Wayne Vernon Estes (May 13, 1943 – February 8, 1965) was an 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 (appro ...

player. He was a All-American

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for the

Utah State Aggies The Utah State Aggies are the college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Utah State University, located in Logan, Utah. Utah State fields 16 – seven men and nine women – National Collegiate Athletic ...

from 1962 to 1965. Wayne is the fourth-leading scorer in Utah State history, with 2,001 points and the fourth-leading rebounder (893). He holds school records for career points per game (26.7),

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 restricted area. Free throws ...

s made in a career (469), consecutive 10-point games (64), points in a season (821), points per game in a season (33.7), points in a game (52), and rebounds in a game (28). He was the second leading scorer in the nation in 1965, just behind

Rick Barry Richard Francis Dennis Barry III (born March 28, 1944) is an American former professional basketball player who starred at the NCAA, American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA) levels. Barry ranks among the m ...

High school

Estes earned all-state honors in three sports for the Anaconda Copperheads: football, basketball, and track. Estes earned three letters each in football and basketball (freshmen were unable to play varsity football and basketball at this time) and four letters in track. Estes was the Montana state class A champion discus and shot put thrower in his senior season. He still holds the Anaconda high school shot put record with a mark of 59' 4.5". During his high school basketball career, Estes scored 1,430 points. Only

Minneapolis Lakers The Los Angeles Lakers franchise has a long and storied history, having played and won championships in both the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball League (NBL) and the Basketball Association of America (BAA) prior to ...

Center

Ed Kalafat Edward L. Kalafat (October 13, 1932 – October 7, 2019) was an American basketball player. A center, he played college basketball for the Minnesota Golden Gophers and professionally for three seasons with the Minneapolis Lakers. Biography Kal ...

, who racked up 1,561 points, outscored Estes while at Anaconda High School.

Accidental death

On the night of February 8, 1965, Wayne Estes played what would be the last game of his college career, against the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

in the Nelson Field House. Estes scored 48 points during this game, surpassing 2,000 points for his career.

Bounce pass to Estes. Puts the ball behind his back. Turns and looks out front to Hal Hale…(Estes) looks at his defense, pushes, and it's…in! Oh, great! Wayne Estes has now scored two-thousand points in a three-year career.
—Play-by-play announcer Reid Andreasen,
KVNU KVNU (610 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed to Logan, Utah. It is owned by the Cache Valley Media Group and airs a talk radio format, serving the Logan metropolitan area. KVNU also broadcasts Utah State Aggies sports. KVNU fir ...
Radio, Feb. 8, 1965

After the game, Estes and some friends stopped at the scene of a car accident near campus. While crossing the street, Estes brushed against a downed high power line and was fatally electrocuted. Estes would have likely been a high draft pick in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA) in 1965. 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 Pacific Division (NBA), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NBA ...

had intended to draft him in the first round. Estes was posthumously given All-American honors by the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

and also earned a posthumous consensus Second Team All-American distinction. His number of #33 was posthumously retired by the Aggies. Wayne is buried in the Sunset Memorial cemetery near Fairmont, Montana just southeast of

Anaconda Anacondas or water boas are a group of large boas of the genus ''Eunectes''. They are a semiaquatic group of snakes found in tropical South America. Three to five extant and one extinct species are currently recognized, including one of the l ...

Wayne Estes Center

In May 2013, Utah State University announced the construction of the $9.7 million Wayne Estes Center, which will serve as a practice facility for the Utah State University Aggies men's and women's basketball teams and house a competition venue women's volleyball team. In the foyer will be a visual tribute to Wayne Estes. The center was made possible by a $5.25 million gift from Jim and Carol Laub and a $1.3 million gift from Blake Kirby. Groundbreaking was held in June 2013 and completion was scheduled for April 2014.

Career statistics

College

{, class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" , - !Year !Team !GP !FG% !FT% !RPG !PPG , - , style="text-align:left;", 1962–63 , style="text-align:left;", Utah State , 27 , , .479 , , .838 , , 9.5 , , 20.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1963–64 , style="text-align:left;", Utah State , 29 , , .479 , , .853 , , 13.0 , , 28.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1964–65 , style="text-align:left;", Utah State , 19 , , .486 , , .878 , , 13.7 , , 33.7 , - , style="text-align:center;" colspan=2, Career , 75 , , .481 , , .856 , , 11.9 , , 26.7

References

External links

Big Blue CheeseHeads Wayne Estes memorial page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Estes, Wayne 1943 births 1965 deaths Accidental deaths by electrocution Accidental deaths in Utah All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Montana People from Anaconda, Montana Small forwards Utah State Aggies men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen