Louie Dampier

Infobox NBA Player
name = Louis Dampier
nickname = Louie


image_size =
position = Point guard/shooting guard
height_ft = 6 | height_in = 0
weight_lbs = 170
nationality = USA
birth_date = birth date and age|1944|11|20
birth_place = Indianapolis, Indiana
highschool = Southport High School
college = University of Kentucky
draft = 38th overall
draft_year = 1967
draft_team = Cincinnati Royals
career_start = 1968
career_end = 1979
halloffame =
former_teams = Kentucky Colonels 1968–76,
San Antonio Spurs 1977–79
awards =ABA All-Time Team (1997) Seven-time ABA All-Star All-ABA Second Team (1968, 1969, 1970, 1974) ABA All-Rookie team (1968) ABA Championship with Colonels (1975)

Louis "Louie" Dampier (born November 20, 1944) is a retired American professional basketball player.

A 6-foot-tall guard, Dampier is one of only a handful of men to play all nine seasons in the American Basketball Association (ABA) (1967-1976), all with the Kentucky Colonels. He also was one of just two players to play all nine ABA seasons with the same team; the other was Byron Beck of the Denver Rockets, later renamed the Nuggets.

He also played three seasons (1976-1979) in the National Basketball Association (NBA) with the San Antonio Spurs.

High school

Dampier was born in Indianapolis, Indiana and played at Southport High School in the suburb of Southport. He also played in an annual all-star game featuring top high-school players from Indiana and Kentucky.

University of Kentucky

Dampier was a multi-sport athlete at the University of Kentucky, playing baseball as well as basketball. Playing under the legendary coach Adolph Rupp, Dampier and Pat Riley led the Wildcats, who fielded an all-white basketball team, to the 1966 NCAA championship game, where they lost to Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso), which fielded an all-black starting lineup. This story was the center of the 2006 film "Glory Road".

During his three years at Kentucky (at the time, freshmen were ineligible to play varsity sports), Dampier was a two-time All-American and three-time All-Southeastern Conference selection. He was also named Academic All-SEC twice and Academic All-American once. Upon graduation from Kentucky in 1967, Dampier scored 1,575 points, at the time third-most in school history behind only Cotton Nash (1,770) and Alex Groza (1,744).

Pro basketball

In 1967 the Cincinnati Royals (now the Sacramento Kings) selected Dampier in the fourth round of the NBA Draft. Dampier eventually signed with the Kentucky Colonels of the fledgling ABA and teamed with Darel Carrier to form the most explosive backcourt duo in the league. In each of the ABA's first three seasons, both Dampier and Carrier averaged at least 20 points per game. Both were three-point field goal specialists (the ABA had used the three-point field goal from its inception), but especially Dampier who made 500 during a three-year stretch: a record 199 during the 1968-69 season, 198 in 1969-70 and 103 in 1970-71. (The 199 stood as an ABA or NBA record, until John Starks made 217 during the 1994-95 NBA season. Dennis Scott broke that record a year later with 267; it now belongs to Ray Allen who made 269 in 2005-06.) At the conclusion of the ABA's history, Dampier made a career-record 794 3-point field goals.cite book | title = The Official NBA Basketball Encyclopedia, | publisher = Villard Books | date = 1994 | pages = pp. 208-209 | isbn = 0-679-43293-8]

He also finished first all-time in the ABA in games played (728), minutes played (27,770), points scored (13,726), and assists (4,044). During the 1970-71 season, he hit 57 consecutive free throws for what was then a pro record (ABA or NBA). Seven times, he was named an ABA All-Star. He was a unanimous choice for the ABA Top 30 team.cite web | title=30 Year ABA All-Time Team|url=http://www.remembertheaba.com/ABAGeneralInfo/30YearTeam.html| accessdate=2008-06-05] He played on the Colonels’ 1975 ABA championship team, which featured a later University of Kentucky standout, Dan Issel, as well as 7' 2" center Artis Gilmore.

After the 1976 season, the ABA ceased operations with Kentucky and two other teams folding. Dampier was selected by the San Antonio Spurs (one of the four teams to merge into the NBA) in the dispersal draft. Playing mostly as a role player behind George Gervin, Dampier averaged 6.7 points in 232 NBA games.

Dampier later served as an assistant coach with the Denver Nuggets.

Several divisions in the new ABA were initially named after stars of the old ABA, including Dampier. Today the league has three divisions—Red, White, and Blue. The basketballs used in both the old and new ABA are of these three colors.

References

External links

* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/d/dampilo01.html Basketball-Reference.com] statistics
* [http://www.remembertheaba.com/TributeMaterial/Dampier.html Louie Dampier's profile at Remember the ABA]