KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Wayne Estes, arguably the greatest basketball player to ever come out of Montana, has been selected for induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
Estes, a former two-time all-state player at Anaconda High School, became an All-American player at Utah State, where he starred from 1963-65. He still ranks fourth in Utah State history with 2,001 career points and 893 career rebounds, and holds the Utah State records for career points per game (26.7), free throws 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).
Estes scored his 2,001st career point as part of a 48-point performance against Denver on Feb. 8, 1965. After the game, Estes walked into a downed power line and was fatally electrocuted. He was 21.
Estes is one of eight inductees who will be posthumously celebrated at the next National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame ceremony. Others to be inducted are: Dave Meyers (UCLA), Sihugo Green (Duquesne), Lennie Rosenbluth (North Carolina), Sam Lacey (New Mexico State), John Rudometkin (USC), Tom Stith (St. Bonaventure) and coach Jack Hartman (Coffeyville CC/Southern Illinois/Kansas State).
While at Anaconda, Estes was a three-sport star, also playing football and throwing the shot put and discus in track and field. He won state titles in both field events as a senior in 1961 and still holds the Anaconda school shot put record with a distance of 59 feet, 4.5 inches.
On the basketball floor, Estes led Anaconda to the Class AA state tournament as a junior and senior. He scored 34 points in a two-point semifinal loss to Missoula in the 1960 tournament, and Anaconda finished fourth. The next year, the Copperheads defeated Billings for the third-place trophy. Estes led all scorers with 110 points in four games, including 31 against Billings in the consolation game and 33 in a loser-out win over Butte Central.
