- Jim McMillian
James M. "Jim" McMillian (born
March 11 ,1948 inRaeford, North Carolina ) is a former probasketball player. After starring at Thomas Jefferson High School in Brooklyn, McMillian played college basketball atColumbia University [http://209.35.163.234/special/sports99/athletes4.htm] . He led Columbia to a three-year mark of 63-14, and their last NCAA Tournament appearance in 1968, his sophomore year. The tourney ended with a third-place finish for Columbia in the East regional, and Columbia ended that 1967-68 season the sixth-ranked college team in the nation."Jimmy Mac" not only was a three-time All-American and All-Ivy Leaguer, he was All-East each year, the ECAC Sophomore of the Year, and became the first person ever to earn the Haggerty Award in each of his three varsity seasons.
He scored 1758 career points (then a record, now second) and averaged 22.9 points per game (second-best then and now). He is also second in career rebounds (743) and holds the season records for field goals in a season (253) and career (677). But despite their outstanding winning percentages, his Columbia teams managed only one Ivy League title in a period when they battled tough Princeton teams with
Geoff Petrie and Penn teams withDave Wohl and Corky Calhoun.A 6'5" forward, he was drafted in the first round (13th overall pick) by the L.A. Lakers of the NBA and was also a first round pick of the N.Y. Nets of the ABA. He chose the Lakers and spent three years there, scoring 3714 points, an average of 15.3 per game. In 1972, he helped lead the Lakers to an NBA Championship, averaging 19.1 points per game in the playoffs. He was a key factor in the Lakers' record-setting 33-game win streak that season. McMillian, who was in his second season that year, replaced
Elgin Baylor at forward and the team immediately launched their streak. McMillian later played for theBuffalo Braves ,New York Knicks andPortland Trail Blazers .At the end of his career he moved toItaly and played for Sinudyne Bologna for two seasons [(1980-81) [http://www.batsweb.org/Sport/Basket/Campionato/form1976.htm] ] .References
External links
* [http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/m/mcmilji01.html Player Profile] @ basketball-reference.com
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