Long Beach State University Athletics
Ed Ratleff Enshrined In National Collegiate Basketball Hall Of Fame
11/20/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Long Beach, Calif. -
Friday night will be a memorable one for Long Beach State basketball and for one of its finest representatives, Ed Ratleff. After returning to the Beach for this year’s homecoming festivities, where he received on-court recognition for his tremendous career, “Easy Ed” will be officially inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City, Mo. on Friday night. At the same time, a little over 1,100 miles east in Charleston, S.C., the current 49er men’s basketball team will take on No. 6 Virginia in its biggest game of the season so far.
The 2015 induction class also includes collegiate players Rolando Blackman (Kansas State), Quinn Buckner (Indiana), John Havlicek (Ohio State) and Charlie Scott (North Carolina) and coaches Don Donoher (Dayton), Zip Gayles (Langston) and Lou Henson (New Mexico State and Illinois).
Ratleff was the lynchpin of Jerry Tarkanian's 49er squads that made back-to-back Elite 8 appearances, losing to John Wooden's UCLA juggernaut in an era when the brackets were truly regional, falling in the Western Finals.
A two-time first-team All-American, Ratleff was an all-around force for Long Beach State. Over his career, Ratleff averaged 21.4 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. Ratleff is the only player in LBSU history to earn first-team All-American honors.
The 6-6 wing still owns a number of Long Beach State records, including the two top-scoring individual games in school history, most notably a 45-point effort against St. Mary's on December 10, 1970. His 189 assists in the 1971-72 season as a junior remains the school record, and occurred in a season where he averaged 21.4 points per game. His career scoring average of 21.4 points also remains the school's all-time record, and his 1,758 points over three years still ranks fourth in total points, coming from an era where freshman were ineligible to play for the varsity.
Ratleff went on to play for the United States at the infamous 1972 Summer Olympics, where the USA controversially lost in the Gold-Medal game, leading to the team refusing to accept their Silver Medals. With his amateur career complete, Ratleff was drafted with the No. 6 overall pick in the NBA draft, and spent five seasons with the Houston Rockets, averaging 8.3 points per game in his career.
His No. 42 was retired in 1991 and is one of three retired numbers for the LBSU men’s basketball program, alongside Lucious Harris’ No. 30 and Bryon Russell’s No. 32.
