Leo Wesley Byrd (June 30, 1936 – July 20, 1991) was an

NCAA All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

basketball player for Marshall College whose career spanned from 1956–57 to 1958–59. He also won a gold medal at the

1959 Pan American Games The 1959 Pan American Games were held in Chicago, Illinois, United States between August 28 and September 7, 1959. Host city selection One city initially submitted a bid to host the 1959 Pan American Games that was recognized by the Pan Ame ...

for Team USA after the squad finished with a 6–0 record. It was the first Pan American Games to be played in the United States as well.

Early life

Byrd was born and raised in

Huntington, West Virginia Huntington is a city in Cabell and Wayne counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. It is the county seat of Cabell County, and the largest city in the Huntington–Ashland metropolitan area, sometimes referred to as the Tri-State Area. A h ...

and was the son of a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister. At age 12, he was stricken with

infantile paralysis Poliomyelitis, commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 70% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe sym ...

(polio), but he eventually recovered to a full, normal life. Byrd attended Huntington High School and became a prolific scorer. During his senior year of 1954–55, he averaged a state-record 34.2

points per game Points per game, often abbreviated PPG, is the average number of points scored by a player per game played in a sport, over the course of a series of games, a whole season, or a career. It is calculated by dividing the total number of points by nu ...

(ppg) for a season total of 889 points. He led the school to a 22–4 record en route to the Class A state championship game and shattered the three-game tournament's previous scoring record of 93 points – Byrd scored 128 points with games of 48, 49 and 31 points, respectively. Over that season he scored 40 or more points six times, including a career-high 56 against Bluefield, one of the larger schools. Despite his scoring ability, his high school coach lauded his "team" concept of basketball.

College

Byrd enrolled at Marshall College (now called Marshall University) in 1955. Due to NCAA rules that

freshmen A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

were not allowed to play on varsity sports, he was forced to participate on the school's freshmen men's basketball team for the 1955–56 season. A

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 ...

, Byrd had to wait until the following season to play for the varsity team. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

in 1956–57, he played in all 24 games and averaged 16.4 ppg. The next season, Byrd once again played in 24 games but this time his scoring jumped up to 24.9 ppg. He led the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

(MAC) in scoring for the first time and compiled 599 points on the year. Playing in the era before the

three-point shot A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

, Byrd made 214

field goals A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ball ...

and 171

free throw In basketball, free throws or foul shots are unopposed attempts to score points by shooting from behind the free-throw line (informally known as the foul line or the charity stripe), a line situated at the end of the Key (basketball), restricted ...

s. He also holds the distinction as being the first player from Marshall to lead the MAC in scoring. In 1958–59, Byrd's senior season, he led the MAC in scoring for a second consecutive time; his 29.3 ppg average en route to 704 total points were tops in the league. Once again, Byrd played in 24 games for a third straight season, bringing his career totals to 72 games played and 1,705 points scored. At the end of the season, Byrd was named a consensus Second Team All-American.

Post-college career

Leo Byrd was selected as the 25th overall pick in the

1959 NBA draft The 1959 NBA draft was the 13th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 31, 1959, before the 1959–60 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...

by the

Cincinnati Royals The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

. He never ended up playing professionally, however. Instead, Byrd was named as one of 14 players to represent the United States at the

. This team also contained future Hall of Famers

Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson played ...

and

Jerry West Jerome Alan West (born May 28, 1938) is an American basketball executive and former player. He played professionally for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His nicknames included "Mr. Clutch", for his ability ...

. The 1959 Pan American Games—only the third PanAm Games ever—were played in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. The United States had won the gold medal at both previous Games, and Byrd was on the squad that won its third gold after finishing the tournament 6–0. Byrd played in four of the six contests and scored 10 points (2.5 ppg). He shot 4-for-9 from the field and 2-for-4 from the free throw line. Byrd's competitive playing career effectively ended after his stint with Team USA.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Byrd, Leo 1937 births 1991 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1959 Pan American Games Basketball players from West Virginia Cincinnati Royals draft picks Guards (basketball) Marshall Thundering Herd men's basketball players Medalists at the 1959 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in basketball People from Lenoir County, North Carolina Sportspeople from Huntington, West Virginia Huntington High School (West Virginia) alumni