Nate Thurmond, Bowling Green (Men's Basketball)
Nate Thurmond was an All-American center on two Mid-American Conference Championship basketball teams at Bowling Green and went on to be named one of the top 50 players in NBA history.
Thurmond was a three-time unanimous first-team All-MAC selection and is the only player in history to lead the league in rebounding three times. He scored 1,356 career points and added 1,295 career rebounds at Bowling Green and was named first team All-American by The Sporting News/UPI following the 1963 season. His name is littered throughout the Bowling Green record book, ranking first in career rebounds and 18th in career scoring. He averaged 17.0 rebounds per game during his collegiate career.
As a junior, Thurmond led Bowling Green to a record of 21-4 overall and 11-1 in the MAC, advancing the team to the NCAA Tournament. The Falcons were ranked as high as No. 7 in the country during the 1961-62 campaign. The following year, the team returned to the NCAA Tournament and picked up one of the biggest wins in program history as the Falcons hosted No. 2 Loyola, a team that would go on to win the NCAA Tournament that year, and dominated from wire-to-wire in a 92-75 victory.
Thurmond was selected by the San Francisco Warriors in the first round of the 1963 NBA Draft. He went on to play 12 seasons with the Warriors, Chicago Bulls, and Cleveland Cavaliers, averaging 15 points and 15 rebounds per game over his 964-game career. He was a seven-time NBA All-Star and was voted to the NBA’s All-Defensive team five times. Thurmond was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985 and was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History in 1996. His jersey number, 42, was retired by the Warriors and the Cavaliers and is the only basketball number honored at Bowling Green.
