TERRE HAUTE —
The mandatory NCAA ban of freshmen participating in varsity intercollegiate athletics may have worked to Clyde Lovellette’s advantage in the short term. But, in the long term, it deprived him of several career statistical marks.
When the Kansas Jayhawks basketball team embarked on the 1949-50 season against Rockhurst College at Kansas City on Dec. 3, 1949, Lovellette, now with an impressive hook shot, played like a seasoned veteran.
Clyde scored 545 points in 25 games (21.8 ppg.) that first season as the Jayhawks tied for first place in the Big Seven Conference. They were ranked as high as 19th in the nation by the Associated Press. Clyde led the conference in scoring and rebounding (7.7 rpg.) and was named to several All-America teams, a rarity for a sophomore.
Kansas, coached by Forrest “Phog” Allen, was matched against Bradley in the post-season with the victor earning one of the eight berths in the 1950 NCAA tournament. Bradley won, 59-57, advancing to the title game against City College of New York, already the National Invitational Tournament champ. CCNY was victorious, 71-68 but, 11 months later, seven team members and key players for Long Island University, New York University, Manhattan and Bradley were charged with accepting money from gamblers to shave points or lose games.
Three integral members of Kentucky’s 1949 NCAA champions – Alex Groza, Ralph Beard and Dale Barnstable – also were indicted for shaving points a year earlier. The scandals threatened the integrity of college basketball.
Lovellette was more dominant as a junior in 1950-51. The Jayhawks had a 16-8 record but finished in a tie for second place in the conference. Scoring 548 points in 24 games (22.8 ppg.) and averaging 8.8 rebounds, Clyde was a consensus All-American.
By the end of his junior season the 6-feet-9, 235-pound Lovellette had more nicknames than any athlete in America: “Man Mountain,” “Cumulus Clyde,” “The Prolific Pachyderm” and “Cloudburst Clyde,” among others.
In 1951-52, Allen’s Jayhawks returned four senior starters: Bob Kenney, Bill Hougland, Bill Lienhard and Lovellette.
“It seemed like from the first time we stepped on the court that year, good things were going to happen,” Clyde recalled recently. “We had been up and down for two years but we still liked each other. Phog was still a ball of fire and Dick Harp was a very good practice and bench coach. It just all came together.”
Ranked in the Top 10 most of the season, Kansas won the Big Seven and manhandled three of its four NCAA tournament opponents. As pointed out in an earlier installment, Clyde rewrote the tournament record book by scoring 141 points in four games, 58 points more than the prior record. He also averaged 35.3 ppg., more than the previous single game record, corralled 69 rebounds including 18 in the final game and tallied a record 53 tournament field goals and 35 free throws. He also set tourney single game marks for points (44), field goals (16) and free throws (12). Thanks to the official NCAA statistician, erroneous statistics for Clyde, published in a contest at www.NCAA.com/
75-moments, now have been corrected. Unlimited voting for the top NCAA tournament players, teams and moments continues until April 9. In 1951-52, Lovellette led the nation in scoring with 886 total points, a 28.6 ppg. average, and still is the only person to win the national scoring title and the NCAA crown in the same year. He pulled down 14.6 rebounds a game that season. Those totals elevated his career statistics to 24.7 ppg. and 10.2 rpg., a double-double.
And those marks were compiled before a shot clock or the 3-point shot.
A consensus All-American once again, Lovellette was named the Most Valuable Player in the NCAA tournament and 1952 Helms Foundation National Player of the Year. Coach Allen made his feelings known. “I consider Clyde Lovellette the greatest player the game has ever produced,” he asserted. It was one of the few statements Allen made during his long coaching career that no one tried to refute.
After spending the 1952-53 season as an amateur with the U.S. Olympic team and the National Industrial Basketball League champion Phillips 66ers, Lovellette joined the world champion Minneapolis Lakers, which had drafted him in the first round in 1952. During his rookie NBA season, Clyde was the understudy to the great George Mikan. It was a learning year. Clyde averaged 8.2 points per game while Mikan taught him how to use his body to play the bruising defense required on the pro game.
The Lakers won the 1954 title, making Clyde the first player to win NCAA and NBA crowns and an Olympic gold medal. Perhaps fearing how the 24-second clock, introduced in the 1954-55 NBA season, would affect the role of big men, Mikan retired and took a job in the Lakers front office. Lovellette was expected to assume Mikan’s role. For the next eight years the Terre Haute product with a devastating hook shot was an elite NBA player. He added an outside one hand shot to his repertoire to consistently finish among the league’s top scorers and rebounders with the Lakers, Cincinnati Royals and St. Louis Hawks. He was chosen an NBA All-Star in 1956, 1957, 1960 and 1961.
In June 1962, the Boston Celtics acquired Lovellette from the Hawks and he spent the final two seasons as a backup to Bill Russell. The experience brought him two more championship rings but significantly lowered his career scoring and rebounding averages. Over his NBA career Clyde scored 11,947 points and grabbed 6,663 rebounds in 704 regular season games for 17.0 ppg and 9.5 rpg. averages. Returning to Terre Haute after retiring as a pro, Clyde was a radio sports announcer and car salesman before being elected Vigo County Sheriff in 1966. Later, he thrived for many years as a teacher, counselor, director of vocational rehabilitation and coach at White’s Institute, a school for troubled youngsters in Wabash, Ind.
After residing in Munising, Mich. for several years Clyde and his wife Judy now live in North Manchester, Ind.
Lovellette has been enshrined by the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle (1982); University of Kansas Athletics Hall of Fame in Lawrence (1988); Kansas Sports Hall of Fame in Wichita (1975); Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. (1988); and the new National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Mo. (2006). His jersey (No. 16) was retired by his alma mater on Feb. 15, 1992.
History
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: Clyde Lovellette: Basketball’s most dominant collegian (Part IV)
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HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE: George Lance dominates intercity golf rivalry in 1927
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GENEALOGY: Follow ‘Tips on Caring for Documents and Photographs’
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LOOKING BACK: 1988: Teachers issued rubber gloves to use in management of blood, other body fluids
Dorothy Jerse looks back at local history from 10, 25 and 50 years ago as reported in the Tribune and Tribune-Star.
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Comic opera, a genre consisting of light hearted musicals, was introduced in Europe during the 17th century.
In the 19th century, several female vocalists from the Wabash Valley, earned national celebrity by using that art form to excel. -
Looking back: In 2003, Storm rips off half of Honey Creek Fire Department’s roof
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Abundance of shoe stores existed downtown
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Genalogy: Handwriting in 1700s-1800s Copperplate or English Round Hand
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The death of Irish Kate Preston
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Looking back: 2003: Sherertz sets nine-hole school record
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Historical perspectives: Railroads were models of innovation and growth in Haute
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‘Foreign’ letters to confuse a genealogist
Any serious family researcher will at some time or another encounter old documents in an older handwriting style that need to be read and deciphered.
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1988: 700 teachers unite in protest
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Genealogy: Vigo County Gold Star Honor Roll
FamilySearch International recently announced “the release of significant new enhancements to its web services that allow visitors to collaboratively build their family tree online, preserve and share precious family photos and stories, and receive personal research assistance–all for free.”
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‘Far-sound’ rings in a new era
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Historical perspective: Venard: soldier in the War of 1812
His name was Stephen Venard. For more than 50 years he resided in Terre Haute, without fanfare, with his wife and a daughter. Much of that time was spent in the 400 block on N. First St.
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Looking Back: 2003: Mark Cook brings blues home
Mark Cook returned to Terre Haute to play with fellow musicians in the Cook-N-Blues group at Brazil and Terre Haute.
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Historical perspective: Attempted carriage-jacking thwarted
Nineteenth century newspapers covered several topics that might astonish current readers. For example, the front page of the Terre Haute Weekly Gazette on Nov. 16, 1878 – 135 years ago – reported on the bold attempt by four “villains” to rob two women riding in a carriage immediately west of the fairgrounds at Brown and Wabash avenues:
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Genealogy: Dutchman seeks family of missing soldier
Query: I live in the Netherlands and recently I have adopted the name of American PFC Joseph P. Nelson at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten. He was killed in action on Dec. 5, 1944, and his name is on the Walls of the Missing.
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Sewing Society keeps hospital in linen, supplies
When Tracy Pruitt came across a small box of old ledgers and receipt books recently, his first impulse was to throw it away. But he decided to sit down and examine its contents. In doing so, he discovered a story.
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Looking Back: 1963: Officials prepare for disaster
City officials were studying survival plans in case of a natural disaster or attack by an enemy source. Gilbert Leonard was the director of Vigo County Defense.
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Genealogy: Gold Star Honor Roll: Vigo County
This week continues with the Gold Star Honor Roll (those who died in WW I) from the Wabash Valley. The Vigo County list is long and will be run in three parts.
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River boat models capture glory of former culture
In the River portion of the latest exhibit at the Vigo County Historical Society museum are two models of river paddle boats created by Alfred F. Nehf.
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Historical perspective: Babe Holland: advocate for equality
Wherever Terre Haute native William Sylvester Holland roamed, he made an impact.
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Historical Perspective: Terre Haute’s architectural heritage
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Genealogy: A search for names from broken stones
This week there is a query about an old cemetery in Parke County, that is believed to have been destroyed:
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Hidden treasures: Laborers phased out by machines
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Looking back: 2003: Two men rob Terre Haute First National Bank
Two men robbed Terre Haute First National Bank’s banking center at Southland Plaza, South Seventh Street and Margaret Avenue. It was the first bank robbery in Terre Haute since November 2000.
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Interurban makes city Crossroads of America
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The tale of the Wabash River
On March 14, 1913, the Indiana General Assembly adopted “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away,” by Terre Haute native Paul Dresser, as Indiana’s state song.
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