Jerome Lane Sr. (born December 4, 1966) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who played six seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). Lane played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

, where he was an All-American and led the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

in rebounding as a sophomore.

High school career

Born in

Akron, Ohio Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

, Lane played shooting guard for Saint Vincent-Saint Mary High School and appeared in the McDonald's All-American Game.

College career

He joined the

Pittsburgh Panthers The Pittsburgh Panthers, commonly also referred to as the Pitt Panthers, are the athletic teams representing the University of Pittsburgh, although the term is colloquially used to refer to other aspects of the university such as alumni, facu ...

in 1985–86 as a 170-pound freshman. By his junior season, the 6'6" forward was 60 pounds heavier. In 1986–87, his 13.5 rebounds per game made him the first player 6'6" or shorter to lead the country in rebounds per game (13.5) since Niagara's Alex Ellis in 1957–58. He left school after leading the

Big East Conference The Big East Conference is a collegiate athletic conference that competes in NCAA Division I in ten men's sports and twelve women's sports. Headquartered in New York City, the eleven full-member schools are primarily located in Northeast and ...

in rebounding during the 1987–88 season.

Professional career

Lane was selected in the first round of the

1988 NBA draft The 1988 NBA draft took place on June 28, 1988, in New York City, New York. The length was reduced from seven rounds in the previous year to three rounds. This was also the first draft for the Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat, prior to their i ...

by the Denver Nuggets with the 23rd pick overall. Lane played in the NBA for five seasons with the Nuggets, Indiana Pacers,

Milwaukee Bucks The Milwaukee Bucks are an American professional basketball team based in Milwaukee. The Bucks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded in 1968 ...

and Cleveland Cavaliers. Lane shined in the Continental Basketball Association as a star for the Oklahoma City Cavalry. He was an all-star in the league from 1994–96 and led the league in rebounding in 1995 (11.8) and 1996 (16.8). After a successful stint in Spain he returned to the CBA and led the league once more in rebounding in 1999, pulling down 14.5 rebounds per game for the Idaho Stampede.

Career statistics

NBA

Regular season

, - , align="left" , 1988–89 , align="left" ,

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

, 54 , , 1 , , 10.2 , , .426 , , .000 , , .384 , , 3.7 , , 1.1 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 4.8 , - , align="left" , 1989–90 , align="left" ,

, 67 , , 46 , , 14.3 , , .469 , , .000 , , .367 , , 5.4 , , 1.6 , , 0.8 , , 0.3 , , 5.0 , - , align="left" ,

1990–91 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, align="left" ,

, 62 , , 25 , , 22.3 , , .438 , , .250 , , .411 , , 9.3 , , 2.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 7.5 , - , align="left" , 1991–92 , align="left" ,

, 9 , , 5 , , 15.7 , , .250 , , .000 , , .421 , , 4.9 , , 1.4 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 3.1 , - , align="left" , 1991–92 , align="left" ,

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, 3 , , 0 , , 10.0 , , .600 , , .000 , , .000 , , 6.0 , , 1.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 2.0 , - , align="left" , 1991–92 , align="left" ,

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee ...

, 2 , , 0 , , 3.0 , , 1.000 , , .000 , , .500 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.5 , - , align="left" ,

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

, align="left" ,

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, 21 , , 2 , , 7.1 , , .500 , , .000 , , .250 , , 2.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 0.1 , , 2.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 218 , , 79 , , 14.7 , , .441 , , .063 , , .379 , , 5.8 , , 1.5 , , 0.6 , , 0.2 , , 5.3

Playoffs

, - , align="left" , 1988–89 , align="left" ,

, 2 , , 0 , , 10.5 , , .286 , , .000 , , 1.000 , , 3.0 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 3.0 , - , align="left" , 1989–90 , align="left" ,

, 2 , , 2 , , 7.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .500 , , 0.5 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 4 , , 2 , , 8.8 , , .200 , , .000 , , .750 , , 1.8 , , 1.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.8

College

, - , align="left" , 1985–86 , align="left" , Pitt , 29 , , - , , 24.5 , , .470 , , - , , .655 , , 5.1 , , 1.6 , , 0.8 , , 0.4 , , 9.1 , - , align="left" , 1986–87 , align="left" , Pitt , 33 , , - , , 35.4 , , .568 , , .500 , , .603 , , 13.5 , , 2.2 , , 1.3 , , 0.4 , , 15.8 , - , align="left" , 1987–88 , align="left" , Pitt , 31 , , - , , 35.2 , , .513 , , .000 , , .615 , , 12.2 , , 2.8 , , 1.3 , , 0.2 , , 13.9 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 93 , , - , , 31.9 , , .525 , , .267 , , .618 , , 10.4 , , 2.2 , , 1.1 , , 0.4 , , 13.1

Playing style

Although best known for his rebounding skills, Lane was also an adept ball handler. His jump shot and foul shooting were never consistent. He was voted as the best rebounder in the history of the ACB.

Shattering the backboard

On January 25, 1988 in a college basketball game featuring Lane's

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

team playing Providence on a national television broadcast, Lane broke the glass backboard with a one-handed dunk with

Sean Miller Sean Edward Miller (born November 17, 1968) is an American college basketball coach who currently serves as head coach of the Xavier Musketeers. He previously was in that position from 2004 to 2009, after which he took the head coach position f ...

assisting on the play. Often referred to simply as "The Dunk", the play was famously called by color analyst

Bill Raftery William Joseph Raftery (born April 19, 1943) is an American basketball analyst and former college basketball coach. High school and college years Raftery attended Saint Cecilia High School in Kearny, New Jersey, where he starred in basketball an ...

when he exclaimed "Send it in, Jerome!!" The play is on ESPN's list of the "100 Greatest Sports Highlights" and has been the subject of numerous articles even decades later.

Personal life

His son Jerome Lane Jr. is a wide receiver who once signed with the New York Giants of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL).

Notes

External links

*
Jerome Lane career stats
at basketball reference.com
Men's Rebounding Leaders
at basketball.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Lane, Jerome 1966 births Living people African-American basketball players All-American college men's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in the Philippines American expatriate basketball people in Spain American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1987 Pan American Games Basketball players from Akron, Ohio Cantabria Baloncesto players CB Valladolid players Cleveland Cavaliers players Denver Nuggets draft picks Denver Nuggets players Idaho Stampede (CBA) players Indiana Pacers players La Crosse Catbirds players Liga ACB players McDonald's High School All-Americans Milwaukee Bucks players Oklahoma City Cavalry players Pan American Games medalists in basketball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Philippine Basketball Association imports Pittsburgh Panthers men's basketball players Power forwards (basketball) Rapid City Thrillers players Shell Turbo Chargers players St. Vincent–St. Mary High School alumni Medalists at the 1987 Pan American Games 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople