Ernest J. Schmidt

An explosive 6-foot-4-inch center, Ernest Schmidt had the uncanny ability to score from all angles. He towered over most players of the period and scored his points on tip-ins and a one-handed shot that was ahead of its time. After leading Winfield High School to three consecutive state championships from 1926 to 1929, Schmidt attended Kansas State Teachers College of Pittsburgh. Recognized as one of the nation's greatest college basketball players of his era, Schmidt was a four-time All-Conference selection and guided Kansas State to four straight conference titles. He led Kansas State to 47 straight victories, a feat unsurpassed until Bill Russell's San Francisco team won 60 games in a row more than twenty years later. Known as "One Grand," Schmidt earned the nickname by scoring exactly one thousand points during his collegiate career.