in the 1977 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks. He played seven seasons with Milwaukee before finishing his NBA career with the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Warriors. He is currently a basketball analyst for Fox Sports Net.
Johnson was born in Nachitoches, Louisiana and raised in south Los Angeles, where he played high school basketball at Crenshaw High School, winning the Los Angeles City Section 4-A Division Player of the Year in 1973. He later attended UCLA, and became a star player on its basketball teams, under the guidance of legendary coach John Wooden. In his sophomore season in 1974–75, Johnson helped to lead the Bruins to Coach John Wooden's 10th and final NCAA Men's Division I basketball championship. Wooden retired from coaching after the season, and Gene Bartow became the head coach. Johnson continued to excel, averaging 21.1 points and 11.1 rebounds per game in his senior season and won the inaugural John R. Wooden Award in addition to the USBWA College Player of the Year as the nation's top collegiate basketball player. Johnson also majored in Theater Arts at UCLA. In 1996, UCLA retired his number.

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Marv Harshman
Marv K. Harshman (born October 4, 1917) is a former college men's basketball coach native to Eau Claire, Wisconsin, USA. He graduated from Lake Stevens High School in Lake Stevens, Washington.
Harshman started coaching at his alma mater of Pacific Lutheran University (1945–58), where he also was the head football coach from 1951 to 1957, compiling a 27-26-2 record. He later coached at Washington State University (1958–71) and then at the University of Washington from 1971 to 1985. He compiled a 642-448 collegiate record winning Pac-8 coach of the year in (1976), Pac-10 Coach of the Year (1982, 1984) and Kodak Coach of the Year for Division 1 basketball (1984).
Harshman was the coach of the gold medal winning US team at the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City. Harshman was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in April 1985.

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Maurice Podoloff
Maurice Podoloff (August 18, 1890 - November 24, 1985) was a U.S. lawyer and basketball and ice hockey administrator. He was the first president of the National Basketball Association. He served from the league's founding as the Basketball Association of America in 1946 until 1963.
Maurice Podoloff was born to a Jewish family in Yelisavetgrad, Russia (now a part of Ukraine and also known as (Elizabethgrad)]) on August 18, 1890. When he was a young boy his family emigrated to the United States, where he graduated from Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Connecticut in 1909. From there Podoloff went on to Yale University where he got his law degree in 1915.
A distinguished lawyer, Maurice Podoloff was a man of impeccable character and was instrumental in the development and success of professional basketball. On June 6, 1946, Podoloff, who was already serving as president of the American Hockey League, was appointed president of the newly formed Basketball Association of America (BAA), becoming the first person to lead two professional leagues simultaneously.

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Maurice Stokes
Maurice Stokes (June 17, 1933 – April 6, 1970) was an American professional basketball player in the 1950s, whose career was cut short by a debilitating injury. He was born in Rankin, Pennsylvania and graduated from Saint Francis University in Pennsylvania in 1955.
Playing for the National Basketball Association's Rochester Royals (which became the Cincinnati Royals in 1957) from 1955 to 1958, Stokes grabbed 38 rebounds in a single game during his rookie season, averaged 16.3 rebounds per game overall, and was named NBA Rookie of the Year. The next season, he set a league record for most rebounds in a single season with 1,256 (17.4 per game). Stokes played in the All-Star Game all three years of his career, and was named to the All-NBA Second Team three times. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in September 2004.
On March 12, 1958 in the last game of the 1957–58 NBA season, in Minneapolis, Stokes drove to the basket, drew contact and fell to the floor, hit his head, and was knocked unconscious. He was revived with smelling salts and returned to the game. Three days later, after a 12-point, 15-rebound performance in an opening-round playoff game at Detroit against the Pistons, Stokes became ill on the team's flight back to Cincinnati; "I feel like I'm going to die," he told a teammate. Stokes reported feeling ill during the flight back to Cincinnati; he later suffered a seizure, fell into a coma and was left permanently paralyzed. In the end, he was diagnosed with "post-traumatic encephalopathy, a brain injury that damaged his motor control center."

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Max Morris
Glen Max Morris (March 13, 1925 – January 8, 1998) was a professional American football and basketball player. He was a consensus All-American in both sports for Northwestern University and later played professional football for the Chicago Rockets and Brooklyn Dodgers of the All-America Football Conference. He also played in the NBA for the Sheboygan Red Skins.
Morris was born in Norris City, Illinois and attended Frankfort Community High School in West Frankfort, Illinois where the high school gymnasium is named after Morris. He later attended the University of Illinois and Northwestern University.
Morris was the last Northwestern athlete to be selected as an first-team All-American in two sports. He was a consensus All-American football player at the end position in 1945. That year, Morris set a Big Ten Conference single-game record with 158 receiving yards in a game against Minnesota.
Morris was also selected as a consensus All-American basketball player at the forward position in 1946. He won the Big Ten Conference basketball individual scoring championship in both 1945 and 1946.

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Max Zaslofsky
Max "Slats" Zaslofsky (December 7, 1925 – October 15, 1985) was an American professional basketball player and coach.
Zaslofsky attended Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, and St. John's University. He was Jewish.
While playing for the Chicago Stags, Zaslofsky was named All-NBA First Team 1946–47 at the age of 21. He held the distinction of being the youngest player named such for near 60 years until he was surpassed by LeBron James (2005–06). The next season, 1947-48, he led the league in scoring. At 22 years, 121 days old, he was the youngest player to lead the league in scoring until 2010, when Kevin Durant broke his mark. In 1949–50 he led the league in free throw percentage.
After the Stags broke up, Zaslofsky joined the New York Knicks. In 1956 he ended his career as 3rd leading scorer all-time (up to that point), behind George Mikan and Joe Fulks. In addition to his 1946–47 All-NBA First Team honors, Zaslofsky was named to the All-NBA First Team in 1947–48, 1948–49, and 1949–50. He also played in the 1952 NBA All-Star Game.

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Meadowlark Lemon
Meadow "Meadowlark" Lemon (born April 25, 1932) is an American basketball player, actor, and minister. For 22 years, Lemon was known as the "Clown Prince" of the touring Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. He played in more than 16,000 games for the Globetrotters and is a 2003 inductee of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, and attended Florida A&M University.
Lemon first applied to the Globetrotters in 1954 at age 22, finally being chosen to play the following year (1955). In 1980, he left to form one of his Globetrotters imitators, the Bucketeers. He played with that team until 1983, then moved on to play with the Shooting Stars from 1984 to 1987. In 1988, he moved on to "Meadowlark Lemon's Harlem All Stars" team. Despite being with his own touring team, Lemon returned to the Globetrotters, playing 50 games with them in 1994.
In 2000, Lemon received the John Bunn Award, the highest honor given by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame outside of induction. He was inducted into the hall three years later.

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Mel Riebe
Melvin Russell Riebe (July 12, 1916–July 25, 1977) was an American professional basketball player.
A 5'11" guard-forward from the College of Wooster, Riebe played professionally in both the National Basketball League (1943–1946) and the Basketball Association of America (1946–1949). He led the NBL in scoring twice, averaging 17.9 points per game during the 1943-44 season and 20.2 points per game the following year as a member of the Cleveland Chase Brassmen and the Cleveland Allmen Transfers.
Riebe's brother Hank Riebe was a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1942-1949.

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Mendy Rudolph
Marvin "Mendy" Rudolph (March 8, 1926 – July 4, 1979) was a professional basketball referee in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 22 years, from 1953 to 1975. Regarded as one of the greatest officials in NBA history, Rudolph officiated 2,112 NBA games (a record held at retirement) and was the first league referee to work 2,000 games. He was also selected to referee eight NBA All-Star Games and made 22 consecutive NBA Finals appearances.
Following his career as a referee, he was a color commentator for CBS Sports' coverage of the NBA on CBS for two seasons from 1975 to 1977 and he appeared in a television advertisement for Miller Lite. He was a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Class of 2007.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Rudolph was raised in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. His father, Harry Rudolph, was a prominent basketball referee and baseball umpire. Mendy Rudolph played basketball as a child and eventually chose the same profession as his father. Upon graduating from James M. Coughlin High School, he began officiating basketball games at the Wilkes-Barre Jewish Community Center and later worked scholastic games. At age 20, he was recruited to referee games alongside his father, who served as Eastern Professional Basketball League (Eastern League) President from 1956 to 1970. During his career in the Eastern League, he officiated his first Eastern League President's Cup championship series in 1948 and was selected as a referee in at least one game in every President's Cup playoff and championship series between 1949 and 1953. At the same time, he also served in the United States Air Force during the Korean War.

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Michael Cage
Michael Jerome Cage (born January 28, 1962 in West Memphis, Arkansas) is a retired American NBA basketball player.
A 6'9" power forward/center from San Diego State, he is the Aztecs' all-time rebounding leader and second leading scorer as of 2011. Cage was the 14th pick of the 1984 NBA Draft. He played 15 NBA seasons (1984–2000) with five teams: the Los Angeles Clippers, the Seattle SuperSonics, the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Nets.
One highlight of his career was in 1988 when, as a member of the Clippers, he led the league in rebounding with 13.0 per game. He was on a personal duel with Charles Oakley, who was playing with the Chicago Bulls at the time. Cage needed to register 28 rebounds in his final game to beat out Oakley for the rebounding title. He ended up grabbing 30.
During his career, Cage earned the nicknames "John Shaft" and "Windexman" (as in "cleaning the glass") for his rebounding prowess and hard work on defense.
He holds career averages of 7.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

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Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963) is a retired American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats. His biography on the National Basketball Association (NBA) website states, "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the greatest basketball player of all time." Jordan was one of the most effectively marketed athletes of his generation and was considered instrumental in popularizing the NBA around the world in the 1980s and 1990s.
After a three-season career at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was a member of the Tar Heels' national championship team in 1982, Jordan joined the NBA's Chicago Bulls in 1984. He quickly emerged as a league star, entertaining crowds with his prolific scoring. His leaping ability, illustrated by performing slam dunks from the free throw line in slam dunk contests, earned him the nicknames "Air Jordan" and "His Airness". He also gained a reputation for being one of the best defensive players in basketball. In 1991, he won his first NBA championship with the Bulls, and followed that achievement with titles in 1992 and 1993, securing a "three-peat". Although Jordan abruptly retired from basketball at the beginning of the 1993–94 NBA season to pursue a career in baseball, he rejoined the Bulls in 1995 and led them to three additional championships (1996, 1997, and 1998) as well as an NBA-record 72 regular-season wins in the 1995–96 NBA season. Jordan retired for a second time in 1999, but returned for two more NBA seasons from 2001 to 2003 as a member of the Washington Wizards.

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Mike Krzyzewski
Michael William "Mike" Krzyzewski (

/ʃəˈʃɛvski/ shə-SHEV-ski; Polish: Krzyżewski [kʂɨˈʐɛ(f)ski]; nicknamed "Coach K"; born February 13, 1947) is an American basketball coach and former player. Since 1980, he has served as the head men's basketball coach at Duke University. At Duke, Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils to four NCAA Championships, 11 Final Fours, 12 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) regular season titles, and 13 ACC Tournament championships. Krzyzewski is also the coach of the United States men's national basketball team, whom he led to a gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2010 FIBA World Championship. He was an assistant coach on the 1992 "Dream Team".
From 1975 to 1980, Krzyzewski was the head basketball coach at the United States Military Academy, where he played from 1966 to 1969 under Bob Knight. Krzyzewski has amassed a record 79 NCAA tournament victories, while averaging 25 wins per season. He was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame following the 2001 season. On November 15, 2011, Krzyzewski led Duke to a 74–69 victory over Michigan State at Madison Square Garden to become the winningest coach in NCAA Division I men's basketball history. Krzyzewski's 903rd victory surpassed the previous record of 902, held by his former coach, Bob Knight.

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Mike Novak
Michael D. Novak (April 23, 1915 – August 15, 1978) was an American basketball player who played in the NBL, BAA, and NBA from 1939 to 1954. A 6'9" center from Loyola University Chicago, he was one of the first prominent "big men" to play professional basketball, averaging 8.5 points per game over the course of his career as a member of the Chicago Bruins, Chicago Studebaker Flyers, Sheboygan Red Skins, Syracuse Nationals, Rochester Royals, and Philadelphia Warriors.
Novak was the seventh-highest scorer in the history of the 12-season NBL. Some of his greatest seasons came during his middle years, with the Sheboygan Red Skins. He joined the team in 1943-44, played in all 22 games and helped Sheboygan to a 14-8 record, good for second place in the four-team league. He scored 92 points during the regular season. In the playoffs, Sheboygan advanced to the NBL finals opposite the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, who won the title.
In 1944-45, Novak teamed with 6-7 forward Eddie Dancker to form the league's best 1-2 punch in the middle. He increased his scoring to 233 points in 27 games, and Western Division champion Sheboygan (19-11) again advanced to the finals to play Fort Wayne. The Red Skins won the first two games of the best-of-five series, only to get swept in the next three.

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Mike Todorovich
Marko John (Mike) Todorovich (June 11, 1923 – June 24, 2000) was an American basketball player and coach born in St. Louis, Missouri. He played collegiately at the University of Wyoming.
Todorovich began his professional career with the Sheboygan Red Skins of the National Basketball League. He was named NBL rookie of the year and chosen a first-team pick after a 1947-48 season in which he scored 777 points in 60 games. The other four first-team selections from that season — Jim Pollard, George Mikan, Red Holzman and Al Cervi — are enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Sheboygan, however, suffered through a season of turmoil and finished with the second-worst record (23-37) in the franchise's 13-season history.
The following season, Todorovich again led the Red Skins in scoring, with 648 points in 60 games, and Sheboygan finished with a 35-29 record. He was named to the NBL's second team.
Later, he played for the St. Louis Bombers and the Tri-Cities Blackhawks. He later would coach the Blackhawks for several games.

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Mirko Novosel
Mirko Novosel (born June 30, 1938 in Zagreb, Croatia, formerly SFR Yugoslavia) is a former Yugoslav basketball player and coach. He was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on September 7th, 2007.
Novosel played club basketball from 1952 to 1966.
As a coach, Novosel led the Yugoslavian national team to the silver medal at the 1974 FIBA World Championship, the silver medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, and the bronze medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
He also coached Cibona Zagreb to three Yugoslav League titles, seven Yugoslav Cups, and a European Champions Cup (Euroleague) title in 1985, when he was named the European Coach of the Year.

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Mitch Kupchak
Mitchell "Mitch" Kupchak (born May 24, 1954) is a retired American basketball player and current general manager of the Los Angeles Lakers since the 2000–01 NBA season after predecessor Jerry West moved to the Memphis Grizzlies organization.
Kupchak played for Brentwood High School, Brentwood, Long Island, NY, and was instrumental in Brentwood's Division Titles from 1970-72.
Kupchak was an All-American on the North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team. Kupchak played on the gold medal winning team at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal.
Kupchak was drafted by the Washington Bullets in 1976 and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team. He had four productive seasons with Washington and was part of the team that won the NBA Championship in 1978. He signed a long term contract with the Lakers in 1981 on the behest of Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who told owner Jerry Buss, "If we could get Mitch Kupchak, I know we could win," after the team's playoff upset. Unfortunately, 26 games into the season, Kupchak injured his knee and did not play again until the 1983-84 season. However, Kupchak played a key role in the Lakers' 1985 championship team against the Boston Celtics, who had intimidated them in the prior year's Finals. Kupchak retired after the 1985-86 season, having played 510 regular season and 68 playoff games, with regular season averages of 10.2 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game (7.7 points per game and 4.7 rebounds per game in the playoffs).

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Mitch Richmond
Mitchell James "Mitch" Richmond (born June 30, 1965 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida) is a retired American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played collegiately at Kansas State University. He was a 6-time NBA All-Star, a 5-time All-NBA Team member and a former NBA Rookie of the Year. In 976 NBA games, Richmond averaged 21.0 points per game and 3.5 assists per game. His nicknames include "The Rock." #2 has been retired in his honor by the Sacramento Kings, for whom he played seven seasons. He was on the cover of video game NBA Live 97. Richmond is now a scout for the Golden State Warriors, for whom he played from 1988 to 1991.
Richmond was drafted 5th overall in the 1988 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors, following two years at Kansas State, where he averaged 20 points per game, and two years at Moberly Junior College in Missouri.
Richmond captured the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in the 1988–89 season, after averaging 22 points per game for the Warriors. He was a key part of Don Nelson's fast-paced offense, which was dubbed "Run TMC" after the first names of its three main components, Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin, respectively. The trio were named after the influential rap group Run DMC. In addition to the shooting he provided, he complemented Hardaway's passing and fast break skills and Mullin's shooting skills by slashing to the hoop as part of the Warriors' attack.

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Moose Krause
Edward Walter "Moose" Krause (February 2, 1913 – December 11, 1992) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, track athlete, coach, and college athletics administrator. He lettered in four sports at the University of Notre Dame, where he was a three-time consensus All-American in basketball (1932–1934). Krause served as the head basketball coach at Saint Mary's College in Winona, Minnesota, now Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, from 1934 to 1939, at the College of the Holy Cross from 1939 to 1942, and at Notre Dame from 1943 to 1944 and 1946 to 1951, compiling a career college basketball record of 155–114. He was Notre Dame's athletic director from 1949 to 1981. Krause was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1976 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Born Edward Walter Kriaučiūnas in Chicago to Lithuanian immigrant parents, Krause grew up in the Town of Lake section or, as it was once known as, Back of the Yards. His brother, Felix Krause, was the captain of Lithuania national basketball team in 1937. His surname was shortened to Krause by his high school football coach, who couldn't pronounce Kriaučiūnas (Lithuanian pronunciation: [krɪ.ɐutʃɪˈuːnɐs]).

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Morgan Wootten
Morgan Bayard Wootten (born April 21, 1931, Durham, North Carolina) is an American former high school basketball coach. From 1956 to 2002, he coached at DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland. He has the most wins as a head coach in the history of basketball on any level. A number of his players went on to play in the NBA, including Adrian Dantley and Danny Ferry. Wootten gained legendary status in 1965, when his DeMatha team beat Lew Alcindor's Power Memorial Academy and ended their 71-game winning streak. His career coaching record stands at 1,274-192.
Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden (1910–2010) described his admiration for Wootten when he said, "I know of no finer coach at any level - high school, college or pro. I stand in awe of him."^{[citation needed]} In October 2000, Coach Wootten was elected and inducted into the Hall of Fame, one of three high school basketball coaches ever so honored.
Wootten attended the University of Maryland. During his coaching career at DeMatha, located just two miles away from his alma mater, he received job offers from Georgetown and American and interest from Duke, Wake Forest, and Virginia. Wootten turned down the offers, according to Sports Illustrated, because the Maryland job, which was not forthcoming, was the only college job he wanted.

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Moses Malone
Moses Eugene Malone (born March 23, 1955 in Petersburg, Virginia) is a retired American Hall of Fame basketball player who starred in both the American Basketball Association and the National Basketball Association. A three-time NBA MVP and one of the NBA's 50 greatest players, Malone was the most successful prep-to-pro player of his era, going straight from Petersburg High to a 21-year career in professional basketball. By the time Malone retired after 19 seasons in the NBA he was the last former ABA player active and held numerous distinctions in both leagues, including a championship ring and NBA finals trophy won with the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers.
Right after graduating from Petersburg High School, Malone signed a letter of intent to play for the University of Maryland. However, Malone was drafted by the ABA's Utah Stars in 1974 and became one of the first basketball players to jump straight from high school into the professional leagues.
Malone began his professional career with the Utah Stars. He later played for the ABA's Spirits of St. Louis. In two seasons in the ABA, Malone averaged 17.2 points and 12.9 rebounds per game. Malone's ABA career ended with the ABA–NBA merger in June 1976, when Malone moved to the NBA.

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Murray Wier
Murray Neal Wier (born December 12, 1926), nicknamed "Rampaging Redhead" and "Wizard Wier," is an American former professional basketball player for the Tri-Cities Blackhawks (now the present-day Atlanta Hawks) and the Waterloo Hawks. He is better known for his standout college career at the University of Iowa, however, when in 1947–48 he was named a consensus first team All-American and was also the inaugural National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Major College scoring leader at 21.0 points per game.
Wier was born in Grandview, Iowa. He attended Grandview High School from his freshman through junior years before moving to Muscatine, Iowa. He then spent his senior year in 1943–44 at Muscatine High School, from which he graduated. He led Muscatine High School to a district championship with a 50–37 win over their arch rival, Davenport High School, and was named a first team all-state selection by the Des Moines Register and Iowa Daily Press Association. After his breakout senior season, University of Iowa head men's basketball coach "Pops" Harrison offered him a full scholarship to play for the Hawkeyes.

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Mychal Thompson
Mychal George Thompson (born January 30, 1955) is a retired Bahamian-American professional basketball player of the NBA. Thompson played both the power forward and center positions and played for the Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles Lakers.
Thompson was born in Nassau, in the Bahamas, but moved to the United States as a youth, playing high school basketball at Miami Jackson High School (1974) in Miami, Florida. He then attended the University of Minnesota where he had a standout collegiate career.
The Portland Trail Blazers made Thompson the number one pick in the 1978 NBA Draft, the first foreign-born player to be selected at that position.^{[citation needed]}
Thompson was a fixture in the Portland lineup for eight years (though one season was missed due to injury), where he started at both power forward and center positions. He was named to the 1979 All-Rookie team, and had his statistically best season in 1981–82, where he averaged over 20 points and 11 rebounds per game. In the 1986 off-season, Thompson was traded to the Spurs in exchange for center/forward Steve Johnson.

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Myer Skoog
Myer Upton "Whitey" Skoog (born November 2, 1926) is a retired American professional basketball player for the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers. He was born in Duluth, Minnesota.
A 5'11" (180 cm) and 180 lbs (82 kg) guard, Skoog played collegiately at the University of Minnesota. Following his All-America senior season, he was drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft by the Lakers in 1951. The Lakers won three NBA Championships in his first three years in the league. Skoog played in six seasons in the NBA before back injuries forced his retirement.
Following his career in the NBA, Skoog became the basketball coach and men's golf coach at Gustavus Adolphus College and was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 1987.

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Nancy Lieberman
Nancy Elizabeth Lieberman (born July 1, 1958, in Brooklyn, New York), nicknamed "Lady Magic", is a former professional basketball player who played and coached in the WNBA.
Lieberman is regarded as one of the greatest figures in women's basketball.
In 2000, she was inducted into the Nassau County Sports Hall of Fame. Lieberman is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame.
Lieberman was born on July 1, 1958 to Jerome and Renee Lieberman. She is Jewish, and has become a born-again Christian. Her family lived in Brooklyn, when she was born, but soon moved to Far Rockaway, New York where she grew up with her older brother Clifford. Her mother brought up the children after a separation and divorce. While growing up, she was very interested in a variety of sports, playing baseball, softball and football with boys, before settling on basketball as her primary sport. She played basketball primarily on pickup teams with boys, not playing on a girl's team until she was a high school sophomore. While attending Far Rockaway High School in Queens, New York, she established herself as one of the top women's basketball players in the country by earning one of only 12 slots on the USA's National Team. In 1975, Lieberman was named to the USA Team designated to play in the World Championships and Pan American Games, where she brought home a gold medal and a silver medal in 1979.

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Nat Holman
Nat Holman (October 19, 1896 in New York, NY – February 12, 1995 in Bronx, New York) was one of the early pro basketball players and one of the game's most important innovators.
Known for his exceptional ball-handling and his accurate shooting, Holman was a star player at New York University.
He was also an important part of the Original Celtics (no relation to the Boston Celtics). Also a gifted passer and excellent floor leader, Holman has been a prototype to later playmakers.
Although he played pro basketball until 1930, he took over the head coaching position at the City College of New York in 1920. Known as Mr. Basketball, Holman guided CCNY to the so-called grand slam of college basketball, winning both the NCAA and NIT titles in 1950, a feat that has never been achieved since (and is no longer possible as both tournaments are now done concurrently). Holman compiled a 421–190 record in 37 seasons at CCNY, retiring in 1960.
Holman also founded Camp Scatico in 1921 and ran the camp until he sold it to his niece and her husband in 1964.

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Nate Archibald
Nathaniel "Tiny" Archibald (born September 2, 1948, New York City) is a retired American professional basketball player. He spent 14 years playing in the NBA, most notably with the Kansas City Kings and Boston Celtics.
Archibald was a willing passer and an adequate shooter from midrange. However, it was his quickness and speed and shiftiness that made him difficult to guard in the open court, as he would regularly drive past defenders on his way to the basket.
Archibald, a playground legend while growing up in a rough-and-tumble neighborhood in the South Bronx, New York City, only played high school basketball for one-and-a-half seasons, and was cut from the varsity squad at DeWitt Clinton High School as a sophomore. He returned to the team as a junior. During his time without basketball, Archibald briefly flirted with dropping out of school after having been largely truant in past years. But with the help of two mentors, Floyd Layne and Pablo Robertson, Archibald turned it around. Robertson, a former standout at Loyola of Chicago and a Harlem, NY, playground impressario, had seen the gifted, mercurial Archibald in action on the playgrounds and convinced the young man's high school coach to re-instate him on the squad. Despite only playing in blowouts as a junior, the shy, quiet teen managed to blossom into a high-school star, being named team captain and an All-City selection in 1966. Off the court, Archibald began to attend school regularly and worked to improve his poor academic standing, which deterred most colleges from offering him a scholarship. To improve his chances of playing major college basketball, Archibald enrolled at Arizona Western College, transferring to the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) the following year. He had three standout seasons at El Paso, from 1967 to 1970 under the legendary coach Don Haskins.

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Nate Thurmond
Nathaniel "Nate" Thurmond (born July 25, 1941, in Akron, Ohio) is a retired American basketball player. Dominant at both center and power forward, he was a seven-time All-Star and the first player in NBA history to record an official quadruple-double.
Thurmond remains one of the greatest rebounders and shot blockers ever, named both a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.
Known to fans as "Nate the Great", Thurmond has had his #42 jersey retired by both the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers franchises.
He played in high school with another future NBA star, Gus Johnson, at Akron Central. Their powerful team went undefeated before losing to Middletown, led by Jerry Lucas, in the Ohio state high school playoffs. Passing on a scholarship offer to Ohio State, to avoid becoming Lucas's backup there, the 6'11" Thurmond chose Bowling Green. He was named a first-team All-American by The Sporting News in 1963, and was drafted by the San Francisco Warriors later that year.

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Ned Irish
Edward S. "Ned" Irish (May 6, 1905 in Lake George, New York – January 21, 1982) was a basketball promoter and one of the key figures in popularizing professional basketball. He was the president of the New York Knicks from 1946 to 1974. He was enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1964.
A pioneer in the late 1930s in the big-time promotion of college basketball, Ned Irish took the sport from small venues to Madison Square Garden. He also founded the New York Knicks and assisted in the organization of the National Basketball Association. For his part in popularizing basketball, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1964.
Irish grew up near Lake George, New York. He had already launched his business career at age 10. Following in his late father's footsteps, he earned money by selling sodas and newspapers and by renting boats. His mother, a practical nurse, then moved the family to Brooklyn. As a student at Brooklyn's Erasmus Hall High School, Irish covered prep and amateur sports for three New York dailies, managed the school's swimming and tennis teams, was class president, was a member of the Omega Gamma Delta Fraternity and worked in the school cafeteria.

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Neil Johnston
Donald Neil Johnston (February 4, 1929 – September 28, 1978) was an American Hall of Fame basketball player at the center position who played 8 years in the NBA from 1951 to 1959.
He led the NBA in scoring for three consecutive seasons: 1952-53, 1953–54, and 1954-55. During the 1954-55 season, he also won the league's rebounding title. Johnston played his entire career with the Philadelphia Warriors, playing on their championship team in 1956. He played in six NBA All-Star Games, was an All-NBA First Team selection four times, and was an All-NBA Second Team selection once.
During his career, the 6 foot 8 inch Johnston was well known for his right-handed hook shot, which contributed to his leading the league in field goal shooting three times. Johnston was forced to retire after a serious knee injury in the 1958-59 season.
After his playing career, he coached the Warriors to a 95-59 winning record for the first two seasons of Wilt Chamberlain's NBA career.
Johnston also coached the Pittsburgh Rens, with Connie Hawkins, of the American Basketball League.

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Nera White
Nera D. White (born November 15, 1935) is a retired American basketball player. She is considered one of the most outstanding female players in history.
White was born in Macon County, Tennessee and attended the George Peabody College for Teachers (now part of Vanderbilt University), along with Sue Gunter and Doris Rogers, both of whom went on to play for the United States women's national basketball team. She completed all of the undergraduate requirements for a degree in education except for the student teaching requirement, which she was unable to complete due to shyness. George Peabody did not have a women's basketball team, so she played for the AAU team in Nashville sponsored by Nashville Business College.
She was named AAU All-American for 15 years in a row from 1955 to 1969, and she led the Nashville Business College team to ten AAU national championships during that period. White was named the MVP of the AAU National Tournament nine times. While she played for Nashville Business college, the team once had a stretch of 92 games where they won 91. White was "widely acknowledged as the greatest woman ever to play the game". In 1966, Harley Redin (head coach of the Wayland Baptist Flying Queens, the dominant team of the 1950s) called her the "greatest woman basketball player in history".

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Nick Werkman
Nicholas "Nick" G. Werkman III is an American former basketball player for the Seton Hall Pirates of South Orange, New Jersey. In just three seasons, Nick "The Quick" Werkman compiled 2,273 points and 1,036 rebounds and is currently one of only four players in Seton Hall University history to score 1,000+ points and grab 1,000+ rebounds. Among the nation's top scorers in each of his three seasons, Werkman averaged 32.0 points per game in 1962 (third nationally), 29.5 in 1963 (top scorer), and 33.2 in 1964 (second nationally). His career 32.0 points per game average is ninth all-time in NCAA Division I history. He was inducted into Seton Hall's Athletics Hall of Fame in 1972.
Only several months after Werkman's senior campaign ended, he was drafted by the Boston Celtics in the 5th Round as the 43rd overall selection in the 1964 NBA Draft. Despite being drafted Werkman never played in an NBA game.

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Oscar Robertson
Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938 in Charlotte, Tennessee), nicknamed "The Big O", is a former American National Basketball Association player with the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks. The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Robertson played the shooting guard/point guard position, and was a twelve-time All-Star, eleven-time member of the All-NBA Team, and one-time winner of the MVP award in fourteen professional seasons. He is the only player in NBA history to average a triple-double for a season. He was a key player on the team which brought the Bucks their only NBA title in the 1970-71 NBA season. His playing career, especially during high school and college, was plagued by racism.
For his outstanding achievements, Robertson was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1980, and was voted one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. The United States Basketball Writers Association renamed their college Player of the Year Award the Oscar Robertson Trophy in his honor in 1998, and he was one of five people chosen to represent the inaugural National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame class in 2006.

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Oswald Tower
Oswald Tower (November 23, 1883 in North Adams, Massachusetts, USA – May 28, 1968) was an American basketball administrator and instructor at Phillips Academy Andover [1910-49]. He served on the National Basketball Rules Committee from 1910 to 1960, was an editor of the Official Basketball Guide and an official rules interpreter from 1915 to 1960. He was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1959.

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Otto Graham
Otto Everett Graham, Jr. (December 6, 1921 – December 17, 2003) was a professional American football and basketball player who played for the Cleveland Browns in both the All-America Football Conference and National Football League, as well as the Rochester Royals in the National Basketball League.
Born in Waukegan, Illinois, USA, Graham grew up with a strong connection to music, with his father serving as Waukegan High School's band director. However, it would be on a variety of athletic fields where Graham's talents would manifest, making him the most famous native of Waukegan since comedian Jack Benny.
Graham graduated from Northwestern University, attending the school on a basketball scholarship. He was an active member of the Alpha Delta Phi social fraternity. In 1944, he was named an All-American in basketball. He was talked into playing football by Northwestern's head football coach, Lynn Waldorf, who saw him throwing a football on campus. By the time he was finished, he had played four years of basketball, three of football, two of baseball and also played the cornet in the Wildcats' school band. Graham's time on the football field would be spent at tailback. He finished third in the 1943 Heisman Trophy voting. Graham left Northwestern with the school record for total offensive yards (2,938), a record which would stand until 1964.

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Otto Stangel
Otto Stangel (1889–1956), a native of Two Rivers, Wisconsin, was an NCAA Men's Basketball All-American basketball player at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1911–12. He led the Big Ten Conference in scoring with 177 points, a record which stood for eight years. The Badgers went undefeated in 1911–12 at 15–0 and were named co-Big Ten champions as well as retroactively-named national champions by the Helms Athletic Foundation. Helms also named Stangel an All-American in 1912.

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Pat Riley
Patrick James "Pat" Riley (born March 20, 1945) is an American professional basketball executive, and a former coach and player in the NBA. Currently, he is team president of the Miami Heat. Widely regarded as one of the greatest NBA coaches of all time, Riley has served as the head coach of five championship teams and an assistant coach to another. He most recently won the 2006 NBA Championship with the Miami Heat. Prior to his tenure in Miami, he served as head coach for the Los Angeles Lakers and the New York Knicks. He was named NBA Coach of the Year three times (1989–90, 1992–93 and 1996–97, as head coach of the Lakers, Knicks and Heat, respectively). He was head coach of the NBA All-Star Game teams nine times: eight of the Western team (1982, 1983, 1985–1990, all as head coach of the Lakers) and once of the Eastern team (1993, as head coach of the Knicks). In 1996 he was named one of the 10 Greatest Coaches in the NBA history. As a player, he played for the Los Angeles Lakers' championship team in 1972, bringing his personal total to seven NBA titles.

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Pat Summitt
Patricia "Pat" Head Summitt (born on June 14, 1952 in Clarksville, Tennessee) is a former women's college basketball head coach. She now serves as the head coach emeritus of the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team. She is the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history of either a men's or women's team in any division. She coached from 1974 to 2012, all with the Lady Vols, winning eight NCAA national championships, second only to the record 10 titles won by UCLA men's coach John Wooden. Summitt is the only coach in NCAA history, and one of three college coaches overall, with 1,000 victories. She was named the Naismith Basketball Coach of the Century in April 2000. In 2009, the Sporting News placed her number 11 on its list of the 50 Greatest Coaches of All Time in all sports; she was the only woman on the list. In 38 years as a coach, she never had a losing season. On April 20, 2012, the White House announced that Pat Summitt would be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.

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Patrick Ewing
Patrick Aloysius Ewing, Sr. (born August 5, 1962) is a Jamaican-American retired Hall of Fame basketball player and current assistant coach for the National Basketball Association's Orlando Magic. He played most of his career with the NBA's New York Knicks as their starting center and played briefly with the Seattle SuperSonics and Orlando Magic. Ewing was named as the 16th greatest college player of all time by ESPN. He won Olympic Gold Medals as a member of the 1984 and 1992 US Men's National Basketball teams. In a 1996 poll celebrating the 50th anniversary of the NBA, Ewing was selected as one of the 50 Greatest Basketball Players of All Time. On April 7, 2008 he was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame on September 5, 2008 along with former NBA coach Pat Riley and former Houston Rockets center, Hakeem Olajuwon. His number 33 was retired by the Knicks in 2003.
Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Ewing excelled at cricket and soccer. He was 11 years old when he arrived in the United States with his family, settling in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He learned to play basketball at Cambridge Rindge and Latin. In order to prepare for college, Ewing joined the MIT-Wellesley Upward Bound Program. Upward Bound is a federally-funded TRIO college-prep program for disadvantaged high school students. He went to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C..

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Paul Arizin
Paul Joseph Arizin (April 9, 1928 – December 12, 2006), nicknamed "Pitchin' Paul," was an American basketball player who spent his entire National Basketball Association career with the Philadelphia Warriors from 1950 to 1962. He retired with the third highest career point total (16,266) in NBA history, and was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History upon its 50th anniversary in 1996. He was a high-scoring forward at Villanova University before being drafted by the Warriors of the fledgling NBA.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Arizin did not play basketball at La Salle College High School, failing to make the team in his only tryout as a senior. Arizin graduated just a year before another NBA hall of famer, Tom Gola, entered La Salle College High School as a freshman.
During his freshmen year at Villanova, Arizin played CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) basketball in Philadelphia. Late in that season, Al Severance, the then Villanova varsity basketball coach, attended one of Arizin's CYO games. Afterwards, Severance approached Arizin and asked, "How would you like to go to Villanova?" His answer: "I go to Villanova."

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Paul Endacott
Paul Endacott (July 3, 1902 – January 8, 1997) was a well-known collegiate basketball player in the 1920s. The Lawrence, Kansas native attended University of Kansas from 1919 to 1923. Playing under Hall of Fame coach Phog Allen, Endacott led Kansas to consecutive Helms Foundation national championships in 1922 and 1923. In 1923 he was named Helms Foundation Player of the Year. Following his collegiate career, he spent four years with the AAU Phillips Petroleum Company Team, from 1924 to 1928. He went on to serve as President of Phillips Petroleum in his later years.

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Paul Hogue
Paul H. "Duke" Hogue (April 28, 1940 – August 17, 2009) was an American basketball player.
A 6'9" center from Knoxville, Tennessee, Hogue starred at the University of Cincinnati, with whom he won the NCAA Tournament in 1961 and 1962. Hogue was named Most Outstanding Player of the 1962 tournament, and was also named the 1962 Helms Foundation Player of the Year. He was the second overall selection of the New York Knickerbockers in the 1962 National Basketball Association (NBA) Draft. He had a brief career (1962–64) in the NBA as a member of the Knicks and Baltimore Bullets, averaging 6.3 points per game. After Hogue retired, he became a member of the Princeton Schools board of education in suburban Cincinnati, Ohio.
According to his wife of 43 years, Patti, Hogue died of heart and kidney failure on August 17, 2009.

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Paul Westhead
Paul Westhead (born February 21, 1939 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a basketball coach who is currently the head coach of the University of Oregon women's team. He has previously been a head coach for three National Basketball Association (NBA) teams and an assistant for two others, and has also coached in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and American Basketball Association (ABA). He won titles in both the NBA and WNBA, and is also remembered as the coach of the Loyola Marymount University men's basketball team during that school's era of greatest basketball glory. Westhead is known for an unorthodox, run-and-gun style similar to Nellie ball called "The System." He attended Saint Joseph's University.
Westhead started his coaching career at Cheltenham High School in suburban Philadelphia; in 1968, he coached the Panthers to a loss in the Pennsylvania state championship. One of his players at Cheltenham was future University of Virginia Athletic Director Craig Littlepage. Westhead coached the La Salle University men's basketball team starting in 1970. Westhead led the Explorers to one NIT and two NCAA tournament appearances in nine seasons (1970–1979). He finished with a record of 142–105.

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Pedro Ferrándiz
Pedro Ferrándiz González (born November 20, 1928 in Alicante, Spain) is a Spanish basketball coach. He is most famous for coaching Real Madrid basketball club in the 1960s and 1970s. The International Olympic Committee awarded him the Olympic Order in 1977, and he is the only basketball coach in history to receive the award.
He was enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame in April of 2007. He is also a member of the FIBA Hall of Fame. In 2008, he was named one of the 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors.
Ferrándiz won a record 12 titles in the Spanish League, as well as 4 titles in the European Champions Cup (Euroleague) and 10 titles in the Spanish King's Cup. His combined record, while coaching Real, was 437-90. He recorded three undefeated Spanish League seasons.

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Pete Carril
Peter J. "Pete" Carril (born July 10, 1930) is an American former basketball coach. He is best known for his time as head coach of Princeton University and his use of the 'Princeton offense'. He also coached at Lehigh University and in the NBA as an assistant with the Sacramento Kings.
Carril was born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the son of Spanish immigrants to the United States. He is a graduate of Liberty High School in Bethlehem, where he was an all-state selection for Pennsylvania in the 1947-48 season. He played collegiate basketball at Lafayette College under Butch Van Breda Kolff. While at Lafayette he became a member of Delta Tau Delta International Fraternity. Following graduation from college he was a teacher and coached high school basketball for 12 seasons at Easton (PA) High School and Reading (PA) High School, where Gary Walters, the current Princeton Athletic Director, and former Princeton point guard, played basketball under him in high school.
After a year at Lehigh University, Carril moved to Princeton University. In 29 years, he compiled a 514-261 (.658 winning percentage) record, the best of any coach in Ivy League basketball history. He is also the only coach to win 500 games without the benefit of athletic scholarships for his players.[2] He won 13 Ivy League championships and received 11 NCAA berths and 2 NIT bids. The Tigers won the NIT championship in 1975. Carril was noted for a tenacious defense, as his teams were first in the nation in scoring defense for fourteen of his final 21 seasons, including eight in a row, from 1988-1996. In part due to this, his Tigers were known as a very dangerous early-round NCAA opponent.

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Pete Maravich
Peter "Pistol Pete" Press Maravich (June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988) was an American professional basketball player. Born and raised in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Maravich starred in college at Louisiana State University (LSU) and played for three NBA teams until injuries induced him to retire in 1980. He is still the all-time leading NCAA Division I scorer with 3,667 points scored and an average of 44.2 points per game. (All of his accomplishments were achieved before the three-point line was introduced to NCAA basketball, and despite being unable to play varsity as a freshman under then-NCAA rules.) Maravich died suddenly at age 40 during a pick-up game as a consequence of a previously undetected congenital heart defect. One of the youngest players ever inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Maravich was cited by the Hall as "perhaps the greatest creative offensive talent in history". In an April 2010 interview, Hall of Fame player John Havlicek said "the best ball-handler of all time was (Pete) Maravich."

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Pete Newell
Peter Francis Newell (August 31, 1915 – November 17, 2008) was an American college men's basketball coach and basketball instructional coach. He coached for 15 years at the University of San Francisco, Michigan State University and the University of California, Berkeley, compiling an overall record of 234 wins and 123 losses. He led the University of California to the 1959 NCAA men's basketball championship, and a year later coached the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 1960 Summer Olympics, a team that would be inducted as a unit to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. After his coaching career ended he ran a world-famous instructional basketball camp and served as a consultant and scout for several National Basketball Association (NBA) teams. He is often considered to be one of the most influential figures in the history of basketball.
He was born in Vancouver and grew up in Los Angeles. Encouraged by his mother, he had small roles in several movies before he turned ten. Newell attended both high school and college in Los Angeles, California, and was a classmate of Phil Woolpert at Loyola Marymount University (then called Loyola University). He played on the basketball team.

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Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson (born September 17, 1945) is a retired American professional basketball coach and former player. Jackson is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His reputation was established as head coach of the Chicago Bulls from 1989 through 1998; during his tenure, Chicago won six NBA titles. His next team, the Los Angeles Lakers, won five NBA titles from 2000 to 2010. In total, Jackson has won 11 NBA titles as a coach, surpassing the previous record of nine set by Red Auerbach. He holds the record for the most championships in NBA history as a player and a head coach, after breaking the tie with Bill Russell when the Los Angeles Lakers won the 2009 NBA Finals. He also has the highest winning percentage of any NBA coach (.704). Jackson was a player on the 1970 and 1973 NBA champion New York Knicks.
Jackson is known for his use of Tex Winter's triangle offense as well as a holistic approach to coaching that is influenced by Eastern philosophy, earning him the nickname "Zen Master". Jackson cites Robert Pirsig's book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance as one of the major guiding forces in his life. He also applies Native American spiritual practices as documented in his book Sacred Hoops. He is the author of several candid books about his teams and his basketball strategies. Jackson is also a recipient of the state of North Dakota's Roughrider Award. In 2007 Jackson was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

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Phil Woolpert
Phil Woolpert (December 15, 1915 – May 7, 1987) was an American college basketball coach. He is best known for coaching the University of San Francisco Dons to two straight national championships in 1955 and 1956.
Born in Danville, Kentucky, Woolpert attended high school in Los Angeles. He subsequently attended Los Angeles Junior College and Loyola University, Los Angeles, where he played basketball for three years and was initiated into the Alpha Delta Gamma National Fraternity.
In 1946, Woolpert was hired as basketball coach for St. Ignatius High School in San Francisco, California where he posted a 63-29 record in his four years as coach. Upon Pete Newell's departure for Michigan State University, the University of San Francisco hired Woolpert to succeed Newell. He assumed both the posts of men's basketball coach and athletic director.
During his tenure at USF, Woolpert posted a 153-78 record, including a 60-game win streak that at the time was the longest in college basketball (surpassed later by John Wooden's 88 straight wins at UCLA.). His teams, anchored by Bill Russell, K.C. Jones, Eugene Brown and Mike Farmer, were known for their defense and held opponents below 60 points on 47 different occasions. USF won the national championship in 1955 and 1956, and finished third in 1957. At the time the youngest college basketball coach to win a national championship, Woolpert also won Coach of the Year honors in 1955 and 1956.

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Phog Allen
Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen (November 18, 1885 – September 16, 1974) was an American basketball and baseball player, coach of American football, basketball, and baseball, college athletics administrator, and osteopathic physician. Known as the "Father of Basketball Coaching," he served as the head basketball coach at Baker University (1905–1908), the University of Kansas (1907–1909, 1919–1956), Haskell Institute—now Haskell Indian Nations University (1908–1909), and Warrensburg Teachers College—now the University of Central Missouri (1912–1919), compiling a career college basketball record of 746–264. In his 39 seasons at the helm of the Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball program, his teams won 24 conference championships and three national titles. The Helms Athletic Foundation retroactively recognized Allen's 1921–22 and 1922–23 Kansas teams as national champions. Allen's 1951–52 squad won the 1952 NCAA Tournament and his Jayhawks were runners-up in the NCAA Tournament in 1940 and 1953. His 590 wins are the most of any coach in the storied history of the Kansas basketball program.

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Pop Gates
William "Pop" Gates (August 30, 1917 – December 1, 1999) was an American professional basketball player. He was born in Decatur, Alabama and attended high school in New York, New York. After playing college basketball at Clark Atlanta University, he continued his basketball career in New York City with the Harlem Renaissance, for several years beginning in 1938–39. He became one of the early black players in the NBL in 1946. Later he played for and coached the Harlem Globetrotters. Gates is one the few athletes who went directly from a high school championship team (Benjamin Franklin, New York, 1938) to a World Professional Champion (Rens, 1939).
Gates was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player in 1989.

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Ralph Miller
Ralph H. Miller (March 9, 1919 – May 15, 2001) was an American basketball coach. A native of Chanute, Kansas, Miller coached at the University of Wichita (1951–1964), the University of Iowa (1964–1970) and Oregon State University (1970–1989), compiling a 657-382 (.632) overall record in 38 seasons combined. He was enshrined to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach on May 3, 1988. His teams had losing records only three times.
Miller was a standout athlete in high school and college. At Chanute High School in Kansas, he won letters in football, track, basketball, golf and tennis. He was an all-state basketball player for three years.
In college at the University of Kansas, he won three letters as a football quarterback and three in basketball. He set the state record in the low hurdles in 1937. He was all-state three consecutive years in football and basketball. By 1940, he was beating the 1932 gold medalist in the decathlon Jim Baush in seven of 10 events.
As an undergraduate, he was coached by the legendary Phog Allen. In one of Miller's classes, a guest lecturer was Dr. James Naismith, the inventor of basketball.

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Ralph Sampson
Ralph Lee Sampson, Jr. (born July 7, 1960) is a retired American college and professional basketball player.
A 7-foot-4 phenom, three-time College Player of the Year, and No. 1 pick in the 1983 NBA Draft, Sampson brought heavy expectations with him to the NBA.
The NBA Rookie of the Year, Sampson averaged 20.7 points and 10.9 rebounds for his first three seasons with the Houston Rockets before injuries began to take their toll. Three knee surgeries later he retired a four-time All-Star whose career highlight ended up being a buzzer-beating shot to dethrone the Los Angeles Lakers as Western Conference champions, derailing their hopes for coveted back-to-back NBA titles and sending the Rockets to their second NBA Finals in the team's history to that point.
Sampson was already 6-foot-7 inches tall by the ninth grade, reaching 7-foot-3 in high school in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He averaged nearly 30 points, 19 rebounds, and 7 blocked shots as a senior (after averaging 14 points and 11 rebounds as a sophomore, and 19 points and 17 rebounds as a junior), at Harrisonburg High, leading the team to state AA basketball championships in 1978 and 1979. His senior year he lost the high school player of the year award to another talented center, Sam Bowie. However, he did get a form of revenge against Bowie, outplaying him in the Capital Classic, getting 23 points and 21 rebounds with 4 blocks in a game styled "Battle of the Giants".

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Randy Pfund
Randell "Randy" Pfund (born December 29, 1951 in Oak Park, Illinois) is an American former National Basketball Association (NBA) head coach and a former NBA executive. He was an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers under Pat Riley and Mike Dunleavy, and was the team's head coach during the 1992–93 and 1993–94 seasons, although he was let go near the end of his second season, being replaced for the remainder of the year by Magic Johnson. He was the general manager for the Miami Heat until September 29, 2008.
Pfund played college basketball at Wheaton College, where he amassed a cumulative scoring average of well over double figures, averaging nearly 25 points per game in his senior season.
His father, Lee Pfund pitched for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945.

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Ray Meyer
Raymond Joseph Meyer (December 18, 1913 – March 17, 2006) was an American men's collegiate basketball coach from Chicago, Illinois. He was well known for coaching at DePaul University from 1942 to 1984, compiling a 724–354 record. Meyer coached DePaul to 21 post-season appearances (13 NCAA, eight NIT).
In total, Meyer recorded 37 winning seasons and twelve 20-win seasons, including seven straight from 1978 to 1984. Two Meyer-coached teams reached the Final Four (1943 and 1979), and in 1945, Meyer led DePaul past Bowling Green to capture the National Invitation Tournament, the school's only post-season title. Meyer coached a College All-Star team that played a coast-to-coast series against the Harlem Globetrotters for 11 years. One of his best players was George Mikan, who was a game-changing player and basketball's first great "big man". Meyer recruited Mikan from Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary, a school Meyer had himself earlier attended.
Other top players coached by Meyer include former NBA players Mark Aguirre and Terry Cummings. During Meyer's tenure the basketball rivalry between DePaul and Loyola reached an extremely high level. Meyer's Great Great Nephew, Mike Starkman, played basketball for Loyola as a walk on. Meyer was a much-beloved figure in Chicago, and is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He was succeeded as DePaul coach by his son, Joey, who led the team for several more seasons, but less successfully than had his father.

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Ray Woods
Ray James Woods (February 2, 1895 – October 1965) was an American college basketball standout for Illinois in the 1910s. A guard, Woods helped lead the Fighting Illini to two Big Ten Conference championships in 1915 and 1917, with the former being an undefeated 16–0 season that resulted in a retroactive national championship. In all three seasons he played at the school, Woods was named an All-American and was honored as the Helms Foundation National Player of the Year as a senior in 1916–17. He was Illinois' first-ever All-American in basketball and teamed up with his brother, Ralf (a forward), in guiding the school to their first era of basketball dominance. Woods was elected to the "Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004.
Prior to matriculating at the University of Illinois, Woods and his brother Ralf attended Evanston High School in Evanston, Illinois.

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Red Auerbach
Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American basketball coach of the Washington Capitols, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and the Boston Celtics. After he retired from coaching, he served as president and front office executive of the Celtics until his death. As a coach, he won 938 games (a record at his retirement) and nine National Basketball Association (NBA) championships (surpassed only by Phil Jackson). As general manager and team president of the Celtics, he won an additional seven NBA titles, for a grand total of 16 in a span of 29 years, making him one of the most successful team officials in the history of North American professional sports.
Auerbach is remembered as a pioneer of modern basketball, redefining basketball as a game dominated by team play and tough defense rather than individual feats and high scoring and introducing the fast break as a potent offensive weapon. He groomed many players who went on to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Additionally, Auerbach was vital in breaking down color barriers in the NBA. He made history by drafting the first African-American NBA player, Chuck Cooper in 1950, and introduced the first African-American starting five in 1964. Famous for his polarizing nature, he was well known for smoking a cigar when he thought a victory was assured, a habit that became, for many, "the ultimate symbol of victory" during his Boston tenure.

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Red Holzman
William "Red" Holzman (August 10, 1920 – November 13, 1998) was an NBA basketball player and coach probably best known as the head coach of the New York Knicks from 1967 to 1982. Holzman helped lead the Knicks to two NBA Championships in 1970 and 1973, and was elected into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985. In 1996, Holzman was named one of Top 10 Coaches in NBA History.
Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1920, to Jewish immigrant parents, as the son of a Romanian mother and Russian father. Holzman grew up in that borough's Ocean Hill-Brownsville neighborhood and played basketball for Franklin K. Lane High School in the mid-1930s. He attended the University of Baltimore and later the City College of New York, where he played for two years until graduation in 1942. Holzman joined the United States Navy in the same year, and played on the Norfolk, Virginia Naval Base team for two years.
Holzman was discharged from the Navy in 1945 and subsequently joined the NBL Rochester Royals, which won the NBL championship in Holzman's first season. Holzman was Rookie of the Year in 1944–45. In 1945–46 and 1947–48 he was on the NBL's first All League team; in the interim year he was on its second team.[1] Holzman stayed with the team through their move to the NBA and subsequent NBA championship in 1951. In 1953, Holzman left the Royals and joined the Milwaukee Hawks as a player-coach, eventually retiring as a player in 1954 but continuing as the team's head coach. During the 1956–1957 season, Holzman led the Hawks (then in St. Louis, Missouri) to 19 losses during their first 33 games, and was subsequently fired.

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Red Mihalik
Zigmund "Red" Mihalik (September 22, 1916–September 25, 1996) was an American basketball player and referee.
He was born 30 miles north of Pittsburgh in Ford City, Pennsylvania, and took up refereeing when officials for a high school game failed to show up. During the 1940s, the 6'1" Mihalik played professionally for the Pittsburgh Ironmen of the Basketball Association of American and the Youngstown Bears of the National Basketball League. He then embarked upon a long officiating career, working games for the NBA, NCAA, Summer Olympics and still finding time to ref WPIAL High School games in and around Pittsburgh [1]. He was deemed the best official of the game on all levels in the 1950s by Dell Publications. He was widely considered just that until an oncourt knee injury forced him into retirement in 1972. Widely considered one of the best basketball referees in history, he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1986. He was inducted into the National Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.

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Renato William Jones
Renato William Jones (October 5, 1906 in Rome, Italy – April 22, 1981 in Munich, Germany), also known as R. William, or simply William Jones, was a popularizer of basketball in Europe and in Asia. He holds an honorary doctorate from Springfield College.
He was one of the founding fathers of the Fédération Internationale de Basketball Amateur (FIBA) in 1932 and served as the first Secretary-General from 1932 until 1976. From 1932 he was eager to convince the IOC that an Olympic tournament should be organized in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games. After the International Handball Federation (IAHF) renounced on its responsibility for basketball in 1934, FIBA was accepted as autonomous body by IOC and the Berlin tourney could be held under Jones' supervision. Later, he was made secretary general of the International Council of Sport and Physical Education in 1958.
He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1964,FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007^{[citation needed]} and also as patron of the Amateur Basketball Association of England in 1973.

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Rick Barry
Richard Francis Dennis Barry III (born March 28, 1944), better known as Rick Barry, is a retired American professional basketball player. He is considered by many veteran basketball observers^[who?] to be one of the greatest pure small forwards of all time as a result of his very precise outside shot, uncanny court vision, knowledge and execution of team defense principles, tenacious and ofttimes demanding will to win, and unorthodox but accurate underhanded free throw shooting. Barry is one of the few elite players who altered their games without losing effectiveness; he broke into the professional ranks as a rebounder and all-purpose scorer before he became a primary ball distributor and lethal perimeter threat.
Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in history by the NBA in 1996, Barry is the only player to lead the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), ABA and NBA in scoring for an individual season. In 1987, Barry was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

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Robert Gruenig
Robert F. "Ace" Gruenig (March 12, 1913 – August 11, 1958) was a United States amateur basketball player during the 1930s and 1940s.
The 6 ft. 8 in. (203 cm) Gruenig is considered as one of the game's first great big men. The Chicago, Illinois native led his high school, Crane Tech, to the Chicago Public High School League championship in 1931. He attended Northwestern University, but withdrew after his freshman year without having played for the varsity. While playing for several AAU teams in the following decade, Gruenig was named AAU All-America 10 times (1937–40, 1942–46, 1948). Furthermore, he led the Denver Safeway (1937), Denver Nuggets (1939) and Denver American Legion (1942) teams to AAU championships. On August 11, 1963, Gruenig was enshrined to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

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Robert Kessler
Dr. Robert L. Kessler (November 25, 1914 – September 5, 2001) was standout basketball player at Purdue University in the NCAA and then with the Indianapolis Kautskys in the National Basketball League (NBL).
Kessler was from Anderson, Indiana and attended Anderson High School where he graduated in 1932. He then enrolled at Purdue and played on the men's varsity basketball team for his final three years under future Hall of Fame coach Ward Lambert. Kessler was a two-time All-American (1935–36), and as a senior he became Purdue's first ever consensus All-American.
After college, Kessler played professionally for three seasons in the NBL for the Indianapolis Kautskys. He was named the league's Rookie of the Year in 1937–38, although Kessler's teams never once qualified for the postseason. In his later life, Kessler worked at General Motors and eventually became its vice president.

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Robert Parish
Robert Lee Parish (born August 30, 1953) is a retired American basketball center. He was known for his strong defense and jump shooting, and was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003. In 1996, Parish was also named as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History. His nickname was The Chief, after the fictitious Chief Bromden, a silent, giant Native American character in the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. According to Parish, former Celtics forward Cedric Maxwell gave him this nickname because of his stoic nature.
Although Parish had a successful college career at Centenary College of Louisiana from 1972–1976, he received virtually no notice because of one of the most severe penalties ever levied by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
In 1965, the NCAA adopted the so-called "1.6 rule" to determine academic eligibility of incoming freshmen. Under its provisions, freshmen would academically qualify if their high school grades and standardized test scores predicted a minimum college grade point average of 1.6 on a 4-point scale.

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Ronnie McCollum
Ronnie Allen McCollum II (born December 28, 1978) is an American professional basketball player for various teams in different countries, most recently with Intercollege ETHA in Cyprus Basketball Division 1. McCollum has had a successful international career, but it was his collegiate career playing for the Centenary Gentlemen basketball team between 1997–98 and 2000–01 for which he is best known.
McCollum was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but grew up in Fayette. He attended Fayette County High School from 1993–94 to 1996–97 where he was a star basketball player. He averaged 17 points per game (ppg) as a freshman, 20 ppg as a sophomore, 22 ppg as a junior and then finished second in the state in scoring as a senior with 30 ppg. In his final two seasons, McCollum was a 5A All-State selection and conference MVP awardee as FCHS finished ranked in the top five in the state. For his high school career, he recorded 2,204 points, 750 rebounds, 400 assists and 150 steals. McCollum signed to play NCAA Division I basketball at the Centenary College of Louisiana on April 23, 1997.

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Roy Wier
Roy William Wier (February 25, 1888 – June 27, 1963) was a U.S. Representative from Minnesota; born in Redfield, Spink County, South Dakota; moved with his parents in 1896 to Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota; attended the public schools and North High School; learned the telephone and electrical trade, later going into theatrical stage-lighting work; during the First World War served in the United States Army for eighteen months, with overseas service; in 1920 became active in the trade-union movement in Minneapolis and had been officially a representative of the Trades and Labor Assembly of Minneapolis; member of the Minnesota House of Representatives 1933 – 1939; member of the Minneapolis Board of Education 1939 – 1948 and the board of directors of Hennepin County Red Cross; elected as a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party to the 81st, 82nd, 83rd, 84th, 85th, and 86th congresses, (January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1961); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1960 to the 87th congress; was a resident of Minneapolis until May 1962, when he moved to Edmonds, Washington; died in Seattle, Washington, June 27, 1963; remains were cremated and the ashes deposited in the columbarium of Evergreen Washelli Cemetery.

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Ruben Douglas
Ruben Enrique Douglas (born October 30, 1979 in Pasadena, California, U.S.) is a Panamanian-American professional basketball player. He is a 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) 210 lb (95 kg) point guard-shooting guard.
He played high school basketball at Bellarmine-Jefferson High School in Burbank, California. He is ranked as one of the most prolific high school scorers in California state history. He then played college basketball at the University of Arizona with the Arizona Wildcats in the 1998-99 season. Douglas led the NCAA in scoring with a 28.0 points per game average during the 2002-03 season as a senior year at the University of New Mexico while playing with the New Mexico Lobos. He was also named the Mountain West Conference MVP.
After going undrafted by any NBA teams, Douglas took his game overseas. He has played for Panionios of the Greek league (2003–04), Virtus Roma and Fortitudo Bologna (2004–05) of the Italian league, the latter with whom he won the Italian national championship, as well as Dynamo Moscow of the Russian league (2005–06), and Valencia of the Spanish league (2006–09). In 2010 he returned to Panionios.

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Rudy Tomjanovich
Rudolph Tomjanovich, Jr. (born November 24, 1948), nicknamed Rudy T., is an American retired basketball player and coach who coached the Houston Rockets to two consecutive NBA championships. He is currently a scout for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Tomjanovich was born in Hamtramck, Michigan to a family of Croatian descent. He attended high school in Hamtramck and later the University of Michigan (from 1967 to 1970)
In college, Tomjanovich set Michigan Wolverines men's basketball career rebounding records that continue to stand. In 1968 he earned second team All-Big Ten honors, which he followed with first-team honors in 1969 and 1970. During 1970 he was also an All-American.
Tomjanovich was selected in the 1970 NBA Draft as the second overall pick by the San Diego Rockets (the franchise relocated to Houston in 1971), for whom he would play the entirety of his NBA career. He was also drafted in both 1970 and 1974 by the Utah Stars of the ABA. In his eleven years in the NBA, Tomjanovich had a scoring average of 17.4 points and a rebounding average of 8.1, earning five All-Star Game selections in the process (1974–1977, 1979). He is the third-leading scorer in Rockets history behind Hall of Famers Calvin Murphy and Hakeem Olajuwon. Because his last name was so long, the back of Tomjanovich's jerseys would read "RUDY T.", rather than his 11 character name.

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Sam Barry
Justin McCarthy "Sam" Barry (December 17, 1892 – September 23, 1950) was an American collegiate athletic coach who achieved significant accomplishments in three major sports. He remains one of only three coaches to lead teams to both the Final Four and the College World Series.
Barry was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota. After starring in basketball, baseball and football while a high school student in Madison, Wisconsin, he continued his success at Lawrence College, later completing his degree at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He returned to Madison High School to begin his coaching career, and then proceeded to become athletic director at Knox College in Illinois from 1918 to 1922, where he also served as coach of football, basketball, baseball and track.
In 1922, Barry was named basketball coach at the University of Iowa, and also became a football assistant under then Hawkeyes coach Howard Jones, an association which would continue for 15 years at two universities. Barry also coached the Iowa baseball team in 1923 and 1924. He led the Hawkeye basketball team to Big Ten Conference co-championships in 1923 and 1926—the first two conference titles in team history—and helped Jones guide the football squad to an undefeated 7–0 season in 1922, winning a share of the Big Ten title—the last for Hawkeyes football until 1956.

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Sandro Gamba
Alessandro Gamba (born June 3, 1932 in Milan), better known as, Sandro Gamba, is an Italian former professional basketball coach and player. Gamba was a finalist for induction into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005, and was elected as a member in 2006. He is also a member of the Italian Basketball Hall of Fame, inducted in 2006.
Gamba played for only one team, winning ten Italian Championships with Olimpia Milano (1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1963), and also captained the Italian national team (for which he had debuted in 1952) at the 1960 Summer Olympic Games.
Gamba retired from play in 1965, and became a coach in the top Italian professional league, Serie A, where he coached teams from Olimpia Milano (1965-1973), Varese (1973-1977), Auxilium Torino (1977-1980), and Virtus Bologna (1985-1987). He led Varese to two Italian Championships (1974, 1977) and two European Champions Cup (Euroleague) titles, in 1975 and 1976.
From 1979 to 1992, except for a break in 1985-1987, Gamba was the coach of the Italian national team, and led them at the Summer Olympic Games in 1980 (where they won a silver medal), in 1984, in 1988, and in 1992. He also coached Italy's national team at the FIBA European Basketball Championship seven times, winning a gold in 1983, a bronze in 1985, and a silver in 1991.

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Satch Sanders
Thomas Ernest "Satch" Sanders (born November 8, 1938, in New York City, New York) is a retired American college and professional basketball player and coach. He was a 6'6" and 210 lb forward. On April 4, 2011, it was announced that Sanders was elected to the 2011 class to enter the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor.
After playing at New York University as a stand out collegian he spent all of his 13 years in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the Boston Celtics, being part of eight championship teams in 1961-66, 1968 and 1969. In NBA history, only teammates Bill Russell and Sam Jones have won more championship rings during their playing careers. He ended his career in 1973. He coached the team for a brief period in 1978.

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Scott May
Scott Glenn May (born March 19, 1954 in Sandusky, Ohio) is a retired American professional basketball player.
Scott May played as a 6'7" forward for Bob Knight and the Indiana University Hoosiers from 1972-1976. He began with a rocky start after being declared academically ineligible his freshman year. As a sophomore he began to feel more confident in his studies, and the future championship nucleus of May, Kent Benson, Quinn Buckner and Bob Wilkerson started to gel. "Our group knew what we wanted. We were going to do whatever it took to win it all."
In his last two seasons with the school, 1974-75 and 1975-76, the Hoosiers were undefeated in the regular season and won 37-consecutive Big Ten games. The 1974-75 Hoosiers swept the entire Big Ten by an average of 22.8 points per game. However, in a 83-82 win against Purdue, May broke his left arm. With May's injury keeping him to 7 minutes of play, the No. 1 Hoosiers lost to Kentucky 92-90 in the Mideast Regional. The Hoosiers were so dominant that four starters - May, Steve Green, Kent Benson and Quinn Buckner - would make the five-man All-Big Ten team. The following season, 1975–76, the Hoosiers went the entire season and 1976 NCAA tournament without a single loss, beating Michigan 86–68 in the title game. Indiana remains the last school to accomplish this feat.

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Scottie Pippen
Scottie Pippen (born September 25, 1965) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the National Basketball Association. He is most remembered for his time with the Chicago Bulls, with whom he was instrumental in 6 NBA titles and their record 1995–96 season of 72 wins. Pippen, along with Michael Jordan, played an important role in transforming the Bulls team into a vehicle for popularizing the NBA around the world during the 1990s.
Considered one of the best small forwards of all time, Pippen was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team 8 straight times and the All-NBA First Team three times. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star and was the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1994. He was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History during the 1996–97 season, and is one of four players to have his jersey retired by the Chicago Bulls (the others being Jerry Sloan, Bob Love, and Michael Jordan). During his seventeen-year career, he played twelve seasons with the Bulls, one with the Houston Rockets and four with the Portland Trail Blazers, making the postseason sixteen straight times. Pippen is also the only person to have won an NBA title and Olympic gold medal in the same year twice (1992, 1996). Pippen was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame on August 13, 2010.

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Sergei Belov
Sergei Alexandrovich Belov (Russian: Серге́й Алекса́ндрович Бело́в; born January 23, 1944, in the village of Nashchyokovo, Shegarsky District, Tomsk Oblast, Soviet Union) is a former professional basketball player, most noted for playing for the Soviet Union national basketball team at the Olympic Games. He trained at Trud Voluntary Sports Society, and later at Armed Forces sports society.
In 1968, he became an Honored Master of Sports of the USSR. Later, he became an Honored Coach of Russia (1995), and the President of the Russian Basketball Federation (1993–98).
Belov is considered to be one of the best non-American basketball players of all time. He was given the honor of lighting the Olympic Cauldron with the Olympic flame, during the 1980 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, in Moscow. In 1991, FIBA named him the Best FIBA Player Ever.
He became the first international player to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on May 11, 1992. He was inducted into the FIBA Hall of Fame in 2007. He was named of the 50 Greatest Euroleague Contributors in 2008.

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Shane Battier
Shane Courtney Battier (born September 9, 1978) is an American professional basketball player. He currently plays with the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. He has also been a member of the U.S. national team.
Battier was born and raised in Birmingham, Michigan, and attended Detroit Country Day School in Beverly Hills, Michigan, where he won many awards including 1997 "Mr. Basketball of Michigan." He went on to play four years of college basketball at Duke, where he captured the 2001 National Championship and swept the major National Player of the Year awards. Battier was selected with the sixth overall pick of the 2001 NBA Draft by the Vancouver Grizzlies and was traded five years later to the Houston Rockets. He was then traded back to the Memphis Grizzles during the 2010-2011 NBA season. His number has been retired by both Detroit Country Day School and Duke University. He is widely known for his aggressive defense and being able to guard the league's best players.
Battier was an outlier from his childhood; by the time he entered Country Day as a seventh-grader, he was already 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m), and was 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) a year later. He was also the only child in the school with a black father and a white mother. As Michael Lewis put it in a 2009 article, the young Battier "was shuttling between a black world that treated him as white and a white world that treated him as black." More specifically in the context of basketball, Lewis noted that "the inner-city kids with whom he played on the A.A.U. circuit treated Battier like a suburban kid with a white game, and the suburban kids he played with during the regular season treated him like a visitor from the planet where they kept the black people." Battier also noted that his cerebral approach to the game was forged from that time:

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Shawn Respert
Shawn Christopher Respert (born February 6, 1972 in Detroit, Michigan) is a retired American professional basketball player who currently works as a player development coach with the Minnesota Timberwolves. A 6'1", 195 lb. shooting guard, he attended Bishop Borgess High School, and he came to prominence while playing college basketball at Michigan State University where his jersey is now retired. He played professionally in the NBA for four seasons from 1995 to 1999.
Respert was a standout at Michigan State. He and point guard Eric Snow combined to form one of the nation's most prolific backcourt tandems for head coach Jud Heathcote's Spartans. He was a unanimous first team All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year with a 25.6 scoring average during his senior season.
Respert was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1st round, with the 8th overall pick, of the 1995 NBA Draft. The Blazers traded his NBA rights to the Milwaukee Bucks for the rights to Gary Trent and a first-round pick. Respert was traded to Toronto in his second year, where he scored 5.6 points a game. He next played briefly in Dallas the next season and then had a second stint with the Raptors. Respert finished his career in Phoenix during the 1998-99 season. He was under contract with Los Angeles Lakers for a brief period in October 2000 but was waived before playing in any NBA games for them. In his NBA career, Respert played in 172 games and scored a total of 851 points on averages of 4.9 points in 13.7 minutes per game.

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Sid Tanenbaum
Sidney Tanenbaum (October 8, 1925 – September 4, 1986) was an American basketball player.
A 6' 0" guard/forward, Tanenbaum played college basketball at New York University, where he was a two-time All-American and two-time Haggerty Award winner. He also won the 1947 Bar Kochba Award, which honored him as the best Jewish American athlete. He left NYU as the school's all-time leading scorer, with 992 points.
Sid Tanenbaum played two seasons (1947–49) in the Basketball Association of America as a member of the New York Knicks and Baltimore Bullets. He scored 633 points in 70 games and tallied 162 assists. After his basketball career, he lived in Woodmere, NY with his wife Barbara and sons Steven and Michael. Sid owned a machine shop specializing in metal spinning (a lost art requiring unique skills) in Far Rockaway, Queens.
Tanenbaum died on September 4, 1986, aged 60, after being stabbed to death by a local woman in his shop. Police described Tanenbaum as "something of a benefactor in his neighborhood" who often gave money to people living in the streets. According to reports, he was stabbed because he decided to stop lending money to his attacker after assisting her many times in the past.

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Sidney Wicks
Sidney Wicks (born September 19, 1949) is a retired American basketball player. A native of California, he played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins and played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1971 to 1981. In the NBA he played for the Portland Trail Blazers, Boston Celtics, and San Diego Clippers, earning NBA Rookie of the Year in 1972 as well as four all-star selections.
Sidney Wicks was born in Los Angeles, California, on September 19, 1949. He attended Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, but because of non-qualifying grades in high school, he had to attend Santa Monica College for a year until he could go to his preferred university, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Wicks later earned Academic All-America honors at UCLA in 1971.^{[citation needed]} He earned a degree in sociology from the school.
A 6'8" power forward/center, Wicks was a phenom at UCLA, playing on three straight NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championships from 1969 to 1971, the Bruins' star player on the latter two, being named the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four in 1970, Helms National Co-Player of the Year (1970) USBWA and Sporting News Player of the Year (1971) and two-time consensus All-American in 1970 and 1971. On Feb 1, 1996, his jersey #35 was retired in a halftime ceremony at UCLA's home court, Pauley Pavilion. Wicks was an 1985 inductee into the UCLA Athletic Hall of Fame and in 2010, was selected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

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Skinny Johnson
William C. "Skinny" Johnson (August 16, 1911 – February 5, 1980) was a well-known American basketball player during the 1930s. As a 6-4 (192 cm) center Johnson was among the tallest players of his time. The Oklahoma City native attended the University of Kansas (1929–33), where he was a three-year letterwinner under coach Phog Allen. He was named First-Team Big Six Conference twice (1932, 1933) as well as Second-Team Big Six Conference (1931) once. During the 1930s he played amateur basketball with several AAU teams. He briefly coached collegiate basketball at Cleveland Chiropractor College (1937) in Kansas City, Missouri as well. On May 2, 1977, Johnson was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a player.

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Slater Martin
Slater Nelson "Dugie" Martin Jr. (born October 22, 1925) is an American retired professional basketball player and coach who played the guard position for 11 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born in El Mina, Texas and played in seven NBA All-Star Games.
Martin was one of the NBA's best defensive players in the 1950s while playing for the George Mikan-led Minneapolis Lakers that won four NBA championships between 1950 and 1954. In 1956 he joined Bob Pettit's St. Louis Hawks and won another NBA title in 1958.
Martin is an alumnus of Jefferson Davis High School in Houston, where he led his school to two state basketball championships in 1942 and 1943.^[1] He is also a graduate of University of Texas at Austin, where he set a record in 1949 for putting up 49 points playing for the Texas Longhorns against the opposing Texas Christian University team. Throughout his career with the Longhorns, Martin averaged 12.7 points per game.^[2] His former high school now holds an annual funder raiser in his name, the "Slater Martin Golf Tournament", which successfully raises tens of thousands of dollars each year as an aid to high school student clubs and sports teams.

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Slats Gill
Amory Tingle "Slats" Gill (May 1, 1901 – April 5, 1966) was a men's basketball and baseball coach at Oregon State University.
Gill was born in Salem, Oregon, the youngest of eight children. His father died when he was a child. His nickname "Slats" was given to him at age 12. Gill was swimming in a local pond one summer afternoon. Upon exiting the pond, a buddy joked with Gill about his scrawny frame with his ribs protruding, which he said looked like slats in a picket fence. Gill was from then on known as Slats.
Gill attended Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) in Corvallis, Oregon. While at OAC, he played baseball from 1919 to 1921 and basketball from 1922 to 1924. Gill was an All-American forward in 1924.
Gill's first head coaching position was at a high school in Oakland, California. After one season there, he returned to Corvallis to be the head coach of the Rooks (the OSU freshman team). He spent two seasons in that capacity.
In the summer of 1928, OAC's current head coach Bob Hager was fired by then school president Jasper Kerr. Kerr did not look far for his new head coach. Even though Gill was only 27 years old and had just three years of coaching under his belt, Kerr hired him as the head basketball coach.

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Stacey King
Ronald Stacey King (born January 29, 1967 in Lawton, Oklahoma, U.S.) is an American former NBA center who won three consecutive championships with the Chicago Bulls from 1991 to 1993.
After a stand-out career at the University of Oklahoma, King was selected by the Bulls in the 1989 NBA Draft with the sixth pick. He was one of three first round picks by the Bulls in that draft (the other two were B. J. Armstrong and Jeff Sanders). He played four and a half seasons in Chicago before being traded during the 1993-94 campaign to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for 7'2" Australian-born center Luc Longley. He was last active during the 1996-97 season while playing a handful of games for both the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics.
King was named the head coach of the CBA's Rockford Lightning in 2001. The team reached the CBA championship game in 2002 with King as coach.
King began his career with CSN Chicago as a studio analyst for pre and post game shows for the Chicago Bulls. He filled in as a third commentator during the 2006 playoffs joining Johnny "Red" Kerr, and Tom Dore. He was permanently added during the 2007 season.

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Stan Watts
Stanley H. Watts (August 30, 1911 – April 6, 2000) was a college men's basketball coach, well-known for coaching Brigham Young University to a 372-254 record between 1949 and 1972. The Murray, Utah native was enshrined to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach on May 6, 1986.
Stan Watts became the sixth coach in history to win 100 games in his first five years, and on and off the court was a man of integrity and sportsmanship. Watts' BYU teams were disciplined and well-drilled units that favored an up-tempo style and relentless defensive pressure. In 23 seasons, Watts compiled a 371-254 (.594) record and established a strong basketball tradition and a national athletic identity for the Mormon school. His Cougars teams won eight conference titles, appeared in 11 postseason tournaments and captured the 1951 and 1966 National Invitation Tournament championships. Highly respected by his peers for his dedication to coaching and his community, Watts began his coaching career in 1938 at Millard High, then coached Dixie Junior College from 1941 to 1945 and Jordan High from 1945 to 1947. Watts was chosen as BYU's freshman coach in 1947 and inherited the varsity team in 1949. A master teacher, Watts' highly acclaimed book, Developing an Offensive Attack in Basketball (1958), became a standard manual on the fast break offense. From 1965 to 1966, Watts' "Runnin' Cougars" scored more than 100 points 21 times and at least 95 points 32 times. Watts' teaching skills were in constant demand at coaching clinics across the nation and in Europe, the Far East and South Africa. Watts served his coaching organization, the NABC, on numerous committees. He served on the Board of Directors from 1958 to 1968 and as president in 1970.

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Stanley Stutz
Stanley Stutz (born Stanley J. Modzelewski; April 14, 1920–October 28, 1975) was an American professional basketball player,
Stutz, a 5'10" guard-forward from Worcester, Massachusetts, attended the University of Rhode Island and Stutz played three seasons (1946–1949) in the Basketball Association of America as a member of the New York Knicks and Baltimore Bullets. He averaged 7.1 points per game in his career.
Stutz later coached the Washington Tapers of the American Basketball League.

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Stretch Murphy
Charles C. "Stretch" Murphy (April 10, 1907 – August 19, 1992) is a former American basketball player.
Charles Murphy played competitive basketball at Marion High School (1922–26), located in Marion, Indiana. The All-State player led his school to the Indiana state championship in 1926 during his senior year. He was recruited by men's head coach, Ward Lambert, at Purdue University, where he played for four seasons (1926–1930). Teaming with fellow Hall of Famer John Wooden, Murphy led the Boilers to the Big 10 championship in 1930 after an undefeated season in conference play (10-0). He set a new Big 10 scoring record for a season in 1929 with 143 points and led Purdue to a 53-13 overall record during his tenure. Murphy was named a Consensus All-American in both his junior and senior years and to the All-time All-American team. After graduating from Purdue, Murphy played for the American Basketball League's Chicago Bruins and the independent Indianapolis Kautskys.
Murphy was one of the game's first true big men. At 6'6" (1.98 m), he was an insurmountable force on both ends of the court. He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1960 and the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1963.

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Stu Lantz
Stuart (Stu) Burrell Lantz (born July 13, 1946, in Uniontown, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is a retired American basketball player and the current television commentator for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) on Fox Sports West and KCAL. He has been the Lakers' color commentator since 1987, sharing the microphone with Chick Hearn and winning numerous awards for his work along the way. The Southern California Sports Broadcasters Association has named Lantz best radio commentator in six of the last seven years.
Lantz played in the National Basketball Association from 1968 until 1976. He was drafted by the San Diego Rockets in the third round (1st pick) of the 1968 NBA Draft and by the Oakland Oaks in the 1968 ABA Draft after attending the University of Nebraska.

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Sue Gunter
Sue Gunter (May 22, 1939, Walnut Grove, Mississippi, USA - August 4, 2005, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA) was a women's college basketball coach. She is best known as the head coach of the LSU Lady Tigers basketball team.

A fine player in her own right, Gunter played AAU basketball for Nashville Business College from 1958-1962 earning AAU All-America honors in 1960. She attended George Peabody College for Teachers (now part of Vanderbilt University), along with Nera White. Gunter obtained both a bachelor's and a master's degree from Peabody in 1962. George Peabody did not have a women's basketball team, so she played for the AAU team in Nashille sponsored by Nashville Business College. She was also a member of the U.S. National Team, which competed against the Soviet Union, from 1960-1962.
Gunter began her coaching career at Middle Tennessee State University where she led the Blue Raiders to undefeated seasons in both of her years there (1962–1964). Gunter then had a very successful coaching stint at Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) in Nacogdoches, Texas. While at SFA, Gunter led the LadyJacks to a 266-87 mark in 16 years as head coach (1964–1980). In addition, she led SFA to four top 10 national rankings, including top 5 final rankings in 1979 and 1980. While at SFA, Gunter coached four sports—women's basketball, softball, tennis and track. Her basketball teams went to five Association of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) playoffs, won four state titles, and earned a regional crown. In 1980, she stepped down as coach at SFA and moved into the position of Director of Women's Athletics where she served two years before returning to the coaching ranks at LSU.

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Swen Nater
Swen Eric Nater (born January 14, 1950 in Den Helder, Netherlands) is a retired Dutch professional basketball player, primarily in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). He is the only player to have led both the NBA and ABA in rebounding. Nater was a two-time ABA All-Star and was the 1974 ABA Rookie of the Year. He played college basketball for the UCLA Bruins, winning two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) titles.
Nater helped John Wooden's UCLA Bruins win two NCAA titles. He was a backup to Bill Walton, and he never started a collegiate game.
Nater was drafted by The Floridians in the 1972 ABA Draft, and then by the Virginia Squires in the June 1972 ABA dispersal draft after the Floridians' demise. Nater was also drafted in the first round of the 1973 NBA Draft by the Milwaukee Bucks but in August 1973 opted to sign with the Virginia Squires of the ABA. On November 21, 1973 the Squires traded Nater to the San Antonio Spurs for a draft pick and $300,000.

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Tara VanDerveer
Tara VanDerveer (born June 26, 1953) has been the Stanford University women's basketball coach since 1985. She led the Stanford Cardinal to two NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championships: in 1990 and 1992. She stepped away from the Stanford program for a year to serve as the U.S. national team head coach at the 1996 Olympic Games. VanDerveer is the 1990 Naismith National Coach of the Year and a ten-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year. She is also one of only six NCAA Women's Basketball coaches to win at least 800 games.
VanDerveer was a standout player at Indiana University, and later coached at the Ohio State University. VanDerveer is also an avid piano player. Her sister Heidi VanDerveer, who coached for several years with the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx and Seattle Storm, now coaches at Occidental College in Los Angeles.
Vanderveer's Olympic team was considered one of the best ever assembled, and complied an 80–0 record over the course of the year, culminating in a gold medal at the Olympics in Atlanta.

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Tarzan Cooper
Charles "Tarzan" Cooper (August 30, 1907 – December 19, 1980) was an American professional basketball player. He is mostly known for his time with the New York Renaissance (1929–41).
Cooper was born in Newark, Delaware. After playing at Philadelphia Central High School, Cooper turned pro in 1925. He played for the Philadelphia Panthers and Philadelphia Giants until 1929 when he joined the fabulous New York Renaissance or Rens for eleven seasons. All were independent teams because the early professional leagues were all-white.
At 6 ft 4 in (193 cm), Cooper has been called the greatest center that ever played by Hall of Famer Joe Lapchick, center for the rival Original Celtics.
Cooper died at age 73 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

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Ted Kiendl
Theodore "Ted" Kiendl, Jr. (May 5, 1890 – July 1976) was an American college basketball player at Columbia University in the early 1900s who was a three-time All-American, one-time National Player of the Year and part of a retroactively-named national championship team in in 1909–10. In Kiendl's four seasons—between 1907–08 and 1910–11—the Lions compiled 42 wins and 16 losses. He was a team captain in his final three seasons and was also a three-time All-Eastern Interscholastic League selection (1908–09, 1911). Kiendl played the forward position and weighed 215 pounds (98 kg) by the time he was a senior in 1910–11. He also played on the school's baseball team and served as a captain for three years.
Kiendl was a member of the Sigma Nu fraternity. After completing his undergraduate schooling in 1911 he stayed at Columbia and earned his Bachelor of Laws degree from Columbia Law School in 1913. In his later life he served as a corporate lawyer in New York state.

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Teresa Edwards
Teresa Edwards (born July 19, 1964 in Cairo, Georgia) is an American former women's basketball player and coach. In 2000, Sports Illustrated magazine placed her as 22nd of the "100 Greatest Female Athletes of the 20th Century".
The US Olympic Committee appointed Edwards as chef de mission for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Edwards attended Cairo High School in Georgia, where she was a four year starter. In her junior and senior years, the Syrupmaids were 58–3. She scored 1,982 points in her high school career, and was honored as the Georgia High School Player of the Year in 1982.
Edwards began her college career at the University of Georgia where she was a two time All-American. She was the starting point guard for the Georgia Bulldogs, helping lead them to the Final Four in 1983 and 1985. Edwards played in her first Olympic Games as a collegian, and was the youngest member of the team,in 1984. Her college jersey number (#5) was retired, making her one of only three Lady Bulldog players given that honor.

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Terrance Bailey
Terrance Bailey (born July 3, 1965) is a former American basketball player who led NCAA Division I in scoring as a junior in 1985–86. A native of Newark, New Jersey, Bailey played at Wagner College for four years and established himself as one of the Northeast Conference's all-time greatest players.
Bailey played in 110 career games and scored a conference record 2,591 points, nearly 300 more than the next closest player. In his NCAA-leading junior season, he averaged 29.4 points per game, was named the Northeast Conference Player of the Year, an honorable mention All-American and was in his second of an unmatched three consecutive first team all-conference seasons. Bailey once had back-to-back 40 point games and was named Sports Illustrated's Player of the Week. The New York Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association twice named him to their All-Met team, and after his collegiate career ended, he was selected in the second round (42nd overall) in the 1987 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks. Bailey never played in the league, however, and today serves as a pre-school teacher in Trenton.

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Tex Winter
Morice Fredrick "Tex" Winter (born February 25, 1922) is an American basketball coach and innovator of the triangle offense.
Born near Wellington, Texas (a fact which later provided him with his nickname), Winter attended Huntington Park High School in Huntington Park, California and went on to graduate from the University of Southern California in 1947, where he learned the triangle offense from Sam Barry. At USC, Winter was a teammate of Gene Rock, a future professional basketball player. Also a track athlete at the college level as a pole vaulter, Winter was considered a strong candidate for the US Olympic team in 1944. However, the Olympics were cancelled by World War II. He left USC in early 1943 and entered the United States Navy for flight training. His pilot's wings were conferred late the same year. He remained in Illinois for the duration of his service.
After graduating college, Winter immediately entered the coaching profession as an assistant to Hall-of-Famer Jack Gardner at Kansas State University. He would stay in coaching for the next 57 consecutive years.

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Tim Duncan
Timothy Theodore "Tim" Duncan (born April 25, 1976) is an American professional basketball player for the San Antonio Spurs of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 6-foot 11-inch (2.11 m), 255-pound (116 kg)power forward/center is a four-time NBA champion, two-time NBA MVP, three-time NBA Finals MVP, and NBA Rookie of the Year. The Spurs' team captain, he is a 13 time NBA All-Star and the only player in NBA history to be selected to both All-NBA and All-Defensive Teams during each of his first 13 seasons.
Duncan started out as a swimmer and only began playing basketball in ninth grade after Hurricane Hugo destroyed the only Olympic-sized pool on his home of St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. He soon became a standout for St. Dunstan's Episcopal High School, and had an illustrious college career with the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons, winning the Naismith College Player of the Year, USBWA College Player of the Year and John Wooden awards in his final year. Duncan graduated from college before entering the 1997 NBA Draft as the number one pick. His list of accomplishments, remarkable consistency, and leadership in the Spurs' NBA championship runs in 1999, 2003, 2005, and 2007 have led basketball experts to consider him to be one of the greatest power forwards in NBA history.

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Tom Gola
Thomas Joseph "Tom" Gola (born January 13, 1933, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a retired American basketball player.
Gola was praised as a great all-around player as a high school student at La Salle College High School, where he led the Explorers to a Philadelphia Catholic League Championship. He entered La Salle a year after another Philadelphia basketball Hall of Famer, Paul Arizin, graduated from Villanova.
Gola was one of the most talented collegiate athletes in Philadelphia sports history. He came to national attention while playing for the hometown La Salle University Explorers men's basketball team in 1954 as an All-American forward. Gola paced the Explorers to the NCAA basketball championship in 1954 and was named Tournament MVP. That same season he was selected as National Player of the Year. As a senior, Gola helped La Salle finish as the runner-up in the 1955 NCAA Tournament. He averaged 20.9 points and 19.0 rebounds during 115 games and holds the NCAA record with 2,201 career rebounds. At 6'6" (198 cm), Gola was clearly a forward who could shoot/score, rebound and defend, but he also had the ballhandling (dribbling, passing) skills of a guard, and with his shooting range and All-Pro defensive skills, could play just as well in the backcourt. He was inducted into the La Salle Hall of Athletes in 1961 and the Big 5 Hall of Fame in 1986. Gola was listed on "ESPN's Countdown to the Greatest" College basketball players as #17.

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Tom Heinsohn
Thomas William "Tom" Heinsohn (born August 26, 1934) is a retired American professional basketball player. He has been associated with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) for six decades as a player, coach and broadcaster. He played for the Celtics from 1956 to 1965, and also coached the team from 1969 to 1978. He has been granted Hall of Fame Status for his success as both a player and a coach. He helped form the NBA players union. He is the only person to have the distinction of being involved in an official team capacity in each of the Celtics' 17 championships, as well as each of their 21 NBA Finals appearances. He is currently the color commentator on the Celtics' television broadcasts on CSN New England.
Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Heinsohn was a standout at St. Michael's High School in nearby Union City. He accepted a scholarship to Holy Cross and became the school's all-time leading scorer with 1,789 points, an average of 22.1 points per game. During his senior year, Heinsohn scored a school record 51 points in a game against Boston College.

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Tony Hinkle
Paul D. "Tony" Hinkle (December 19, 1899 – September 22, 1992) was an American football, basketball, and baseball player, coach, and college athletic administrator in the United States. He attended the University of Chicago, where he won varsity letters in three sports. Hinkle captained the Chicago Maroons basketball team for two seasons was twice selected as an All-American, in 1919 and 1920. After graduating from the University of Chicago, Hinkle moved on to Butler University as a coach. There, over the course of nearly 50 years, he served as the head football coach (1926, 1935–1941, 1946–1969), head basketball coach (1926–1942, 1945–1970), and head baseball coach (1921–1928, 1933–1941, 1946–1970). Hinkle was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor in 1965. Butler's home basketball arena was renamed as Hinkle Fieldhouse in the coach's honor in 1966.
Hinkle was born in Logansport, Indiana, to Edgar Clayton and Winnie (Ray) Hinkle. He graduated in 1917 from Calumet High School in Gary, Indiana and attended the University of Chicago from 1917 to 1921. As a player at Chicago, he lettered three times in basketball, was twice All-Big Ten, twice team captain, named to the Helms All-America team in 1920, was a member of the Big Ten Conference championship team in 1919–20, losing the national championship to Penn.

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Tony Jaros
Anthony Joseph Jaros (February 22, 1920–April 22, 1995) was an American professional basketball player.
A 6'3" (1.90 m) forward/guard from the University of Minnesota, Jaros played four seasons (1946–1947; 1948–1951) in the Basketball Association of America/National Basketball Association as a member of the Chicago Stags and Minneapolis Lakers. He averaged 5.4 points per game in his BAA/NBA career and won two league championships with the Lakers. He also spent one season in the National Basketball League.
Jaros went to Edison High School in Northeast Minneapolis, and later owned a well-known bar in that neighborhood that bears his name to this day. Tony Jaros' River Garden bar is home of the "Greenie" a very strong lime-flavored drink made with vodka. The bar has several photos of Jaros, as well as one of his last NBA Pension checks, framed on the wall.

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Tony Lavelli
Anthony Lavelli, Jr. (July 11, 1926 – January 8, 1998) was an American basketball player and musician. He averaged 6.9 points per game during his two year NBA career (1949–1951) while also providing half-time entertainment with his accordion performances.
A native of Somerville, Massachusetts, Lavelli attended Yale University as a music student and was a member of Skull and Bones. He aspired to compose musical comedies after he graduated. He wrote over a dozen songs while in college, with titles like "I Want a Helicopter" and "You're the Boppiest Bee-Bop", and he also appeared as an accordion soloist for the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. As a senior, he applied to the Juilliard School, the Curtis Institute of Music, and the New England Conservatory of Music.
However, Lavelli's musical talents were often overshadowed by his achievements on the basketball court. Lavelli claimed that he had only learned basketball as a teenager to impress his friends, who were mostly apathetic to his music. Nevertheless, he would become one of Yale's all-time greatest players. A 6'3" forward with an accurate one-handed hook shot, he scored 1,964 points in four years and graduated as the fourth highest-scorer in college basketball history. He also earned four All-American team selections and one Player of the Year award during his college career. Upon graduating, he was selected as the first overall pick of the Boston Celtics in the 1949 BAA Draft.

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Tracy McGrady
Tracy Lamar McGrady, Jr. (born May 24, 1979) is an American professional basketball player with the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA.
Entering the league after graduating from high school, McGrady eventually became a seven-time All-Star. He led the league in scoring in 2003 and 2004. He has also played for the Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets, New York Knicks, and Detroit Pistons. McGrady was ranked on SLAM Magazine's "Top 75 Players of All-Time" in 2003. McGrady's style of play has been compared to that of George Gervin.
Tracy McGrady played high school basketball at Auburndale High School in Auburndale, Florida for three years. He then transferred to Mount Zion Christian Academy, in Durham, North Carolina. McGrady created a national buzz after his performance in the Adidas ABCD Camp, where the best high school players in the U.S. are invited annually. He was named High School Player of the Year by USA Today. McGrady has stated that if he had not gone straight to the NBA from high school, he would have attended Kentucky.

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Truck Robinson
Leonard Eugene Robinson (born October 4, 1951 in Jacksonville, Florida) was a power forward for the Washington Bullets (1974–77), Atlanta Hawks (1977), New Orleans Jazz (1977–79), Phoenix Suns (1979–82), and New York Knicks (1982–85).
He helped the Bullets win the 1975 NBA Eastern Conference and the Suns win the 1981 NBA Pacific Division.
Robinson was named to the 1978 East All-Star Team and the 1981 West All-Star Team.
He was named to the 1978 All-NBA First Team.
Robinson led the NBA in minutes played (3,638), defensive rebounds (990), total rebounds (1,288) and rebounds per game (15.7) during the 1977-78 season.
He ranks 86th on the NBA/ABA career offensive rebounds list (1,985), 43rd on the career defensive rebounds list (5,282), 81st on the total rebounds list (7,267) and 73rd on the career rebounds per game list (9.4).
In 11 seasons Robinson played in 772 games, stayed 25,141 minutes on the court and had a .483 field goal percentage (4,816 for 9,971), .662 free throw percentage (2,355 for 3,556), 7,267 total rebounds (1,985 offensive and 5,282 defensive), 1,348 assists, 533 steals, 510 blocks, 2,253 personal fouls and 11,988 points.

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Tyler Hansbrough
Andrew Tyler Hansbrough (born November 3, 1985) is an American basketball player for the Indiana Pacers. Hansbrough completed a college basketball career with the North Carolina Tar Heels men's basketball team in 2009, and was drafted into the NBA by the Indiana Pacers with the 13th pick of the 1st round of the 2009 NBA Draft. Hansbrough was a unanimous selection for the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 Atlantic Coast Conference All Conference Team, 2006 ACC Freshman of the Year, and 2008 ACC Player of the Year. He is the ACC's all-time leading scorer. In 2008, he won the Wooden Award and was the National Player of the Year. His jersey (number 50) was retired on February 10, 2010 during a Duke-North Carolina rivalry game.
Hansbrough attended Poplar Bluff High School in Poplar Bluff, Missouri and led the Mules to consecutive Missouri state championships. (Missouri State High School Activities Association) Class 5 for the 2003–2004 and 2004–2005 seasons. In 2005, Hansbrough helped Poplar Bluff beat the then undefeated and number one team in the nation, Vashon High School. While in high school he made the Missouri All-State team twice and averaged 28.2 points and 13.4 rebounds per game as a senior. Due to his growing popularity, ESPN featured a high school game on ESPN2 in which Hansbrough's Mules were beaten 56–40 by Greg Oden and his Lawrence North High School team out of Indianapolis, IN. Hansbrough accepted an offer to play basketball for North Carolina, turning down scholarship offers to play at Duke, Florida, Missouri, Kansas and Kentucky.

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Uljana Semjonova
Uļjana Semjonova (Russian: Ульяна Ларионовна Семенова), (born March 9, 1952 in village Medumi, Daugavpils District, Latvia) is a retired Soviet Latvian basketball player.
Standing at 2.13 m (7 ft 0 in) Semjonova was the leading women's basketball player in the world in the 1970s and 1980s. Wearing a men's size 21 (US) / 58 (EU) shoe, she was known for having the largest feet ever in women's basketball. For almost all of her playing career, she played for TTT Riga, which was part of Daugava Voluntary Sports Society. With TTT, she won 15 championships in the Soviet Union and the European Champion's Cup 15 times. Semjonova was also very dominant in international play, winning two Olympic Gold medals while playing for the USSR in 1976 and 1980 and never lost a game in official international competition.
She was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labour in 1976, and in 1993 became the first non-US woman enshrined into the Basketball Hall of Fame. She was an inaugural member of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame in the class of 1999. In 2007, she was enshrined in the FIBA Hall of Fame. During the 2007 Latvian Sportspersonality of the year award ceremony, Semjonova received the Lifetime Contribution to Sport award.

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Van Chancellor
Van Chancellor (born September 27, 1943 in Louisville, Mississippi, United States) is the former Louisiana State University women's basketball coach. He was named head coach on April 11, 2007, replacing Pokey Chatman. In 2001, Van Chancellor was elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, located in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was enshrined as a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in September 2007. Van Chancellor currently serves as an analyst for the Southland Conference Television Network for all women's games and some men's games.
Van Chancellor played two years of basketball at East Central Junior College in Decatur, Mississippi, before transferring to Mississippi State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics & physical education in 1965.
During his senior year at Mississippi State, he served as head coach of the boy’s basketball team at Noxapater High School. Chancellor went on to coach boy’s and girl’s basketball at Horn Lake High School and Harrison Central High School in Mississippi. Chancellor received his master’s degree in physical education from the University of Mississippi in 1973.

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Vern Mikkelsen
Arild Verner Agerskov "Vern" Mikkelsen (born October 21, 1928) is an American former professional basketball player. He was one of the NBA's first power forwards in the 1950s and was known for his tenacious defense.
Mikkelsen was born in Fresno, California and was raised in Askov, Minnesota in a town of primarily Danish-Americans. He entered Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota on a basketball scholarship at the age of 16. In his senior year at Hamline, Mikkelsen was voted an All-American. He would later receive a masters degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota.
Mikkelsen played with George Mikan and Jim Pollard in the frontcourt of the Minneapolis Lakers. The Lakers won four NBA titles during Mikkelsen's career. Mikkelsen played in six NBA All-Star Games and was named to the All-NBA Second Team four times in his career.
Mikkelsen ended his career after ten seasons in the NBA in 1959, having played in 798 of a possible 800 games. He finished his career with 10,063 points scored and led the NBA in both personal fouls and disqualifications for three straight seasons. Mikkelsen still holds the league record for career disqualifications with 127.

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Vic Hanson
This article refers to the college athlete. For the historian, please see Victor Davis Hanson
Victor A. Hanson (July 30, 1903 – April 10, 1982) was a well-known multi-sport college athlete in the 1920s. At Syracuse University (1923-27) he played basketball, football and baseball, and captained all three sports.
The Watertown, New York native is one of Syracuse's greatest all-around athletes (see Jim Brown for another all-around great). He was named an All-American in both basketball and football three consecutive times (1925-27). Following his college career, he shortly played with the Cleveland Rosenblums in the American Basketball League (1925-1955), but then formed a basketball team by himself, the Syracuse All-Americans. He was also signed by the New York Yankees and played two years in their farm system.^{[citation needed]}.
While at Syracuse, Hanson was admitted to the Zeta Psi fraternity.
Hanson is the only player in history to be enshrined in both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (1960) and the College Football Hall of Fame (1973). Syracuse University retired his Number 8 basketball jersey in a ceremony at the Carrier Dome.

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Victor Holt
Victor Holt, Jr. (May 8, 1908 – April 22, 1988) was an American college basketball standout at Oklahoma in the late 1920s. He was an All-American and the Helms National Player of the Year in 1928. Holt was the University of Oklahoma's first national player of the year in men's basketball.
After college he played basketball in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) for Cook's Painter Boys, located in Kansas City, Missouri. With them he won two national championships in 1928 and 1929. Holt also played in the National Basketball League.
After basketball he worked for Goodyear Tire Company and ultimately became its 10th president.

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Vince Hanson
Vincent Garnett "Vince" Hanson (December 26, 1923 – August 30, 2009) was an NCAA All-American basketball player at Washington State University (WSU) in 1944–45. Hanson was a three-sport star at WSU, playing for the basketball, baseball and track and field teams between 1942–43 and 1947–48. His best season came during his sophomore season of 1944–45. That year, Hanson set a then-national single season scoring record with 592 points, led the Cougars to win the Pacific Coast Conference championship and was named a consensus Second Team All-American. He finished his college career with 1,153 points.
After graduating in 1948, Hanson was selected by the Baltimore Bullets in the 1948 BAA Draft, although he never played professionally. He played one season of amateur basketball for the Akron Wingfoots in the AAU Basketball League. Afterward, Hanson entered the insurance business and also coached high school basketball at North Kitsap High School in Seattle, Washington.

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Walt Bellamy
Walter Jones Bellamy (born July 24, 1939, in New Bern, North Carolina) is a retired American professional basketball player.
Bellamy chose to play basketball at Indiana University, despite the fact that African-American players were still rare in college basketball at the time. "In the summer after my junior year of high school I played with some guys from Indiana," he said. "Indiana at the time was the closest school to the South that would accept African-Americans. It was an easy transition for me to make. Not that I was naive to what was going on in Bloomington in terms of the times, but it didn't translate to the athletic department or the classroom. Every relationship was good."
Bellamy graduated from Indiana University with the most rebounds in a career with 1,088 in only 70 games, while averaging 15.5 a game. Averaging 20.5 points a game and shooting 51.7 percent from the floor, Bellamy also averaged 17.8 rebounds a game (still Indiana's record). He also holds the school records for most rebounds in a season (649), most rebounds in a single game (33), most double-doubles in a career (59), most rebounds in a three-year career (1,008). In 2000 he was selected to Indiana University's All-Century Team.

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Walt Frazier
Walter "Clyde" Frazier (born March 29, 1945, in Atlanta, Georgia) is a retired American basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was blessed with a unique combination of court vision, quickness, and size (he stands 6'4") for a guard. As their floor general, he led the New York Knicks to the franchise's only two NBA Championships (1970 & 1973), and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1987. Upon his retirement from basketball, Frazier went into broadcasting; he is currently a color commentator for telecasts of Knicks games on the MSG Network.
The eldest of nine children, Frazier attended Atlanta's David Tobias Howard High School. He quarterbacked the football team and played catcher on the baseball team. He learned basketball on a rutted and dirt playground, the only facility available at his all-black school in the racially segregated South of the 1950s. After having a great career at Howard, Frazier attended Southern Illinois University. Although he was offered other scholarships for his football skills, Frazier accepted a basketball offer from Southern Illinois University.

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Walt Hazzard
Walter Raphael Hazzard Jr., later Mahdi Abdul-Rahman (April 15, 1942 – November 18, 2011), known professionally as Walt Hazzard, was an American college, Olympic and professional basketball player and college basketball coach. He is best known for his association with the men's basketball team at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), having been a star player for that team in the 1960s and having served as the team's head coach in the 1980s. He died on November 18, 2011.
Hazzard attended Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where his teams went 89-3 and he was named the city's player of the year when he was a senior. Hazzard then went on to UCLA, where he became an important player on the varsity basketball team. In Hazzard's first season on the varsity squad, the UCLA Bruins made their first Final Four appearance in the 1962 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament. They lost to the eventual champion, the Cincinnati Bearcats in the semi-finals.
UCLA's undefeated season, 1963–64, was in no small part due to Hazzard, his backcourt partner Gail Goodrich, and the team's coach John Wooden. The team won the NCAA Championship, and Hazzard was selected by the Associated Press as the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Hazzard was chosen as an All-American and also selected as College Player of the Year by the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). His number 42 jersey was retired by UCLA in 1996 in Pauley Pavilion, but Hazzard gave his permission for stand-out recruit Kevin Love to wear the number.

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Walt Kirk
Walton "Walt" Kirk, Jr. (born September 3, 1924) is a retired American professional basketball player. In four NBL/BAA/NBA seasons, Kirk played for five different teams: the Fort Wayne Pistons, Indianapolis Jets, Anderson Packers, Tri-Cities Blackhawks and Milwaukee Hawks. In April 1949, while a member of the Jets, Kirk joined former teammates George Glamack and Leo Mogus to sue the organization for $4,662.51 each. The three of them had been released from the team and they cited poor management and administration on the part of the Jets as the reasons why they were unable to be retained.
Kirk grew up in Mount Vernon, Illinois and attended Mount Vernon High School, where he was a second team all-state selection in 1942. He then attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he played basketball. He earned varsity letters in from 1943–44 through 1946–47. In 1944–45, Kirk led the team in scoring at 10.6 points per game while also serving as team captain. He garnered consensus First Team All-American status at the end of the season as well.

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Walter Meanwell
Walter E. Meanwell (January 26, 1884 – December 2, 1953) was an English college men's basketball coach in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. The Leeds, England native coached in the U.S. for the University of Wisconsin–Madison (1911–17, 1920–34) and the University of Missouri (1918–20) to an overall record of 290–101.
Meanwell became the fourth basketball coach in University of Wisconsin–Madison history in 1911. After earning a doctorate degree in 1915, he was nicknamed "Doc" or "Little Doc" (due to his 5'6" frame). During World War I he served in the US Army. After a two-year stint at University of Missouri, Meanwell was back at Wisconsin. The Badgers won or shared four Big Ten titles under his guidance (1921, 1923–24, 1929). Meanwell taught a style of game that featured short passing, crisscross dribbles and a tight zone defense. In 1934 he retired from coaching and practiced medicine in Madison, Wisconsin, until his death. He was inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a coach in 1959.

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Ward Lambert
Ward Louis "Piggy" Lambert (May 28, 1888 – January 20, 1958) was an American college men's basketball coach. He was born in Deadwood, South Dakota. In 1890, Lambert and his family moved to Crawfordsville, Indiana. He played basketball (in addition to baseball) at Crawfordsville High School and Wabash College, both under coach Ralph Jones, who himself would go on to coach Purdue. Despite his height (5'6"), he led Wabash in scoring his sophomore year - leading to his nickname "Piggy" for hogging the ball. (Another telling states that, while playing baseball at Wabash, Lambert used his position as shortstop to hog the ball). He graduated from Wabash College in 1911.
Lambert began his coaching career at Lebanon High School from 1912-1916. Lambert coached Purdue University (1916–17, 1918–46) to a 371–152 record in 29 seasons, including eleven Big Ten titles. His teams were noted for their speed and effective use of fast breaks, which he developed. Among his players were Charles "Stretch" Murphy and John Wooden. Lambert missed the 1917-18 season to serve in the Army during World War I. Meanwhile J. J. Maloney, an attorney from Crawfordsville, Indiana, filled in and guided the Boilermakers to an 11–5 record. Lambert's 1932 team were national champions, as determined by a panel vote rather than an NCAA Tournament which began in 1939. He coached 16 All-Americans and 31 first team All-Big Ten selections. Lambert Fieldhouse (originally known as Purdue Fieldhouse), the facility used for home basketball games prior to the construction of Mackey Arena, was renamed in his honor. Lambert Field, the baseball venue at Purdue, is also named for Lambert.

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Wayne Embry
Wayne Richard Embry (born March 26, 1937 in Springfield, Ohio) is a retired American basketball player; a center/forward whose 11-year career spanned from 1959 to 1969. He played for the Cincinnati Royals, Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks all of the NBA.
He attended Miami University and Tecumseh High School (both in Ohio) before that.

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Wes Unseld
Westley Sissel "Wes" Unseld (born March 14, 1946 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American former basketball player. He spent his entire NBA career with the Baltimore/Capital/Washington Bullets, and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988.
Unseld starred on a Seneca High School team that won two state championships. In 1965, Unseld began playing center for the University of Louisville, where he averaged 35.8 points per game and 23.6 rebounds per game in 14 games with a freshman team. He was a 3-year letter winner, scored 1,686 points in 82 games (20.6 points per game), grabbed 1,551 rebounds (18.9 rebounds per game), led the conference in rebounding in 1966, 1967 and 1968, and led Louisville to a 60-22 record with two trips to the NCAA tournament and one trip to the NIT tournament. Unseld is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
Unseld was drafted by the Kentucky Colonels in the 1968 American Basketball Association draft and was drafted second overall in the first round by the Baltimore Bullets in 1968, and helped lead the Bullets (who had finished in last place in the Eastern division the previous year) to a 57-25 record and a division title. Unseld averaged 18.2 rebounds per game that year, and became only the second player ever to win both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same season (Wilt Chamberlain being the first). Unseld was also named the Sporting News MVP that year. He was one of the best defensive players of his era, and in 1975, he led the NBA in rebounding. The following season, he led the NBA in field goal percentage with a .561 percentage.

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Wesley Bennett
Talmadge Wesley "Wes" Bennett (March 31, 1913 – August 20, 2002) was an American basketball player who played for Westminster College where he twice led the nation in scoring and won honors as the Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year in 1935. Bennett was a participant on the first college doubleheader played in New York City's Madison Square Garden on December 29, 1934, where he led Westminster to an upset over the hometown St. John's University team.
Born on March 31, 1913, in Nashville, Tennessee, Bennett moved to Akron, Ohio with his family when he was five years old. He played for the basketball team at East High School (now East Community Learning Center), lettering in three seasons and making it to the finals of the state championships. He also played football there on the team that pinned the last defeat on the Massillon Washington High School team coached by Paul Brown that went undefeated for 35 consecutive games over seasons.
Playing for Westminster College in New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, Bennett racked up 1,168 points during his career, twice being named as an All-American and leading the nation in scoring in two seasons. He scored 21 points to lead Westminster to a 37–33 victory over St. John's University on December 29, 1934, in the opening game of the first collegiate doubleheader played at Madison Square Garden. Leading all scorers with 11 points, Bennett led Westminster two days later to a 28–24 win over City College of New York, marking CCNY's first loss at home after 42 consecutive victories.

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Whitey Kachan
Edwin John "Whitey" Kachan (September 15, 1925 – March 7, 1993) was an American professional basketball player.
A 6'2" guard from DePaul University, Kachan played one season (1948–49) in the Basketball Association of America as a member of the Chicago Stags and Minneapolis Lakers. He averaged 2.2 points per game and won a championship with the Lakers.

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Wikipedia Persondata
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William Davidson
William Morse "Bill" Davidson, J. D. (December 5, 1922 – March 13, 2009) was an American businessman who was President, Chairman and CEO of Guardian Industries, one of the world's largest manufacturers of architectural and automotive glass. He was also owner of several North American professional sports teams and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
He was also the chairman of Palace Sports and Entertainment, and principal owner of the Detroit Pistons of the NBA, the Detroit Shock of the WNBA, the co-owner of the Detroit Fury of the Arena Football League, and the former owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the NHL and Detroit Vipers of the IHL. His Pistons won the 1989, 1990, and 2004 NBA Finals; his Shock won the 2003, 2006 and 2008 WNBA Finals; his Vipers won the 1997 Turner Cup; Tampa Bay Lightning won the 2004 Stanley Cup, making him the only owner in professional sports history whose teams have won an NBA Championship and a Stanley Cup in the same year.
A Detroit native, Davidson was born to a Jewish family on December 5, 1922; he was a 1940 graduate of Central High School. Davidson entered the University of Michigan in 1940, where he was a member of the track and field team; he majored in business at what is now the Ross School of Business. Davidson later joined the U.S. Navy and played Armed Forces Football during World War II.

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Willis Reed
Willis Reed, Jr. (born June 25, 1942) is a retired American basketball player, coach and general manager. He spent his entire professional playing career (1964–1974) with the New York Knicks. In 1982, his outstanding record and achievements were recognized by his induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. In 1997, he was voted one of the "50 Greatest Players in NBA History".
After retiring as a player, Reed served as assistant and head coach with several teams for nearly a decade, then was promoted to General Manager and Vice President of Basketball Operations (1989 to 1996) for the New Jersey Nets. As Senior Vice President of Basketball, he led them to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003.
Reed was born in 1942 in Hico, Louisiana and named after his father, Willis Reed. He grew up on a farm in nearby Bernice, a lumber town in an area of pine woods. His parents worked to ensure Reed got an education in the segregated South. Reed showed athletic ability at an early age and played basketball at West Side High School in nearby Lillie.

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Wilt Chamberlain
Wilton Norman "Wilt" Chamberlain (August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American basketball player. He played for the Philadelphia/San Francisco Warriors, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA; he played for the University of Kansas and also for the Harlem Globetrotters before playing in the NBA. The 7 foot 1 inch Chamberlain weighed 250 pounds as a rookie before bulking up to 275 and eventually to over 300 pounds with the Lakers. He played the center position and is widely considered one of the greatest and most dominant players in NBA history.
Chamberlain holds numerous NBA all-time records in scoring, rebounding and durability categories. He is the only player to score 100 points in a single NBA game or average more than 40 and 50 points in a season. He also won seven scoring, nine field goal percentage, and eleven rebounding titles, and once even led the league in assists. Although he suffered a long string of professional losses, Chamberlain had a successful career, winning two NBA championships, earning four regular-season Most Valuable Player awards, the Rookie of the Year award, one NBA Finals MVP award, and being selected to 13 All-Star Games and ten All-NBA First and Second teams. Chamberlain was subsequently enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1978, elected into the NBA's 35th Anniversary Team of 1980, and chosen as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History of 1996.

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Wyndol Gray
Wyndol Woodrow Gray (March 30, 1922 – March 20, 1994) was an American professional basketball player in the 1940s.
Gray played at Akron South High School in Akron, Ohio and went on to play collegiately at Bowling Green State University in 1942. At the time, freshmen were allowed to play to compensate for a shortage of college-age players due to World War II. Gray played on future Hall of Fame coach Harold Anderson's first team at Bowling Green. He led the team in scoring at 22.3 points per game and the Falcons went 18–4.
Gray joined the Navy after the season, and returned to Bowling Green for the 1944–45 season as a part of the V-12 Navy College Training Program and, along with big man Don Otten, led the Falcons to the final of the 1945 National Invitation Tournament, where they were defeated by the George Mikan-led DePaul Blue Demons. After the season, Gray was named a consensus first team All-American – Bowling Green's first in basketball.
In 1945–46, Gray played at Harvard. There he led the Crimson to their first NCAA tournament appearance and at the conclusion of the season he was named a second team All-American by the Sporting News magazine, giving him the unusual distinction of being named an All-American at two different universities.

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Xavier McDaniel
Xavier Maurice McDaniel (born June 4, 1963, in Columbia, South Carolina), nicknamed the X-Man, is a retired American National Basketball Association (NBA) player who, at 6 ft 7 in, played both small forward and power forward, and former head coach of the Riders Slamball team.
While at Wichita State, McDaniel was the first person to lead the nation in both rebounding and scoring in the same season. In college, McDaniel began to shave both his head and his eyebrows to look more intimidating. He continued this all throughout his pro career.
For his first two seasons at Wichita State, the Shockers were on NCAA probation. He was a teammate his freshman year of future NBA players Antoine Carr and Cliff Levingston. When Levingston left for the NBA, McDaniel became a starter and averaged 18.8 points and 14.4 rebounds as power forward opposite Carr. The following season, Carr left, and McDaniel raised his scoring average to 20.6 points per game and was the Missouri Valley Conference MVP. He then led the nation in scoring (27.4) and rebounding (15.0) his senior season becoming the first player to do so.

wn.com/Xavier_McDaniel

Zam Fredrick
Zambalist "Zam" Fredrick, Sr. (born August 17, 1959) is a retired American professional basketball player. He spent his professional career playing in Italy from 1981 to 1987 after graduating college from the University of South Carolina in 1981. Although Fredrick played in Europe, he is best known in the United States for leading NCAA Division I in scoring as a senior in 1980–81 with a 28.9 points per game average.
Fredrick grew up in South Carolina. He played college basketball at USC under head coaches Frank McGuire and Bill Foster between 1977 and 1981. The 781 total points he scored during his senior season is second all-time in school history to Grady Wallace's 906, who, coincidentally, also led the nation in scoring in 1956–57.
Despite being selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1981 NBA Draft (third round, 51st overall), Fredrick never played in the league. After his decade-long professional career in Europe, he came back and coached high school basketball at Calhoun County High School (CCHS) in St. Matthews, South Carolina. During one seven-year stretch, Fredrick led CCHS to five state championships and a winning streak of 81 games. His son, Zam Fredrick, Jr., was a member of three of those. His son also scored a South Carolina state record 3,481 points and had played on the varsity team since 8th grade. Fredrick, Sr. is still a coach at CCHS to this day.

wn.com/Zam_Fredrick

No. 99
George Mikan in 1944, wearing his number 99 jersey
Center
Personal information
Born	(1924-06-18)June 18, 1924 Joliet, Illinois
Died	June 1, 2005(2005-06-01) (aged 80) Scottsdale, Arizona
Listed height	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)
Listed weight	245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
College	DePaul
Pro career	1946–1956
Career history
As player:
Chicago American Gears (1946–1947) Minneapolis Lakers (1947–1954, 1956)
As coach:
Minneapolis Lakers (1957–1958)
Career highlights and awards
5× BAA/NBA Champion (1949-1950, 1952-1954) 2× NBL Champions (1947-1948) NBL Rookie of the Year Award (1946) NBL Most Valuable Player (1948) 2× NBL season scoring leader (1947-48) 3× NBA season scoring leader (1949-51) NBA All-Star Game MVP (1953) 4× NBA All-Star (1951–1954) 6× All-BAA/NBA First Team (1949–1954) Greatest Player of the First Half-Century (1950) NBA 25th Anniversary Team (1970) NBA 35th Anniversary Team (1980) NBA 50 Greatest Players (1996)
Career BAA/NBA statistics
Points	11,764 (NBL/BAA/NBA) 10,156 (BAA/NBA)
Rebounds	4,167
Assists	1,245
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Basketball Hall of Fame as player

Persondata
Name	Mikan, George
Alternative names	Mikan, George Lawrence
Short description	Basketball player and commissioner
Date of birth	June 18, 1924
Place of birth	Joliet, Illinois
Date of death	June 1, 2005
Place of death	Scottsdale, Arizona

No. 35 – Oklahoma City Thunder
Durant playing against the Sacramento Kings
Small forward
Personal information
Born	(1988-09-29) September 29, 1988 (age 23) Washington, D.C.
Nationality	American
High school	Montrose Christian School (MD) Oak Hill Academy (VA)
Listed height	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight	235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
College	Texas
NBA Draft	2007 / Round: 1 / Pick: 2nd overall
Selected by the Seattle SuperSonics^[1]
Pro career	2007–present
Career history
2007–present	Seattle SuperSonics / Oklahoma City Thunder
Career highlights and awards
NBA Rookie of the Year (2008) 3× NBA All-Star (2010–2012) NBA All Star Game MVP (2012) 3× NBA scoring champion (2010–2012) 3× All-NBA First Team (2010–2012) NBA All-Rookie First Team (2008) 2× H-O-R-S-E Competition winner (2009–2010) 2010 FIBA World Championship MVP Oscar Robertson Trophy (2007) Adolph Rupp Trophy (2007) Naismith College Player of the Year (2007) John R. Wooden Award (2007)
Stats at NBA.com

Medal record
Competitor for USA
FIBA World Championship
Gold	2010 Turkey	Team competition

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2007–08	Seattle	80	80	34.6	.430	.288	.873	4.4	2.4	1.0	.9	20.3
2008–09	Oklahoma City	74	74	39.0	.476	.422	.863	6.5	2.8	1.3	.7	25.3
2009–10	Oklahoma City	82	82	39.5	.476	.365	.900	7.6	2.8	1.4	1.0	30.1^[58]
2010–11	Oklahoma City	78	78	38.9	.462	.350	.880	6.8	2.7	1.1	1.0	27.7^[59]
2011–12	Oklahoma City	66	66	38.6	.496	.387	.860	8.0	3.5	1.3	1.2	28.0^[60]
Career		380	380	38.1	.468	.364	.878	6.6	2.8	1.2	1.0	26.3
All-Star		3	2	29.0	.516	.364	.867	5.0	1.7	1.7	.7	28.3

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2010	Oklahoma City	6	6	38.5	.350	.286	.871	7.7	2.3	.5	1.3	25.0
2011	Oklahoma City	17	17	42.5	.449	.339	.838	8.2	2.8	.9	1.1	28.6
Career		23	23	41.4	.423	.326	.847	8.0	2.7	.8	1.2	27.7

Persondata
Name	Kevin Durant
Alternative names	Kevin Wayne Durant
Short description	Collegiate basketball player, winner of multiple awards.
Date of birth	September 29, 1988
Place of birth	Washington, D.C.
Date of death
Place of death

No. 18, 15, 10
Center / Power forward
Personal information
Born	(1925-10-20)October 20, 1925
Nationality	American
Died	October 22, 1999(1999-10-22) (aged 74)
High school	Joliet Catholic Academy
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
College	DePaul
NBA Draft	1948 / Round: 1 / Pick: 5th overall
Selected by the Chicago Stags
Pro career	1948–1954
League	BAA and NBA
Career history
1948–1949	Chicago Stags
1949–1950	Rochester Royals
1950	Washington Capitols
1951–1952	Philadelphia Warriors
1952–1953	Indianapolis Olympians
1953–1954	Boston Celtics
Career BAA and NBA statistics
Points	2,163 (6.7 ppg)
Rebounds	1,093 (5.5 rpg)
Assists	296 (0.9 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Persondata
Name	Mikan, Ed
Alternative names
Short description	American basketball player
Date of birth	1925
Place of birth
Date of death	1999
Place of death

Persondata
Name	Macdermott, Bobby
Alternative names
Short description	American basketball player
Date of birth	January 7, 1914
Place of birth
Date of death	October 3, 1963
Place of death

Mikan, George Filmography

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