Don Redden (October 10, 1963 - March 8, 1988) was an American basketball player. Redden, a 6-foot-5 guard/forward for Louisiana State University (LSU) who averaged 13 points and five rebounds as a senior in 1985–86, was captain of the LSU team that reached the 1986 Final Four. During the 1986 NCAA tournament, Redden averaged more than 20 points per game, earning MVP honors for the Southeast Regional. In 2009, he was voted to LSU's All-Century team. He finished his college career at LSU's 14th all-time leading scorer and still ranks among the top 10 on the school's all-time free-throw percentage leaders. After college, Redden was selected by the

Denver Nuggets The Denver Nuggets are an American professional basketball team based in Denver. The Nuggets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. The team was founded as the D ...

in the third round (64th pick) of the 1986 NBA draft. He was waived by the Nuggets on October 12, 1986. He played for the

West Palm Beach Stingrays West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

of the

United States Basketball League The United States Basketball League (USBL) was a professional men's spring basketball league. The league was formed in 1985 and ceased operations in 2008. The USBL started in 1985 as one of the first basketball leagues to play a late-spring to ...

during the summer of 1986. In 1987, he signed a two-year contingency contract with the

San Antonio Spurs The San Antonio Spurs are an American professional basketball team based in San Antonio. The Spurs compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its home ...

, though never played in a regular season NBA game. He later played professionally in Europe. In 1988, at the age of 24, Redden died of idiopathic cardiomyopathy (heart failure) in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

. He is buried in Resthaven Gardens of Memory in

, near former LSU star

Pete Maravich Peter Press Maravich ( ; June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player. Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and raised i ...

, a member of the NBA Hall of Fame. A native of

Monroe, Louisiana Monroe (historically french: Poste-du-Ouachita) is the eighth-largest city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and parish seat of Ouachita Parish. With a 2020 census-tabulated population of 47,702, it is the principal city of the Monroe metropolita ...

, Redden was a two-time All-State player at Ouachita Parish High School (Monroe, Louisiana). His high school jersey number (44) has been retired.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Redden, Don 1963 births 1988 deaths Basketball players from Louisiana Denver Nuggets draft picks LSU Tigers men's basketball players American men's basketball players