Leo Byrd
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Born | Guard | June 30, 1936||||||||||||||
Number | 44 | ||||||||||||||
Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
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Stats at Basketball-Reference.com | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Leo Wesley Byrd (June 30, 1936 – July 20, 1991)[1][2] was an NCAA All-American basketball player for Marshall College whose career spanned from 1956–57 to 1958–59.[1][3] He also won a gold medal at the 1959 Pan American Games for Team USA after the squad finished with a 6–0 record.[4] It was the first Pan American Games to be played in the United States as well.[4]
Early life
Byrd was born and raised in
College
Byrd enrolled at
As a
In 1958–59, Byrd's senior season, he led the MAC in scoring for a second consecutive time; his 29.3 ppg average en route to 704 total points were tops in the league.[6] Once again, Byrd played in 24 games for a third straight season, bringing his career totals to 72 games played and 1,705 points scored.[1][7] At the end of the season, Byrd was named a consensus Second Team All-American.
Post-college career
Leo Byrd was selected as the 25th overall pick in the
He never ended up playing professionally, however.Instead, Byrd was named as one of 14 players to represent the United States at the 1959 Pan American Games.[4] This team also contained future Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson and Jerry West.[4] The 1959 Pan American Games—only the third PanAm Games ever—were played in Chicago. The United States had won the gold medal at both previous Games, and Byrd was on the squad that won its third gold after finishing the tournament 6–0. Byrd played in four of the six contests and scored 10 points (2.5 ppg).[4] He shot 4-for-9 from the field and 2-for-4 from the free throw line.[4] Byrd's competitive playing career effectively ended after his stint with Team USA.
References
- ^ a b c d e f "Leo Byrd". TheDraftReview. 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
- ^ "Leo Byrd obituary". The Richmond Observer. January 17, 2020. Archived from the original on April 6, 2022. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
- ^ "NCAA All-American Teams, 1919–20 to 1998–99". The Association for Professional Basketball Research (APBR). 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f "Third Pan American Games 1959". USA Basketball. NBA Media Ventures, LLC. 2010. Archived from the original on December 5, 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e f Thacker, Jim (2010). "Player Profile: Leo Byrd". BigBlueHistory.net. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
- ^ a b c d "MAC Yearly Scoring Leaders". Mid-American Conference. 2010. Archived from the original on June 11, 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
- ^ "MAC All-time Statistics". Mid-American Conference. 2010. Archived from the original on July 18, 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
- ^ "1959 NBA Draft". basketball-reference.com. 2010. Retrieved October 10, 2010.