Laddie Gale

Laddie Gale

Gale in 1939
Personal information
Born	(1917-04-22)April 22, 1917 Grants Pass, Oregon, U.S.
Died	July 29, 1996(1996-07-29) (aged 79) Gold Beach, Oregon, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Career information
High school	Oakridge (Oakridge, Oregon)
College	Oregon (1936–1939)
Position	Forward
Career history
1939–1940	Detroit Eagles
Career highlights and awards
NCAA champion (1939) First-team All-American – Helms (1939) 2× First-team All-PCC (1938, 1939) No. 28 retired by Oregon Ducks
Basketball Hall of Fame

Lauren "Laddie" Gale (April 22, 1917 – July 29, 1996) was an American collegiate and professional basketball player.

A native of Oakridge, Oregon,^[1] the 6'4" Gale played forward for the University of Oregon under head coach Howard Hobson. He was the second-tallest player (behind 6'8" Urgel "Slim" Wintermute) on the team, which was dubbed "The Tall Firs."^[1]

Gale led the Ducks in scoring in 1938 and 1939, earning All-Pacific Coast Conference honors in each season. In 1939, Gale led the Ducks to a national championship in the first-ever Division I men's basketball tournament.^[2]

After graduation, Gale played professionally in 1939 and 1940 for the Detroit Eagles of the National Basketball League.^[3] He left the Eagles in to serve in World War II,^[3] reportedly after being the first Oregon draftee selected by lottery.^[1] After the war, he played on several semi-pro teams and retired from basketball in 1949.^[3]

He died in Gold Beach, Oregon, on July 29, 1996.^[1]

For his stellar collegiate play, for being the first college player regularly to employ a one-handed shot, and for helping to popularize the sport of basketball in the American West, Gale was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977^[2] and was an inaugural inductee of the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1980.^[4] He is also a member of the University of Oregon Hall of Fame.

• Lauren Gale – Basketball-Reference.com NBL player profile