Jerry A. West

Jerry West was on the fast track to stardom from the day he touched a basketball. Throughout the NBA’s storied history, it would be hard to find a better pure shooter. At West Virginia, West led the Mountaineers to the NCAA Finals and captured the Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award in 1959. In a superlative senior season, West was a unanimous First Team All-America and led West Virginia to its third consecutive conference championship. When the game was on the line, West’s Los Angeles Laker teammates always found a way to get the ball to “Mr. Clutch.” His cool, calm, and collected personality and his leadership on the court was a coach’s dream. When he retired, West’s name was on nearly every page of the record books. He scored 25,192 points (third), averaged 27.0 points per game (fourth), made 7,160 free throws (second), and dished out 6,238 assists (fifth). West was equally adept on the defensive end, named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team four times.