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JEWELL MCDOWELL - INDUCTEE #56

hall of fame fast fact:

One of Jewell McDowell's teammates on the 1947 Sandie basketball team was Boone Pickens, who later became better known as T. Boone Pickens of oil industry fame. The two became close and stayed in touch. "They maintained their friendship all those years," Reidel said.

Jewell McDowell

Jewell McDowell was a senior at Amarillo High School in 1947; he was the first Amarillo basketball player to be named all-state. A few years later, he became Texas A&M’s first All-American basketball player.

The 5-11, 170-pounder had a deadly, two-handed set shot. He was the captain of Coach John Floyd’s 1950-51 team that became the first Aggie team to gain an NCAA tournament berth.

He earned All-Southwest Conference recognition twice and was named to the all-time Aggie team. McDowell was inducted into the Texas A&M Hall of Fame in 1985.

After college, McDowell was drafted by the Rochester Royals of the National Basketball Association. He chose, instead, to play for the heralded Phillips 66 basketball team. McDowell played for the Bartlesville, Oklahoma based team in the 1953-54 seasons and became a lifetime employee of Phillips until he retired.

The family moved from Bartlesville to Borger, then to Perryton, Amarillo, Houston, San Antonio, and Victoria.

McDowell died in Victoria at age 67 in 1995.