JAMES SCOTT - INDUCTEE #131
hall of fame fast fact:
James Scott still owns one of the top free throw shooting efforts for one game. He hit 17 of 18 and scored 31 points for West Texas State in a 100-71 win over North Texas State in the season opener his senior year.
James Scott
James Scott started playing basketball at Borger Junior High and went on to become one of West Texas State’s top basketball players of the 1950s.
Scott was 6’3” and had a dream of playing for Henry Iba at Oklahoma A&M. He was offered a partial grant at Oklahoma A&M, but Gus Miller of WT swooped in; Scott attended WT. WT was where Scott became a Christian and met his wife of 53 years; he also excelled on the basketball court, earning second-team All-Border Conference in 1953. Scott averaged 20.2 points to lead WT to a 14-5 record and a conference title.
He led the country in free-throw percentage, hitting 153 out of 171 for 89.5 percent. James Scott still owns one of the top free-throw shooting efforts for a single game.
Scott was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers and played AAU basketball for the Wichita Vickers. He later coached basketball in Clovis, New Mexico and was the assistant dean of men at WT.
