Lester E. Lane (March 6, 1932 – September 5, 1973) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who competed in the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad () and commonly known as Rome 1960 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 25 August to 11 September 1960 in Rome, Italy. Rome had previously been awar ...

. Lane was born in

Purcell, Oklahoma Purcell is a city in and the county seat of McClain County, Oklahoma, McClain County, Oklahoma, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population was 6,651, a 13% increase from 2010. Founded in 1887, Purcell w ...

, which after his death, renamed Fourth street south of Main Street in his honor, as "Lester Lane. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors in the 9th round of the 1955 NBA draft, but never played for them, instead playing for several AAU clubs, including the

Wichita Vickers Vickers Petroleum Company was an oil company founded by John A. (Jack) Vickers, Sr. In 1918, Vickers established a oil refinery, refinery in Potwin, Kansas to process the output of recently discovered oil fields in Butler County, Kansas, Butler ...

and Denver-Chicago Truckers." He was part of the American basketball team, which won the gold medal in 1960. In the spring of 1973 he was named head basketball coach at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

, but never held a practice as he died of a heart attack during a pick-up game later that year. Lane was the head coach for the

Mexico men's national basketball team The Mexico national basketball team () represents Mexico in men's international basketball competitions, The team has made 6 appearances in FIBA World Cup and 5 appearances in the Summer Olympics. The governing body of the team is the Asociació ...

led by

Carlos Quintanar Carlos Mario Quintanar Rohana (2 June 1937 – 14 October 2010) was a Mexican basketball player from Chihuahua who was the Captain of the Mexico national team in the 1960 Summer Olympics, the 1964 Summer Olympics, and the 1968 Summer Olympics ...

in the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

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* * * 1932 births 1973 deaths Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1960 Summer Olympics Guards (basketball) Medalists at the 1960 Summer Olympics Oklahoma Sooners men's basketball players Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball People from Purcell, Oklahoma Philadelphia Warriors draft picks United States men's national basketball team players {{1930s-US-basketball-bio-stub