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Les Hunter (basketball)

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For the New Zealand politician, see Les Hunter (politician). For the soap opera character, see Les Hunter (Hollyoaks).
Les Hunter
Personal information
Born (1942-08-16) August 16, 1942 (age 82)
Nashville, Tennessee
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High schoolPearl (Nashville, Tennessee)
CollegeLoyola (Illinois) (1961–1964)
NBA draft1964: 2nd round, 9th overall pick
Selected by the Detroit Pistons
Playing career1964–1973
PositionPower forward / Center
Number41, 35, 40, 4, 30
Career history
1964–1965Baltimore Bullets
1967–1968Minnesota Muskies
1968–1969Miami Floridians
1969–1970New York Nets
1970–1972Kentucky Colonels
1972–1973Memphis Tams
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA and ABA statistics
Points5,735 (12.3 ppg)
Rebounds3,224 (6.9 rpg)
Assists752 (1.6 apg)
Stats at NBA.com Edit this at Wikidata
Stats at Basketball Reference

Leslie "Big Game" Hunter (born August 16, 1942) is an American former professional basketball player. He played professionally in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the American Basketball Association (ABA). Hunter attended Loyola University Chicago, where he was the starting center of the team that won the 1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship.

Early life

Hunter was born in Nashville, Tennessee. A 6'7" forward/center, Hunter attended Pearl High School and Loyola University Chicago. [1] At Loyola, he served as the starting center of the team that upset the University of Cincinnati in overtime to win the 1963 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. He and the other four Loyola starters played the entire game, without substitution. And a first-round Mideast Regional victory by Hunter and the Ramblers over Tennessee Tech, 111-42, remains a record margin of victory for an NCAA men's basketball tournament game.[2][3]

Professional career

He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 2nd round (11th pick overall) of the 1964 NBA draft.[4] He played for one season (1964–1965) in the NBA with the Baltimore Bullets.

He was drafted in the 1972 ABA Draft.[5] Hunter spent six seasons (1967–1973) in the ABA with the Minnesota Muskies, Miami Floridians, New Jersey Nets, Kentucky Colonels, and Memphis Tams.[6] Hunter scored 5,735 points in his professional career and was a two-time ABA All-Star.[7][8] He played in the first ABA All-Star game in 1968 in Indianapolis.[9]

Life after basketball

After retiring from basketball, Hunter moved to Kansas City in 1976.[10] He owned a restaurant for ten years and now works as an instructor helping students who did not graduate take online classes to complete high school.[11]

Awards and honors

On July 11, 2013, in the Oval Office of the White House, Hunter and former Loyola teammates John Egan, Jerry Harkness and Ron Miller met with President Barack Obama to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the school's 1963 national championship.[12] To date it remains the only NCAA Division I basketball championship won by a university from the state of Illinois.[13] In September 2013, Harkness and the entire 1963 Loyola Ramblers NCAA Championship basketball team was inducted into the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame.[14] The 1963 Loyola Ramblers were inducted in the College Basketball Hall of Fame in November 2013,[15] making it the first team inducted into the Hall of Fame.[16]

References

  1. ^ "TSSAA Proudly Salutes the 1966 Pearl Team Tennessee's Glory Road" (PDF). TSSAA. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  2. ^ "Loyola's Title Was Turning Point for NCAA Hoops". CBS College Sports. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  3. ^ "Greatest College Basketball Teams: Spotlight 1963 Loyola (Chi)". Stellar College Basketball. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  4. ^ "Les Hunter". databaseBasketball.com. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  5. ^ "Les Hunter". databaseBasketball.com. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  6. ^ "Les Hunter". American Basketball Association Players. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  7. ^ "Top 10 Greatest Chicago College Basketball Players – #7". Chicago College Baseball. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  8. ^ "Les Hunter Basketball Card". National Museum of American History. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  9. ^ "Jon Teitel's Interview Series: Loyola-Chicago Legend Les "Big Game" Hunter". collegehoops.net. Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "College basketball hall calls its first team: The 1963 Loyola Ramblers". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  11. ^ "Jon Teitel's Interview Series: Loyola-Chicago Legend Les "Big Game" Hunter". collegehoops.net. Archived from the original on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  12. ^ "Q & A WITH JERRY HARKNESS: 50 YEARS AFTER THE GAME OF CHANGE AND HIS TRIP TO THE WHITE HOUSE". Legends of Basketball. Archived from the original on December 31, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ "NCAA Champ Coach Rick Pitino Set for Hall of Fame Class of 2013 along with 1963 NCAA Champion Loyola Ramblers" (PDF). Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ "NCAA Champ Coach Rick Pitino Set for Hall of Fame Class of 2013 along with 1963 NCAA Champion Loyola Ramblers" (PDF). Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 30, 2013. Retrieved December 28, 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ "Loyola 1963 Men's Basketball NCAA Title Team To Enter The National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame". Loyola University. Retrieved December 28, 2013.
  16. ^ "Loyola's 1963 Championship Basketball Team Inducted Into Hall Of Fame". CBS Chicago. Retrieved December 28, 2013.

Further reading

  • Ramblers: Loyola Chicago 1963 – The Team That Changed the Color of College Basketball by Michael Lenehan, published by Agate Publishing, February 18, 2013.
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