Personal information | |
---|---|
Born | Raceland, Louisiana, U.S. |
Listed height | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) |
Listed weight | 200 lb (91 kg) |
Career information | |
High school | Central Lafourche (Mathews, Louisiana) |
College | Nicholls (1975–1979) |
NBA draft | 1979: 2nd round, 38th overall pick |
Selected by the Atlanta Hawks | |
Position | Small forward |
Career highlights and awards | |
| |
Stats at Basketball Reference |
Larry Wilson is an American former basketball player. Born in Raceland, Louisiana, he attended Central Lafourche High School in nearby Mathews. Although he originally harbored dreams of playing football, Wilson was instead encouraged to play basketball due to his height. [1] He emerged as a star at Central Lafourche as he averaged 30 points per game during his final two seasons and was named Louisiana's Most Valuable Player during his senior season in 1975. [1] With the constant attendance of coaches from major colleges at his games, Wilson was one of the nation's most sought-after prospects and received an estimated 250 athletic scholarship offers. [1] [2]
At the end of his high school career, Wilson initially committed to play for the LSU Tigers. [1] A few weeks later, he changed his mind and decided to play for the Division II Nicholls Colonels due to his good relationship with head coach Don Landry and a desire to play close to home for his family. [1] With the Colonels, Wilson led the Gulf South Conference in scoring for four consecutive seasons and was named the conference's Player of the Year twice. [1] He ranks first in total points and fourth in total rebounds for the Colonels program. [3] [4]
Wilson was selected by the Atlanta Hawks as the 38th overall pick in the 1979 NBA draft. During a team practice, he slipped on a wet patch on the court and stretched every major ligament in his knee. [1] Wilson was unable to play to his full potential again and retired in 1980 without having played a game professionally. [1] He returned to his hometown of Raceland, where he gained employment with Bollinger Shipyards and coached youth basketball. [1] [5]
Wilson was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2010. [6]
Larry Joe Bird is an American former professional basketball player, coach, and executive in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "the Hick from French Lick" and "Larry Legend", Bird is widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time. He is the only person in NBA history to be named Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, Finals MVP, All-Star MVP, Coach of the Year, and Executive of the Year.
Raceland is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) on Bayou Lafourche in Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 9,768 in 2020. It is part of the Houma–Bayou Cane–Thibodaux metropolitan statistical area.
Nicholls State University is a public university in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Founded in 1948, Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System. Originally named Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the university is named for Francis T. Nicholls, a former governor of Louisiana, member of the Louisiana Supreme Court, and general in the Confederate army during the American Civil War.
Lowell Gibbs "Cotton" Fitzsimmons was an American college and NBA basketball coach. A native of Bowling Green, Missouri, he attended and played basketball at Hannibal-LaGrange Junior College in Hannibal, Missouri and Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. He coached the Phoenix Suns three times, was named the NBA Coach of the Year twice, and is often credited as the architect of the Suns' success of the late 1980s and early to middle 1990s. Fitzsimmons won 1,089 games in his coaching career: 223 games at the junior college level, 34 at the Division I college level and 832 in the NBA.
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Daniel Paul Issel is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, Issel was twice named an All-American en route to a school-record 25.7 points per game for his career. The American Basketball Association Rookie of the Year in 1971, he was a six-time ABA All-Star and a one-time NBA All-Star.
Gary Wayne Barbaro is an American former professional football player who was a safety for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL) from 1976 to 1982 and one season in the United States Football League (USFL) in 1984. He played college football for the Nicholls Colonels and was selected in the third round of the 1976 NFL draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. He had 39 career interceptions and was selected to participate in three Pro Bowls.
Larry Farmer is an American basketball coach and former player. Farmer served as the head basketball coach at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) from 1981 to 1984, Weber State University from 1985 to 1988, and Loyola University Chicago from 1998 to 2004. He played college basketball at UCLA, where he was a member of three national championships-winning teams for the UCLA Bruins under head coach John Wooden in the early 1970s. In 2018, Farmer was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.
Dwight "Bo" Lamar is a former professional American basketball player. Born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, he graduated from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Lamar was a leading NCAA scorer and was the No. 1 overall pick in the 1973 American Basketball Association Draft.
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Central Lafourche High School (CLHS) is a public high school serving students in grades 9 through 12 in Mathews, unincorporated Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, about 45 miles (72 km) southwest of New Orleans. The school, which has a Raceland postal address, is one of three high schools in the Lafourche Parish Public Schools district.
Travis Grant is an American former basketball small forward in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Los Angeles Lakers. He also was a member of the San Diego Conquistadors, Kentucky Colonels, and Indiana Pacers in the American Basketball Association (ABA). He played college basketball at Kentucky State University.
The Louisiana Tech Lady Techsters basketball team represents Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. The team currently competes in Conference USA. The current head coach of the Lady Techsters is Brooke Stoehr. Louisiana Tech has won three National Championships and has competed in 13 Final Fours, 23 Sweet Sixteens, and 27 NCAA tournaments. The Lady Techsters basketball program boasts three Wade Trophy winners, five Olympic medalists, eight members of the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, 16 All-Americans, and 21 WNBA players. The Lady Techsters have an all-time record of 1207–406, with a .748 winning percentage, and are the fifth program in NCAA history to reach 1,200 wins. The Lady Techsters have made 27 appearances in the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, which is the twelfth most all-time.
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Reginald Jerod Jackson is an American former basketball player. He is best known for his college career at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana, where he scored over 2,000 points and recorded over 1,000 rebounds and was named the Southland Conference Player of the Year as a senior.