Though he is enshrined in the National Basketball Hall of Fame (1988),

the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame (1982) and the Kansas Sports Hall of Fame (1998),

some basketball experts insist that Clyde Edward Lovellette is underrated. No one in college

basketball history dominated the sport as completely as Lovellette did in 1951-52.

Not only did his University of Kansas Jayhawks win the NCAA championship, but

the 6-foot-9 Terre Haute product led the nation in scoring with a 28.4 average. No

other player has been the nation’s top scorer and a member of an NCAA championship

team. Clyde also eclipsed the NCAA tournament scoring record by 58

points, scoring 141 points in four games. On March 22, 1952, he tallied 44 points

against St. Louis University, a single-game tournament record, and added 33 points

and 17 rebounds in the title game against St. John’s. He was named NCAA Most

Valuable Player and Helms Foundation Player of the Year. A two-time consensus

All-America, Lovellette followed up those feats by leading the 1952 U.S. Olympic

team to the gold medal in Helsinki, where he was equally dominating. Though

selected by the Minneapolis Lakers April 26, 1952, in the first round of the NBA

draft, he retained his amateur status to be eligible for the Olympics by playing with

the Bartlesville (Okla.) Phillips 66 Oilers in the National Industrial Basketball

League in 1952-53. He was the leading scorer and all-NIBL.

Lovellette joined the Lakers in 1953, becoming a starter when George Mikan retired

in 1954. During his 11-year career, he scored 11,947 points (an average of 17 points

per game); earned three championship rings while playing with the Lakers, Cincinnati

Royals, St. Louis Hawks and Boston Celtics; and made three NBA all-star teams. He

also accumulated nicknames: “Man Mountain,” “Cloudburst Clyde” and “The

Prolific Pachyderm,” among others.

Born in Petersburg, Ind., on Sept. 29, 1929, Clyde moved to Terre Haute with his

parents, John and Myrtle Lovellette, in 1932. His father was an engineer with the

New York Central. The family first located at 2400 North 15th Street but later

moved to 1458 Maple Avenue and finally to 2027 North Eighth Street. Clyde was

6-foot-4 and growing when esteemed Garfield basketball coach Willard Kehrt

prescribed drills to improve his coordination and confidence. In 1946-47, Clyde’s

junior year, the Purple Eagles won 31 straight games before losing to Shelbyville in

the IHSAA title game. Considered the nation’s finest high school prospect in 1948,

he was swayed from the recruiting efforts of Indiana University basketball coach

Branch McCracken by Kansas coach Forrest “Phog” Allen.

Returning to Terre Haute after retiring from the professional ranks, Lovellette was

a radio announcer and car salesman before being elected Vigo County sheriff as a

Republican in 1966. Defeated for re-election in 1970, he thrived as a teacher,

counselor, director of vocational rehabilitation and eighth grade basketball coach

at White’s Institute, a school for troubled youngsters in Wabash, Ind., from which

he recently retired.  Date Published: Dec. 20, 2001