Rodney Adams "Rod" Fletcher was an American former basketball player for the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Univer ...

who was named a consensus First Team NCAA All-American as a senior in 1951–52. 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 ...

, Fletcher led the

Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

to two straight

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 ...

championships as well as two consecutive NCAA tournament Final Four appearances in 1951 and 1952 alongside teammate John "Red" Kerr. He was a two-time All-Big Ten selection in his three varsity seasons, and at the end of his collegiate career Fletcher was selected by the

Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, predating the formation of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Founded in 1947, the Lakers are one of the NBA's most famous and successful franchises. As of summer 2012, th ...

in the

1952 NBA draft The 1952 NBA draft was the sixth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 26, 1952, before the 1952–53 season. In this draft, ten remaining NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basket ...

, although he never played professionally. Fletcher grew up in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metro ...

and attended

Champaign Central High School Champaign Central High School is a high school located in Champaign, Illinois. It has 1,385 students in grades 9- 12. The principal is Joe Williams. It is part of the Champaign Unit 4 School District school system. Its sports teams are the Cen ...

, where he was named second team all-state as a senior in 1948 by the ''Champaign News Gazette''.

References

Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Illinois Guards (basketball) Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players Minneapolis Lakers draft picks Sportspeople from Champaign, Illinois 1930 births {{1930s-US-basketball-bio-stub

See also

References