Franklin D. Burgess (March 9, 1935 – March 26, 2010) was an American professional

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player and

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of the

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Early life

Burgess was born in Eudora,

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

. A man with a good sense of humor, he once described his hometown as being so small that "the only fast food we had in that town was if you hit a

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going 70 (miles per hour)." He attended Arkansas Agricultural, Mechanical and Normal College (Arkansas AM&N), a small school now known as the

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is a public historically black university in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Founded in 1873, it is the second oldest public college or university in the state of Arkansas. UAPB is part of the University of ...

, for one year while also playing on the basketball team. He then joined the

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and spent a four-year tour of duty in

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. Burgess still played basketball even in Germany and was so good that he was picked to be one of the 10 best Air Force players in the world. While stationed at Hahn Air Force Base he averaged 33.4 points per game. It was during this time that Burgess met Mel Porter, a fellow American Air Force officer and

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alumnus. Porter recognized Burgess' talent and played middle man to Burgess and the

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coach,

Hank Anderson Thor Henry Anderson (December 5, 1920 – September 5, 2005) was a college basketball coach and athletic director (AD). He was the head coach at Gonzaga University for 21 seasons, from 1951 to 1972, where he compiled a record. Anderson later coa ...

. Although Burgess had also started to receive serious interest from

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and

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, he ultimately chose to attend Gonzaga because he felt that that school would get him the most prepared for life after basketball. "You have to remember, I had gotten out of the service, and I was married with twin girls. I was about getting an education and taking care of my family," he said to a newspaper reporter later in his life.

College

Burgess matriculated at Gonzaga University in the fall of 1958 after his stint in the Air Force had ended. He spent three years at Gonzaga, from 1958–59 to 1960–61. He led the Bulldogs in scoring all three seasons, scored 40 or more points in a game seven times with a career-high 52 points against UC Davis, led the NCAA in scoring in 1960–61 with a 32.4 points per game average, and finished as the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,196 points. He received All-American honors in both his

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and

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seasons, while in his senior year he was a consensus Second Team All-American. Although his Gonzaga career ended in 1961, Burgess is etched in the records book at the school, including: Career *Points – 2,196 (2nd) *Scoring average – 28.1 (1st) *Field goals made – 800 (2nd) *Field goals attempted – 1,780 (1st) *Free throws made – 596 (1st) *Free throws attempted – 727 (1st) Season *Scoring average – 32.4 (1st); 28.9 (2nd); 23.2 (5th) *Points – 842 (2nd); 751 (4th) *Field goals made – 304 (3rd); 265 (5th) *Free throws made – 234 (2nd); 221 (3rd) Game *Points – 52 (1st) *40+ points – 7 times (1st) *Free throws made – 16 (T-1st) :''All-time ranks accurate through the 2022–23 season.''

Later life

Burgess graduated with a degree in education in the spring of 1961 and was then drafted by the

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of the

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. He instead chose to play in the fledgling American Basketball League with the

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, but after two years the league folded. He decided to go back to school and enrolled at the

Gonzaga University School of Law The Gonzaga University School of Law (also known as Gonzaga Law or GU Law) is the professional school for the study of law at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. Established in 1912, the Jesuit-affiliated law school has been fully accredi ...

, where he graduated near the top of his class despite working the midnight shift for Washington Water Power.

Legal career

From 1966 to 1967, Burgess was a Legal intern for the

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. After six months, he became an assistant city attorney of

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until 1969. Burgess then spent the next 11 years (until 1980) as a private practice lawyer with Jack Edward Tanner. He was a Judge pro tem, Municipal Court and Pierce County District Court during that time. From 1980 to 1981, Burgess was a regional counsel for the Department of Housing and Urban Development in

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, and then became a U.S. Magistrate in the

from 1981 to 1993.

Federal judicial service

Burgess became a United States district judge of the

when President

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nominated him on November 19, 1993, to a seat vacated by Jack Edward Tanner. He was confirmed by the

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on March 25, 1994, and received his commission on March 28, 1994. Burgess assumed

senior status Senior status is a form of semi-retirement for United States federal judges. To qualify, a judge in the Federal judiciary of the United States, federal court system must be at least 65 years old, and the sum of the judge's age and years of servi ...

on March 9, 2005. Burgess died on March 26, 2010, from cancer.

Footnotes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Frank 1935 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American judges 21st-century American judges African-American judges All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Arkansas–Pine Bluff Golden Lions men's basketball players Basketball players from Arkansas Deaths from cancer in Washington (state) Gonzaga Bulldogs men's basketball players Gonzaga University School of Law alumni Hawaii Chiefs (basketball) players Judges of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington Los Angeles Lakers draft picks Shooting guards Basketball players from Tacoma, Washington Washington (state) lawyers Washington (state) state court judges United States Air Force airmen United States district court judges appointed by Bill Clinton United States magistrate judges