Richard Carl Mount (born January 5, 1947) is a former 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 in the
American Basketball Association
The American Basketball Association (ABA) was a major men's professional basketball league from 1967 to 1976. The ABA ceased to exist with the ABA–NBA merger, American Basketball Association–National Basketball Association merger in 1976, ...
(ABA).
He was the first high school athlete to be featured on the cover of ''
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
''.
Early life
Rick Mount's father,
Pete
Pete or Petes or ''variation'', may refer to:
People
* Pete (given name)
* Pete (nickname)
* Pete (surname)
Fictional characters
* Pete (Disney), a cartoon character in the ''Mickey Mouse'' universe
* Pete the Pup (a.k.a. 'Petey'), a character ...
, was an avid basketball player who intended Rick to learn the game as well. He cut out the bottom of a peanut can so Rick could shoot tennis balls through it. Rick's first time playing with an official basketball goal was during the fourth grade. He was known to beat 8th and 9th graders. However, when it was time to try out for the school basketball team, he wasn't able to make a standard left-hand
lay up
A layup in basketball is a two-point shot attempt made by leaping from below, laying the ball up near the basket, and using one hand to bounce it off the backboard and into the basket. The motion and one-handed reach distinguish it from a jump s ...
, which was a requirement for making the roster. That very night he practiced for hours until he had it down, and on the next day of tryouts, he made the team.
During the summers, Rick worked as a lifeguard. Learning by repetition, he would shoot for hours at a time between shifts at the local Memorial Park. He gave kids ice cream money to help retrieve loose balls. After the likes of
Ken Sailors
Kenneth Lloyd Sailors (January 14, 1921 – January 30, 2016) was an American professional basketball player active in the 1940s and early 1950s. A guard (basketball), guard, he is notable for inventing the Jump shot (basketball), jump shot as an ...
,
Glen Roberts
Glenn Roberts (October 25, 1912 – May 21, 1980) was an American National Basketball League player. In college basketball, Roberts was one of the first players to put the " jump shot" to practical use.
Overview
Glenn Roberts' Pound, Virgini ...
and
Paul Arizin
Paul Joseph Arizin (April 9, 1928 – December 12, 2006), nicknamed "Pitchin' Paul", was an American basketball player who spent his entire National Basketball Association (NBA) career with the Philadelphia Warriors from 1950 to 1962. He reti ...
, Rick later helped establish the idealistic
jump shot form before it was ever
textbook
A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...
, influencing a number of future shooters at all levels in the sport.
High school career
Rick "the Rocket" Mount attended
Lebanon High School in
Lebanon, Indiana
Lebanon (/ˈlɛbnən/) is a city in and the county seat of Boone County, Indiana, United States. The population was 15,792 at the 2010 census. Lebanon is located in central Indiana, approximately northwest of downtown Indianapolis and southe ...
. There, he led his team in scoring, including 33.1 ppg throughout his junior and senior seasons. His game started to attract national attention. In 1965, Lebanon played
Crawfordsville High School
Crawfordsville High School is a former public high school erected in 1910 on East Jefferson Street in Crawfordsville, Montgomery County, Indiana, and was a part of the Crawfordsville Community Schools. The building was expanded in 1914, 1921, a ...
at
Hinkle Fieldhouse
Hinkle Fieldhouse (named Butler Fieldhouse from 1928 until 1966) is a basketball arena on the campus of Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana. Completed in early 1928, it was the largest basketball arena in the United States until 1950. The ...
in
Indianapolis, Indiana
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Mari ...
. With 10,000 people in attendance, the team made enough money to buy a bus. He scored 57 points in the game. On February 14, 1966, Mount became the first high school athlete to appear on the cover of
Sports Illustrated
''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
, which featured him standing in front of a barn located in his
Boone County homeland. At the end of his senior year, he won the Indiana "Mr. Basketball" award and was named "USA Basketball Yearbook Player of the Year," given to the nation's best high school player. He finished his Lebanon career with 2,595 points, at the time the second-highest total in Indiana high school history; as of December 2021 he is seventh.
College career
1966–67 season
Mount was considering committing to University of Miami (Florida). Instead, he stayed home and attended
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 money ...
in
West Lafayette, Indiana
West Lafayette () is a city in Wabash Township, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, about northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash River from its sister city, ...
, just northwest of his hometown, to play basketball under head coach
George King George King may refer to:
Politics
* George King (Australian politician) (1814–1894), New South Wales and Queensland politician
* George King, 3rd Earl of Kingston (1771–1839), Irish nobleman and MP for County Roscommon
* George Clift King (184 ...
.
As a freshman, Mount was unable to play on the varsity team due to
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 ...
regulations then in effect. Rick scored 33 points in a scrimmage against the varsity team in front of 9,500 in attendance at
Lambert Fieldhouse
Lambert Fieldhouse is an athletic facility on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. It was built in 1937 on land bought by David Ross and George Ade (the namesakes of nearby Ross–Ade Stadium) as a replacement for Memoria ...
. He averaged 35 points a game while shooting 54.5 percent on the freshman squad, tallying 490 points.
1967–68 season
In his first varsity game, Mount scored a game-high 28 points in a last-second, two-point loss to a top-ranked
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
team and
Lew Alcindor
Lew or LEW may refer to:
People
* Lew (given name)
* Lew (surname)
Places
* Lew, Oxfordshire, England
* River Lew, in Devon, England
Transport
* LEW Hennigsdorf, a rail vehicle factory in Hennigsdorf, Germany
* Lew (locomotive), a British narro ...
. It was also the first game played in
Mackey Arena
Mackey Arena is located in West Lafayette, Indiana. Part of the Purdue University campus, it is home to the university's basketball teams, and occasionally hosts home games for the volleyball and wrestling teams. The arena opened in 1967 as a repl ...
. Averaging 28.4 points a game and leading Purdue to a 15-9 record, he was named a Second Team
All-American and First Team All-Big Ten his sophomore season. Following the U.S. Olympic Trials in April, he was selected as an Alternate to the U.S. National Team.
1968–69 season
In his junior season at Purdue, along with seniors
Billy Keller
William Curry Keller (born August 30, 1947) is an American retired professional basketball player.
High school career
Billy Keller, the 5'10" guard, spent his entire basketball career in the state of Indiana. He attended George Washington Commu ...
and
Herm Gilliam
Herman L. Gilliam Jr. (May 5, 1946 – April 16, 2005) was an American professional basketball player. He was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
College career
Herm Gilliam attended Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. He p ...
, he led the
Boilermakers
A boilermaker is a tradesperson who fabricates steel, iron, or copper into boilers and other large containers intended to hold hot gas or liquid, as well as maintains and repairs boilers and boiler systems.Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Dep ...
to a
Big Ten Conference
The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...
title and the school's first
NCAA tournament appearance, leading to the
NCAA Finals game where they lost to a
Lew Alcindor
Lew or LEW may refer to:
People
* Lew (given name)
* Lew (surname)
Places
* Lew, Oxfordshire, England
* River Lew, in Devon, England
Transport
* LEW Hennigsdorf, a rail vehicle factory in Hennigsdorf, Germany
* Lew (locomotive), a British narro ...
-led
UCLA
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...
.
In a win against
Marquette to bring the Boilers to the Final Four, Mount is remembered for his "leaping lofter" game-winning shot with two seconds left in overtime. He led all scorers in the tournament with a 40.6 point average in Purdue's three games. Purdue led the nation with 94.8 points a game during the 1968-69 season fronted by Mount's 33.3 a game. A regular season highlight was defeating
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 ...
120-76 in the final game of the regular season, establishing a school record for most points in a game.
Rick had a keen eye on telling if a goal wasn't balanced. He twice had officials adjust the same goal prior to the NCAA Finals game at
Freedom Hall
Freedom Hall is a multi-purpose arena in Louisville, Kentucky, on the grounds of the Kentucky Exposition Center, which is owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It is best known for its use as a basketball arena, previously serving as the home ...
in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
. He went through the same procedure earlier in the season before a game at
Iowa
Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
. He led Purdue to a 23-5 record on the season. He shot 51.5 percent on the season, whereas well-known scorers such as
Pete Maravich
Peter Press Maravich ( ; June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player. Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and raised in ...
and
Calvin Murphy
Calvin Jerome Murphy (born May 9, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player who after a prolific collegiate career at Niagara, where he averaged 33.1 points per game over his three years, played in the National Basketball Associ ...
shot no better than 46 percent. He was selected as a First Team All-American and the Big Ten Player Of The Year.
1969–70 season
In his senior year, Mount had two 53-point games plus a 61-point game against
conference champ Iowa, which was the NCAA Division I single-game record at the time. Thirty-two of his 61 points were scored in the first half alone. Later research found that if the three-point line had existed in 1970 in the NCAA, he would have scored 74 points in that game, credited with 13 three-point field goals. The official school record is ten, held by
Carsen Edwards
Carsen Cade Edwards (born March 12, 1998) is an American professional basketball player for Fenerbahçe of the Turkish Basketbol Süper Ligi and the EuroLeague. He played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers, where he was twice name ...
.
Leading Purdue to an 18-6 season, he averaged 35.4 points a game and took second straight First Team All-American and Big Ten Player Of The Year honors. Mount left as the school's all-time leading scorer with 2,323 points throughout only three varsity seasons. At the time, it was also the Big Ten scoring record, surpassing the total of
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 ...
's Don Schlundt. It is currently held by Indiana's
Calbert Cheaney
Calbert Nathaniel Cheaney (born July 17, 1971) is an American basketball coach and former player who serves as assistant coach for the Indiana Pacers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He starred as a player for the Indiana Hoosiers fro ...
's 2,613, though Cheaney's career collegiate scoring average of 19.8 falls well short of Mount's 32.3.
Mount scored in double figures for 72 consecutive games while scoring 30-plus points in 46 of those games. Both remain school records. He broke numerous Purdue scoring records that were held by
Dave Schellhase
David Gene Schellhase Jr. (born October 14, 1944) is a retired American collegiate basketball coach and former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA).
High school career
Born and raised in Evansville, Indiana, Schellhase a ...
and
Terry Dischinger
Terry Gilbert Dischinger (born November 21, 1940) is an American former basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Dischinger was a three-time NBA All-Star and the 1963 NBA Rookie of the Year, after averaging 28 points per gam ...
. During his career, he led the Boilers to a 56-20 overall record.
Mount never received a national player of the year award. He finished behind UCLA's
Lew Alcindor
Lew or LEW may refer to:
People
* Lew (given name)
* Lew (surname)
Places
* Lew, Oxfordshire, England
* River Lew, in Devon, England
Transport
* LEW Hennigsdorf, a rail vehicle factory in Hennigsdorf, Germany
* Lew (locomotive), a British narro ...
and
LSU
Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...
's
Pete Maravich
Peter Press Maravich ( ; June 22, 1947 – January 5, 1988), known by his nickname Pistol Pete, was an American professional basketball player. Maravich was born in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area, and raised in ...
.
Professional career
Indiana Pacers
1970-1971
Mount was considered an excellent pro prospect, but because the general managers of the NBA knew that Mount was already signed by the
ABA, he was not drafted by the
Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Lakers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Lakers play their ...
until the middle of the 8th round of the
1970 NBA Draft
The 1970 NBA draft was the 24th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on March 23, 1970, before the 1970–71 season. In this draft, 17 NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball player ...
. Mount was, however, drafted in the ABA by the
Indiana Pacers
The Indiana Pacers are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Pacers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The Pacers were first esta ...
as the 1st overall pick in 1970. As a result, his legendary status in Indiana made it a foregone conclusion that he would sign with the Indiana Pacers of the rival ABA. At the time, the ABA was the only professional league that featured a three-point line, which worked to Mount's advantage, as he was an outside shooter. During his first season in the ABA, Mount was offered $40,000 from Pro-Keds to wear its new
suede
Suede (pronounced ) is a type of leather with a fuzzy, napped finish, commonly used for jackets, shoes, fabrics, purses, furniture, and other items. The term comes from the French , which literally means "gloves from Sweden". The term was fir ...
basketball shoe. He declined the offer, because he personally preferred
Chuck Taylors
Chuck is a masculine given name or a nickname for Charles or Charlie. It may refer to:
People
Arts and entertainment
* Chuck Alaimo, American saxophonist, leader of the Chuck Alaimo Quartet
* Chuck Barris (1929–2017), American TV producer
* C ...
of the
Converse
Converse may refer to:
Mathematics and logic
* Converse (logic), the result of reversing the two parts of a definite or implicational statement
** Converse implication, the converse of a material implication
** Converse nonimplication, a logical c ...
brand.
1971-1972
Playing for head coach
Bob "Slick" Leonard, along with such teammates as
George McGinnis
George F. McGinnis (born August 10, 1950) is an American former professional basketball player who played 11 seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted into the ABA from Indiana ...
,
Mel Daniels
Melvin Joe Daniels (July 20, 1944 – October 30, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. He played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for the Minnesota Muskies, Indiana Pacers, and Memphis Sounds, and in the National Bask ...
and
Bob Netolicky
Robert Netolicky (born August 2, 1942) is a retired American basketball player. A 6'9" power forward/center, he played professionally in the now–defunct American Basketball Association (ABA) from 1967 to 1976. Netolicky was a four–time ABA Al ...
, he led the Pacers to the
1972 ABA Championship against
Rick Barry
Richard Francis Dennis Barry III (born March 28, 1944) is an American retired professional basketball player who starred at the NCAA, American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) levels. Barry ranks among the ...
and the
New York Nets
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
. He handed off 2.9 assists and averaged 14.2 points a game, racking up 57 three-pointers in his second season as a Pacer. Along with old college teammate Billy Keller and
Roger Brown, they made Indiana a constant threat beyond the arc.
Kentucky Colonels
1972-1973
Rick Mount was traded to the
Kentucky Colonels
The Kentucky Colonels were a member of the American Basketball Association for all of the league's nine years. The name is derived from the historic Kentucky colonels. The Colonels won the most games and had the highest winning percentage of ...
for the 1972-73 season. He averaged 15 points a game on the season. Teamed with
Dan Issel
Daniel Paul Issel (born October 25, 1948) is an American former professional basketball player and coach. An outstanding collegian at the University of Kentucky, Issel was twice named an All-American en route to a school-record 25.7 points per ...
, he averaged 17 points in playoff games while leading the Colonels to the
ABA Finals against his former Pacers.
Utah Stars
1973-1974
In the middle of the 1973-74 season, Rick was traded to the
Utah Stars
The Utah Stars were an American Basketball Association (ABA) team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Under head coach Bill Sharman the Stars were the first major professional basketball team to use a pre-game shootaround.
History prior to moving to ...
, where he joined
Ron Boone
Ronald Bruce Boone (born September 6, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player. He had a 13-year career in the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA). Boone set a record for most consecuti ...
. For the third straight season, Mount led a different team to the
ABA Finals, eventually losing to the New York Nets.
According to
Charley Rosen
Charles Elliot Rosen (born January 18, 1941) is an American author and former basketball player and basketball coach.
Career
The 6' 8" Rosen played college basketball at Hunter College in New York City for three seasons (1959–62), setting s ...
, Mount displayed the most astounding exhibition of pure, one-on-none shooting he ever saw. Rosen was invited by the Utah coach,
Joe Mullaney, to participate in an intra-squad scrimmage. After Mullaney officially terminated the session, several players lingered to play
HORSE
The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
. Because of Mount, the Stars' rules were unique. Shots had to be perfectly clean, counted only if the ball didn't touch the rim. Despite this wrinkle, Mount won every game. In the end, only Mount and Rosen were left on the court, and Mount was able to adjust the trajectory of every jumper so that the ball hit the inner part of the backside-rim in such a way that the ball would nudge the iron, split the net, and then bounce back to him. He supposedly could do this about 90 percent of the time.
Memphis Sounds
1974-1975
Mount spent the last season of his ABA and professional basketball career playing for the
Memphis Sounds
The Memphis Sounds were an American professional sports franchise that played in Memphis, Tennessee from 1970 until 1975 as a member of the American Basketball Association. The team was founded as the New Orleans Buccaneers in 1967.
Known durin ...
. He averaged a career season-high scoring average of 17.1 points a game. His career was cut short due to a dislocated shoulder that he sustained during the 1974-75 season.
Career notes
Mount was amongst the top of the league in three-point shooting during the time he spent in the ABA, while averaging 11.8 points a game and in his career with a total of 3,330 points. Known mainly for his scoring abilities in high school and college, Mount contributed in a greater variety of ways during his pro career. As one of the finest passers in the league, he averaged 2.4
assists, tallying a total of 676. He was also a fine
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 ...
shooter with 82 percent accuracy. Rick shot 31.7 percent beyond the arc and held a 43.3 field goal percentage in his five seasons in the ABA.
After retirement
Today, Mount still lives in his hometown of Lebanon, Indiana, with his wife, Donna. His son, Rich, played on the Purdue basketball team for two seasons (1989–1991) before transferring to
VCU. Rich, who also played at Lebanon, left high school with the ninth most points in Indiana high school history. He currently works as a police officer in Lebanon.
Mount currently runs "shoot camps" for high school players throughout the Midwest, where each player will take 2,500 supervised shots. The instructional school is based solely on shooting and there is no scrimmaging involved.
An avid quail hunter in his spare time, he opened Rick Mount's Sports Shop, a hunting and fishing shop. Purdue is among Mount's customers for the "Shoot-A-Way" retrieval system, a device which returns a basketball down a track to a player after a shot. Rick left college 10 credits shy of his degree requirements; that decision later affected his opportunity to be a head coach at an Indiana high school.
In 1992, Mount and his father were both inducted into the
Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame
The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame is a sports museum and hall of fame in New Castle, Indiana. While it honors men and women associated with high school, college, and professional basketball in Indiana, an emphasis is placed on the athlete's high ...
, located in
New Castle, Indiana
New Castle is a city in Henry County, Indiana, east-northeast of Indianapolis, on the Big Blue River. The city is the county seat of Henry County. New Castle is home to New Castle Fieldhouse, the largest high school gymnasium in the world.
Th ...
. In 2014, his son, Rich, was named to the
Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame
The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame is a sports museum and hall of fame in New Castle, Indiana. While it honors men and women associated with high school, college, and professional basketball in Indiana, an emphasis is placed on the athlete's high ...
's Silver Anniversary Team.
In 2016, Mount gave an interview to the Indianapolis Star where he discussed his career and the public perception of him.
See also
*
References
;General
* Jeff Washburn, ''Tales from Indiana High School Basketball'' (Sports Publishing 2004).
* Mike Bresnahan, ''Covered in Glory'' (
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
, January 3, 2003)
* The Lafayette Journal and Courier, ''Most Memorable Moments In Purdue Basketball History'' (Sports Publishing 1998)
;Specific
External links
Rick Mount Purdue University Biography Rick Mount Shooting Clinic Website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mount, Rick
1947 births
Living people
All-American college men's basketball players
American men's basketball players
Basketball players from Indiana
Indiana Pacers draft picks
Indiana Pacers players
Kentucky Colonels players
Los Angeles Lakers draft picks
Memphis Sounds players
Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball)
People from Lebanon, Indiana
Purdue Boilermakers men's basketball players
Shooting guards
Utah Stars players