It's the birthday of one of the most decorated players in Indiana Hoosiers history. William Quinn Buckner was born in Phoenix, Illinois in 1954. Buckner led his team to back-to-back State titles, and was also an All-State football player. He chose to play his college basketball for coach Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers. Knight named him captain of three consecutive teams.
As a sophomore his team reached the Final Four. As a junior they were undefeated in the regular season, and then lost 92-90 in the regional final after All-American Scott May had to sit out most of the game with a broken arm. And then as a senior the Hoosiers went undefeated and won the National Title, and remain the last team to do this.
Buckner would later win an NBA Title and an Olympic gold medal.
Following his professional career he's mostly worked around basketball, either as an announcer or a coach.
Ricky "Amazing" Grace was born on this day in Dallas in 1967. He played alongside Mookie Blaylock at Oklahoma and the guard tandem led the Sooners to the National Title game in 1988. He pursued a professional career in Australia where he is now in the Hall of Fame.
Other birthdays include: John Hargis 1920 (Texas), Si Green 1933 (Duquesne), Bobby Smith 1937 (West Virginia), Terry Thomas 1953 (Detroit), Ray Epps 1956 (Norfolk State), Rickey Brown 1958 (Mississippi State), Willie White 1962 (Tennessee Chattanooga), Melvin Booker 1972 (Missouri), Shan Foster 1986 (Vanderbilt), Jarryd Bayless 1988 (Arizona), and Cory Joseph 1991 (Texas)
