He was the Head Coach for the UNM Lobo Men's Basketball
team with the second most wins, and is also the coach who drafted Larry Bird of
the Boston Celtics into collegiete basketball at Indiana State. In 1993 the UNM
Athletics Department christened the floor of the Pit after him and it is now
called the Bob King Court. He was also baptized in the early 80's after marrying
an LDS woman years earlier. New
Mexico Athletic Director Rudy Davalos says the success New Mexico basketball
programs enjoy is the result of the foundation King laid.
Greg Kite
Played for the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers
Kite, a 6'
11" center played for BYU, He was selected by the Boston Celtics in the 1983 NBA
Draft, 21st overall.
Travis Knight Los Angeles
Lakers Boston Celtics New York Knicks
Selected by the Chicago Bulls in the first round (29th pick overall) of the
1996 NBA draft. '
Plays basketball for the LA Lakers as a center and lives in Utah during off
seasons.
Mark "Mad Dog" Madsen Los Angeles
Lakers Minnesota Timberwolves
Selected by Los Angeles Lakers in first round (29th pick overall) of the
2000 NBA Draft.
He goes to church every Sunday, refuses to swear and won't even drink
coffee.
Can Mark Madsen make it in the high-flying, hard-living NBA?
Sure.
Just ask his mother.
Although basketball consumes much of his life, it's not his first
priority.
"Going on a mission has given me a much broader perspective on where
basketball fits," he said.
"In the big scheme of life, basketball is a very small part of things."
Source:
"This Guy's Good" by Kerry Shaw, Stanford Magazine, Mar-Apr
2001
He became a co-owner of the Utah Jazz when he purchased a half interest in
the team on 11 April 1985 for $8 million.
Just over a year later, in order to prevent the sale and subsequent move of
the Utah Jazz to Minnesota, on 16 June 1986 he bought the remaining
fifty-percent interest from Sam Battistone for $14 million.
Roland was the first-round draft choice of the New
York Knicks in 1951, but he put aside his basketball career for three years of
service as an officer in the Navy during the Korean War. Following his release
from active duty, the Knicks again offered him a contract, but he chose to work
in the banking industry, which allowed him more time with his family.
Roland was an assistant basketball coach at BYU for two years and
officiated basketball games in the WAC. He received his B.S. degree from BYU in
1951.
Mark Pope Indiana
Pacers Milwaukee Bucks Denver Nuggets
He played college basketball at the University of Kentucky.
Selected by the Indiana Pacers in the second round (52nd pick overall) of
the 1996 NBA Draft.
WNBA Forward, Miami signed her as a free agent on June 13, 2000.
Holds Michigan State career blocks record (194).
Named All-Big 10 First Team (2000).
Led the Big Ten in rebounding (9.8 rpg) and double-doubles (16) in
2000.
He was drafted in the second round in 1982 by the Milwaukee
Bucks.
He appeared in 66 career playoff games, averaging 6.2 points per game in
16.1 minutes per game.
He reached the 1987 NBA Finals with the Boston Celtics.
Michael Smith
Boston Celtics
Served a mission from 84-86
In the 1989 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics selected
Michael Smith of BYU with the 13th selection in the First Round.
John Ashworth "Cat" Thompson
(1906-1990)
The three-time All-America led Montana State to a Helms Athletic Foundation national championship in 1928-29
and averaged 15.4 points a game at a time when the national team scoring average was 40 points. In
1952, the Helms Athletic Foundation designated Cat an All-American in
basketball for four years (1927, 28, 29 and 30) and awarded him player
of the year status for 1929. He was an all-American for four years and
player of the year in 1929.
In three seasons, "Cat" scored an amazing 1,539 points.
He got the name "Cat" from his quickness
in stealing the ball from opponents.
After his graduation "Cat" played
semi-pro ball in California for a year, then coached high school
basketball in Montana and Idaho. He was enshrined in the Helms Athletic
Hall of Fame and named "Best Player of the first half century." He was
one of the first players inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of
Fame.
From an interview to his Son-in-Law: I
spent lots and lots of hours shooting baskets on the gym floor.
That's how you get to be good, you practice a lot. President
Grant, when he came down in our country one time spoke of this. I
remember I was only about ten years old, but I remember what he said
about whatever you wanted to do. He said, "What you persist in
doing becomes easy for you to do.
Not that the nature of the thing has changed, but your ability to do has
increased." That was the key that I'd been looking for, up to that
part of my life, and I said, "Well, that's it! You just practice, and
practice, and practice and, if you practice enough, why it is easy for
you to do.
"
Go to this sitecatthompsonbasketball.com
it has a series of seven audio clips taken from a 1974 interview.
Episode 6, deals with the importance of practice. In that
interview segment, John outlines how he was influenced by a speech given
by President Heber J. Grant
Erin Thorn
WNBA
Drafted in the second round by the New York Liberty, Thorn is a member
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints playing in the
Women's National Basketball Association. The 5-foot-10 guard averaged
4.6 points in her six season in New York. The best was 2007, with 9.7
points while starting all 29 games.
Stan Watts
Coach BYU
He coached BYU Basketball from 1949 to 1972 He
was a pioneer in the fast break style of play and called by some the
"father of the jump shot". Stan graduated
in 1938, but returned to BYU in 1947 and served at various times as a
football, baseball, basketball, and track coach. He became head
basketball coach in 1949, and his teams won two Rocky Mountain Athletic
Conference titles, one Mountain States Conference title, and five WAC
championships. They played in four NIT and seven NCAA tournaments,
winning the NIT championship in 1951 and 1966. Stan was named BYU
athletic director in 1970 and served in that position until 1976. He and
his wife Emily had three daughters and a son.
Ryan Anderson (University of Lethbridge, Alberta)
April Atuaia (Hawaii)
Gib Arnold ASSISTANT COACH (Pepperdine)
Marcus Bailey (Wyoming)
Julius Barnes (Stanford)
Daniel Bobik (Oklahoma State)
Braydon Byam (Univ. of Calgary Dino)
Trace Caton (Utah)
Beth Clawson-Anderson (University of Lethbridge, Alberta)
Steve Cleveland HEAD COACH (BYU)
K.C. Comadena (Utah State)
Sarah Craig (Sacramento State)
Kenny Crandall (Arizona St.)
Leilani Estevan (Oregon State)
Greg Ethington (UC Irvine)
Chad Evans (Utah State)
John Galbreath (UC Riverside)
Nathan Grant (Utah State)
Jim Hanchett (Oregon State)
Chris Handy (Marist)
Jim Harrick (unemployed)
Nate Harris (Utah State)
Tim Henry (Wyoming)
Michael Higgins (Navy)
Dick Hunsaker HEAD COACH (Utah Valley State College)
Tony Ingle HEAD COACH (Kennisaw State University)
Marc Jackson (???)
Britton Johnson (Utah)
Jeff Judkins HEAD COACH (BYU)
Matt Lynch (Graceland University)
Cole Magner (Bowling Green) *
Stew Morrill HEAD COACH (Utah State)
Vili Morten (UC Riverside)
John Neil (Utah State)
Spencer Nelsen (Utah State)
Kathy Nixon HEAD COACH (Utah Valley State)
Mike Paulos (UNLV)
Tom Perkes (Albertson College of Idaho)
Jesse Pinegar (Pepperdine)
Mike Puzey (Utah State)
Evan Pedersen HEAD COACH (St. Louis College of Pharmacy)
Brenda Pickup (Wyoming) Lance Ray (Cal State San Bernardino)
Nick Robinson (Stanford)
Trisha Skibb (Oklahoma State)
Kali Taylor (BYU)
Ross Varner (Saint Louis University)
Ken Wagner HEAD COACH (BYU-Hawaii)
Taylor Wagner ASSISTANT COACH (University of Alaska at Anchorage)
Stephanie Wideman (Capital University)
