Memory Lane: Today Marks 50th Anniversary of Wayne Estes' Tragic Death
Today marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most tragic events in college basketball history. All-American forward Wayne Estes, runner-up to Miami's Rick Barry for the national scoring championship in 1964-65, was electrocuted in a freak accident. The tragedy occurred less than three hours after Estes scored 48 points against Denver to become Utah State's first player to reach the 2,000-point plateau in his career.
En route back and forth to his off-campus apartment and then a restaurant, Estes was with teammate Delano Lyons and another friend when they passed three times the scene of an auto accident that killed a fellow USU student. The group stopped and inspected the scene briefly. They were returning to their car when Lyons, who is 6-2, noticed a live high-voltage wire dangling in front of him after being dislodged when the victim's car hit a utility pole. Lyons ducked and hollered "Watch it!" to the 6-6 Estes, who was walking behind him. But Estes didn't react quickly enough and the wire carrying 2,700 volts of electricity brushed against his forehead, killing him instantly.
On the same day 31 years later, Dayton center Chris Daniels, who finished the 1995-96 season as the nation's leader in field-goal shooting (68.3%), died because of a heart ailment. His brother, Antonio, converted a layup in the closing seconds to give Bowling Green a 72-70 victory against Eastern Michigan in Antonio's first game after his sibling's demise.
Later this season will mark the 25th anniversary of the most tragic moment in the history of any league tourney. It occurred in the semifinals of the 1990 West Coast Conference Tournament when Hank Gathers, the league's all-time scoring leader and a two-time tourney MVP, collapsed on his home court during the Lions' game against Portland. He died later that evening of a heart ailment and the tournament was suspended. The Lions still earned an NCAA playoff bid because of their regular-season crown and advanced to the West Regional final behind the heroics of Bo Kimble, who was Gathers' long-time friend from Philadelphia.
Excluding Evansville's plane crash early in the 1977-78 season, a couple of other notable players who passed away in mid-season were John Gunn and Chris Street. In 1976-77, Memphis State probably would have participated in the NCAA playoffs rather than the NIT if Gunn, who averaged 11 ppg and 9 rpg the previous two campaigns, didn't die midway through the season due to complication of a rare disease (Stevens-Johnson Syndrome). In 1992-93, Iowa had a legitimate shot at the Big Ten Conference championship until Street, the Hawkeyes' leading rebounder, died in an auto accident involving a snowplow.