Milton Edgar "Bus" Whitehead (January 13, 1928 – June 11, 2010). was an American

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player. He was an All-conference college player for the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which ...

and was an AAU All-American for league power

Phillips 66 The Phillips 66 Company is an American multinational energy company headquartered in Westchase, Houston, Texas. Its name, dating back to 1927 as a trademark of the Phillips Petroleum Company, helped ground the newly reconfigured Phillips 66. T ...

. Whitehead came to the Cornhuskers from

Scottsbluff, Nebraska Scottsbluff is a city in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, Scotts Bluff County, in the western part of the state of Nebraska, in the Great Plains region of the United States. The population was 14,436 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. ...

and led the Huskers to back to back Big Seven Conference titles in 1949 and 1950. In the 1948–49 season, Whitehead teamed with guard Claude Retherford as the Huskers tied Oklahoma for the Big Seven title. After Retherford's graduation, Whitehead became the focal point of the Nebraska offense for 1949–50. Averaging 15.7 points per game (then a school single-season record), Whitehead was the only unanimous member of the Big Seven all-conference first team. He was also named an honorable mention All-American by the

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. Following the season, Whitehead became the first Nebraska player selected to play in the East-West college All-Star game. After graduation, Whitehead was drafted by the

Chicago Stags The Chicago Stags were a National Basketball Association team based in Chicago from 1946 to 1950. History 1946–47 season In the BAA's inaugural year, the Chicago Stags were placed in the Western Division, and after 60 games were tied with the ...

in the seventh round of the

1950 NBA draft The 1950 NBA draft was the fourth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). This is the first draft after the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was renamed the NBA. The draft was held on April 25, 1950, before the 1950– ...

. Instead, Whitehead chose to play for the

Phillips 66ers The Phillips 66ers (also known as the Oilers) were an amateur basketball team located in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and sponsored and run by the Phillips Petroleum Company. The 66ers were a national phenomenon that grew from a small-town team to an ...

of the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

and in 1952 was named an AAU All-American. After his time with the 66ers, Whitehead entered private business. He also spent a season as an assistant coach at his alma mater. Whitehead was named to the University of Nebraska Athletic Hall of Fame and the Nebraska High School Sports Hall of Fame. In 2011, the University of Nebraska named the court of their new practice facility the "Bus Whitehead Court," in honor of their All-American

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

. Bus Whitehead died on June 11, 2010, at his home in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Lancaster County. The city covers with a population of 292,657 in 2021. It is the second-most populous city in Nebraska and the 73rd-largest in the United St ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Bus 1928 births 2010 deaths Basketball players from Kansas American men's basketball players Basketball players from Nebraska Centers (basketball) Chicago Stags draft picks Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball coaches Nebraska Cornhuskers men's basketball players People from Scottsbluff, Nebraska Phillips 66ers players Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Kansas City, Kansas Sportspeople from Lincoln, Nebraska