Norman Cottom (March 12, 1912 – July 1, 1972) was an American professional basketball player for the

Indianapolis Kautskys Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of U.S. state and territorial capitals, state capital and List of U.S. states' largest cities by population, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat, seat of ...

in the National Basketball League for two seasons. A native of Terre Haute, Indiana, Cottom attended Wiley High School and earned four varsity letters playing for the basketball team. He led the Red Streaks to 3 IHSAA Sectionals and 1 Regionals, reaching the state semi-finals in 1931 His HS teammate, John Miklozek would become a star at

Indiana State University Indiana State University (ISU) is a public university in Terre Haute, Indiana. It was founded in 1865 and offers over 100 undergraduate majors and more than 75 graduate and professional programs. Indiana State is classified among "D/PU: Doctor ...

. Cottom was also an all-state performer in football. Cottom played college basketball at

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mone ...

under Piggy Lambert. He played on the varsity team for three seasons, and as a

junior Junior or Juniors may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * ''Junior'' (Junior Mance album), 1959 * ''Junior'' (Röyksopp album), 2009 * ''Junior'' (Kaki King album), 2010 * ''Junior'' (LaFontaines album), 2019 Films * ''Junior'' (1994 ...

in 1933–34, Cottom led the Western Conference in scoring. He was named a consensus

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 ...

All-American at the end of the season. After college, Cottom played for the Indianapolis Kautskys for two seasons and one season with the U.S. Navy Pre-Flight team. He moved into high school coaching in Alexandria and Terre Haute, Indiana (Gerstmeyer High and Wiley High) before moving to Fullerton, California to become chairman of

Fullerton Union High School Fullerton Union High School is a public high school located in the Orange County, California city of Fullerton, operated by the Fullerton Joint Union High School District. History In 1893 a special election was held to create Fullerton Union High ...

's social studies department. In 1978, Cottom was enshrined in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.

References

# # # {{DEFAULTSORT:Cottom, Norman 1912 births 1972 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Basketball players from Indiana Forwards (basketball) High school basketball coaches in Indiana Indianapolis Kautskys players Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball players Sportspeople from Fullerton, California Sportspeople from Terre Haute, Indiana American men's basketball players