• Blog
  • About Us
  • Links
  MAC Reporter Online

BGSU and NBA great Nate Thurmond passes away

7/16/2016

 
BOWLING GREEN, OH - Nate Thurmond, one of Bowling Green State University's most accomplished athletes across any sport and one of  the 50 greatest players in NBA history, has passed away at the age of 74.
 
Thurmond arrived in Bowling Green in the fall of 1960 to play for legendary Falcons' coach Harold Anderson. In his freshman season, he made an immediate impact by scoring 17.8 points per game and adding a school-record 18.7 rebounds per game. His total of 449 rebounds remains the second-most ever in one season at BGSU.
 

During his final two seasons, Thurmond . . .
PictureNate Thurmond starred at Bowling Green before becoming a seven-time NBA all-star.
​ . . . teamed with Howard Komives to produce the only back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in BGSU history in 1961-62 and 1962-63. The Falcons compiled a 21-4 record and captured the MAC championship with an 11-1 mark during the 1961-62 season. Thurmond averaged 15.7 points per game and grabbed 394 rebounds, fourth-most
in school history. The team was ranked in the top-ten nationally and as high as seventh overall during the final 16 weeks of the season.
 
Bowling Green captured the MAC crown again in 1962-63 with a 19-8 record. On Feb. 16, 1963, the Falcons beat Loyola (Ill.) 92-75. The Ramblers were ranked second nationally at the time and won the NCAA Tournament in 1963. The Falcons also won their opening game of the NCAA Tournament, 77-72 over Notre Dame.
 
Thurmond exploded for 536 points (19.9 per game) in that final season to give him 1,356 points and a career average of 17.8. He ranks 18th and eighth, respectively, on the BGSU career lists for those categories. He pulled down a school-record 452 rebounds, including a school-record 31 in his final collegiate game against Mississippi State. His total career rebounds (1,295) and career rebounding average (17.0) are also both BGSU records.
 
Following that final season, Thurmond became the only consensus All-American in Bowling Green history and was named first-team All-American by the Sporting News. He was named first-team All-MAC and team MVP in each of his three seasons. His magical collegiate career earned Thurmond a spot in the BGSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1975.
 
Thurmond was drafted third overall by the NBA's San Francisco (now Golden State) Warriors in 1963. He played for the Warriors for 11 of his 14 professional seasons and helped the team earn playoff  berths in seven of those 11 campaigns. He appeared in the NBA Finals in 1964 and 1967. In 1974, Thurmond was traded to the Chicago Bulls, who traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 1975.
 
Thurmond led the Bulls and Cavaliers to the playoffs in each of his three seasons with those teams before retiring in 1977. His Bulls faced the Warriors in the 1975 Western Conference finals, and Chicago lost to the eventual NBA champions, four games to three.

Following his retirement, the Warriors and Cavaliers retired his #42, and he was inducted into the National Basketball Hall of Fame in 1985.
 
One of Thurmond's greatest professional feats was becoming the first player to ever record an official quadruple-double. On Oct. 18, 1974, he compiled 22 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists and 12 blocks against the Atlanta Hawks. It was his first game with
Chicago, and the Bulls won 120-115 in overtime.
 
Thurmond is one of four players to grab 40 rebounds in one game, one of five players to average 15.0 rebounds per game for his career, and one of five players to average 20.0 rebounds per game for a season. The only other three players to accomplish all three are Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Jerry Lucas.
 
As a seven-time All-Star, Thurmond played in 964 career games and scored 14,437 points to go with his 14,464 rebounds, an average of 15.0 per game in both areas. Thurmond was selected as one of the NBA's 50 greatest players in 1996 when the league celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding.
 
(Courtesy of BGSU Athletics)


Comments are closed.
    Picture

    MAC Football 

    UPCOMING GAMES
    All times Eastern

    ​

    MAC FOOTBALL STANDINGS
    -- Final - 2022 -- 
    MAC EAST
    OHIO 7-1
    BUFFALO 5-3
    BOWLING GREEN 5-3

    MIAMI 4-4
    KENT STATE 4-4
    AKRON 1-7

    MAC WEST
    TOLEDO 5-3

    EASTERN MICHIGAN 5-3
    WESTERN MICHIGAN 4-4
    ​BALL STATE 3-5
    CENTRAL MICHIGAN 3-5

    NORTHERN ILLINOIS 2-6

    MAC Basketball 
    MAC BASKETBALL STANDINGS
    (Through 3-3-23)

    Team - MAC -- Overall
    Toledo 16-2 (25-6)
    Kent State 15-3 (25-6)
    Akron 13-5 (21-10)
    Ball State 11-7 (20-11)
    Ohio 10-8 (18-13)
    Buffalo 9-9 (15-16)
    Northern Illinois 9-9 (13-18)
    Miami 6-12 (12-19)
    Bowling Green 5-13 (11-20)
    Central Michigan 5-13 (10-21)
    Eastern Michigan 5-13 (8-23)
    Western Michigan 4-14 (8-23)

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Basketball
    Football
    Other

    Archives

    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

Proudly powered by Weebly