James R. Line (January 19, 1926 – January 24, 2013) was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He was an All-American at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

and a key player on two

NCAA championship 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 ...

teams. Line, a 6'2"

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

from

North High School North High School may refer to: * North High School (Phoenix, Arizona) * North Pulaski High School, Jacksonville, Arkansas * North High School (Bakersfield, California) * John W. North High School, Riverside, California * North High School (Torranc ...

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

, played for

Adolph Rupp Adolph Frederick Rupp (September 2, 1901 – December 10, 1977) was an American college basketball coach. He is ranked seventh in total victories by a men's NCAA Division I college coach, winning 876 games in 41 years of coaching at the Univ ...

at Kentucky from 1946 to 1950. Line was on some of the best Kentucky teams of all time, as the Wildcats went 127–13 in his four years. He started at forward on Kentucky's 1947–48 championship team and played a significant role off of the bench for the 1948–49 team. In his senior year, 1949–50, Line averaged 13.1 points per game and was named a third team All-American by

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

(UPI), along with teammate Bill Spivey. For his career, Line scored 1,041 points. After graduation, he was drafted in the fourth round of the 1950 NBA draft by the Indianapolis Olympians, but never played in the National Basketball Association. In 1952, Line was one of several former Kentucky players implicated in a CCNY point shaving scandal, point shaving scandal, with former teammates Spivey and Walter Hirsch. He was acquitted, however. Line died on January 24, 2013, at his home in Russell, Kansas.

References

1926 births 2013 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Banned NBA players Basketball players from Akron, Ohio Forwards (basketball) Guards (basketball) Indianapolis Olympians draft picks Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball players People from Juniata County, Pennsylvania People from Russell, Kansas {{1920s-US-basketball-bio-stub