Wayne Estes
Encyclopedia
Wayne Vernon Estes was a 6'6" forward All-American basketball player for Utah State University
Utah State University
Utah State University is a public university located in Logan, Utah. It is a land-grant and space-grant institution and is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities....

 from 1963 to 1965. Wayne is the third-leading scorer in Utah State history with 2,001 points and the fourth-leading rebounder (893). He holds school records for career points per game (26.7), free throw
Free throw
In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points from a restricted area on the court , and are generally awarded after a foul on the shooter by the opposing team...

s made in a career (469), consecutive 10-point games (64), points in a season (821), points per game in a season (33.7), points in a game (52), and rebounds in a game (28). He was the second leading scorer in the nation in 1965, just behind Rick Barry
Rick Barry
Richard Francis Dennis Barry III , better known as Rick Barry, is a retired American professional basketball player. He is considered by many veteran basketball observers to be one of the greatest pure small forwards of all time as a result of his very precise outside shot, uncanny court vision,...

.

High School

Wayne earned all state honors in three sports for the Anaconda Copperheads: football, basketball, and track. Estes earned three letters each in football and basketball (freshman were unable to play varsity football and basketball at this time) and four letters in track.

Wayne was the Montana state class AA champion discus and shot put thrower his senior season. He still holds the Anaconda high school shot put record with a mark of 59' 4.5".

During his high school basketball career, Wayne scored 1,430 points. Only Minneapolis Lakers Center Ed Kalafat
Ed Kalafat
Edward "Ed" L. Kalafat is a former American basketball center for the Minneapolis Lakers, where he played three seasons. He played college basketball for the University of Minnesota. He then joined the US Army and rose to the rank of captain.- References :...

, who racked up 1,561 points, outscored Estes while at Anaconda High School.

Accidental death

On the night of February 8, 1965, Wayne Estes played the last game of his college career. During his last game against the University of Denver
University of Denver
The University of Denver is currently ranked 82nd among all public and private "National Universities" by U.S. News & World Report in the 2012 rankings....

 in the Nelson Field House, Wayne eclipsed the 2,000 point mark of his career scoring 48 points in the game.

Bounce pass to Estes. Puts the ball behind his back. Turns and looks out front to Hal Hale…(Estes) looks at his defense, pushes, and it's…in! Oh, great! Wayne Estes has now scored two-thousand points in a three-year career.
—Play-by-play announcer Reid Andreasen, KVNU
KVNU
KVNU is a news talk radio station in Logan, Utah, USA. The call letters stand for "the Voice of Northern Utah". The station was started in 1938 by Reed Bullen, who owned the station until 1996 when it was sold to the Cache Valley Radio Group...

 Radio, Feb. 8, 1965


After the game Wayne and some friends stopped at the scene of a car accident near campus. While crossing the street, Wayne brushed against a downed high power line and was fatally electrocuted. Wayne Estes would have likely been a high draft pick in the National Basketball Association
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 (NBA) in 1965. The Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles, California. They play in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association...

 had intended to draft him in the first round. Estes was posthumously given All-American honors by the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 and also earned a posthumous consensus Second Team All-American
1965 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans
The Consensus 1965 College Basketball All-American team, as determined by aggregating the results of four major All-American teams. To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors from a majority of the following teams: the Associated Press, the USBWA, The United Press International and the...

 distinction. Wayne is buried in the Sunset Memorial cemetery near Fairmont, Montana just southeast of Anaconda
Anaconda, Montana
Anaconda, county seat of Anaconda City/Deer Lodge County, is located in mountainous southwestern Montana. The Continental Divide passes within 8 miles of the community with the local Pintler Mountain range reaching 10,379 feet...

.

External links


1964-1965 Men's Basketball AP First Team All-Americans
Rick Barry
Rick Barry
Richard Francis Dennis Barry III , better known as Rick Barry, is a retired American professional basketball player. He is considered by many veteran basketball observers to be one of the greatest pure small forwards of all time as a result of his very precise outside shot, uncanny court vision,...

Bill Bradley
Bill Bradley
William Warren "Bill" Bradley is an American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, and former three-term Democratic U.S. Senator from New Jersey. He ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic Party's nomination for President in the 2000 election.Bradley was born and raised in a suburb of St....

Wayne Estes
Gail Goodrich
Gail Goodrich
Gail Charles Goodrich Jr. is a retired American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association . He is best-known for scoring a then record 42 points in the 1965 NCAA championship game vs. Michigan, and his part in the Los Angeles Lakers' 1971–72 season...

Fred Hetzel
Fred Hetzel
Fred W. Hetzel is a retired American basketball player.-Early life in D.C.:Hetzel initially attended Woodrow Wilson High School in D.C. and played for the Tigers in the 1958 season. He then transferred to Landon School in the Bethesda, MD. suburbs and was a 3 time All Met. As a Soph, he averaged...

Cazzie Russell

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