Oklahoma Basketball: All-Time Sooners Men’s Basketball Team

Jan 27, 2014; Norman, OK, USA; General view of T-Shirts on the chairs at the Lloyd Noble Center before the game between the Oklahoma Sooners and Oklahoma State Cowboys. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Lester Lane (1951-55), Third Team Guard

Lester Lane played four seasons for the University of Oklahoma at the guard position. Oklahoma was not a very good team in the four seasons Lane played. The Sooners won just 26 times out of a total of 61 games between 1951-52 and 1954-55. Lane was the team’s leading scorer his junior and senior seasons, averaging 18.9 and 19.6, respectively.

Lane was a three-sport star at Oklahoma. In addition to basketball, he played defensive back for Bud Wilkinson in football, and also was a pole-vaulter in track and field.

He ranks 28th on the career scoring list at Oklahoma with 1,180 points. He averaged 13.6 points in his four collegiate seasons.

Lane was named an All-American in the 1954-55 season and was a two-time First Team All-Big Seven selection. He was the first Oklahoma player to exceed 1,000 points for his career.

After college, Lane played AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) basketball, even though he was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors in the ninth round of the 1955 NBA Draft. He was twice named an AAU All-American.

Lane also played on the United States basketball team in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.

In 1973, he was named head basketball coach at his alma mater, but died from a heart attack suffered in a pick-up game before he ever held a practice as the OU head coach. Lane was 41 years old when he died.

Next: Tim McCalister (1983-87), Third Team Guard