Kenneth Laverne Shugart Jr. (November 11, 1925 – June 19, 1985) was a

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

who served in two wars. Prior to his service, Shugart was an All-American

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 ...

player at the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

. Shugart hailed from

Cheyenne, Wyoming Cheyenne ( or ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming, as well as the county seat of Laramie County, with 65,132 residents, per the 2020 US Census. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne metropolitan statistical ...

and joined the coach

Ben Carnevale Bernard Louis Carnevale (October 30, 1915 – March 25, 2008) was an American basketball coach and college athletic administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1944 to 1946 and the ...

and the

Navy Midshipmen The Navy Midshipmen are the athletic teams that represent the United States Naval Academy. The academy sponsors 33 varsity sports teams and 12 club sport teams.swingman A swingman is an athlete capable of playing multiple positions in their sport. Basketball In basketball, the term “swingman” (a.k.a. “wing” or “guard-forward”) denotes a player who can play both the shooting guard (2) and small forwa ...

after a successful three-sport athletic career at Cheyenne High School. During the 1946–47 season, Shugart served as team captain and set academy scoring marks for a single-game (29 points) and a season (255), both since eclipsed. The Midshipmen also qualified for their first NCAA Tournament, losing to eventual champion Holy Cross in the first round. At the close of the season, Shugart was recognized as a second-team All-American by the

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his ownership ...

. Following his graduation from the academy, Shugart became a highly decorated Naval pilot and commander, seeing action in both the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

and

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

and earning four Distinguished Flying Cross medals, as well as several other military honors. He ultimately settled in

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

in 1979 where he first served as deputy Chief of the

Naval Education and Training Command The Naval Education and Training Command (NETC) is an enterprise level shore command of the United States Navy with more than 19,000 military and staff personnel at more than 1,640 subordinate activities, sites, districts, stations, and detachmen ...

(CNET), ascending to the top spot two years later before retiring in 1983. Shugart died on June 19, 1985, in his home in Pensacola.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shugart, Kenneth 1925 births 1985 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Wyoming Navy Midshipmen men's basketball players Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Sportspeople from Cheyenne, Wyoming United States Navy personnel of the Korean War United States Navy personnel of the Vietnam War United States Navy rear admirals