RIP Lonnie Shelton

[Kingspoint]

On Feb. 15, 1974, in front of more than 10,000 in Gill Coliseum, the Beavers ended No. 1 UCLA's 50-game conference winning streak as Oregon State's front line of Shelton and Steve Ericksen bested UCLA's NBA-bound forwards Bill Walton, Keith Wilkes and Dave Meyers. I was at the Blazer game when they were posting updates on the scoreboard the last five minutes of the game. When they flashed the final score, the Memorial Coliseum erupted for five minutes. Two days later, Walton and UCLA lost in Eugene to the Ducks. The next Thursday, Shelton and Walton were on the cover of SI with the caption, "Death in the Valley".
Lonnie Shelton at Oregon State
In 1974-75 Shelton scored 566 points, which still ranks second among sophomores all-time at OSU, and averaged 18.2 points and 9.4 rebounds to earn all-Pac-8 honors. That was enough to catch the attention of the ABA's Memphis Sounds, who selected him in the league's draft before folding. Shelton disputed his contract with St. Louis, the team that inherited his rights, and headed back to Oregon State for his junior season, but was declared ineligible to play because he'd signed a pro contract. He sued, alleging an agent had persuaded him to sign a contract using "fraud and undue influence," and a federal district court order in Oregon allowed him to eventually play 23 games with the Beavers. The NCAA later sued and stripped Oregon State's record and everyone's statistics from those 23 games like Shelton was King Tut.

Shelton was back on the court on Jan. 10, 1976, when OSU beat third-ranked UCLA in what Miller called at the time "probably the greatest victory of my career."

With 30 seconds left, Shelton put an exclamation mark on the victory by throwing down an illegal dunk -- and drawing a technical foul. He finished with 20 points as the Beavers won by 20 on UCLA's home floor. I watched that game live, and to this day, it's my favorite moment of College Basketball.

"We were ahead and everybody knew we were going to win," Miller told the AP afterward, "and I guess Lonnie decided to add something special."

Shelton went on to help Dennis Johnson lead Seattle to their only NBA Title.

[cumberlandreds]

I remember him. Good player in college and pros. I'm sorry to hear he has passed away. RIP Lonnie Shelton.

[Kingspoint]

He played three years for the Cavs. Wrist injuries sabotaged his pro career. His profressional coaches said he had quicker hands defensively than Walt Frazier, that he had the quickest they ever saw, that he also had thhe quickest burst from the ground to the rebound. He and Wes Unseld had excellent back-to-back title Championship battles.

Did not know he was the father of L.J. Shelton, and several other current athletes.