UPDATED: Sad News - Former Gophers Great "Sweet" Lou Hudson Passes Away at Age 69

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Iceland12

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UPDATED: Sad News - Former Gophers Great "Sweet" Lou Hudson Passes Away at Age 69

Hawks great Lou Hudson has been hospitalized in Atlanta after suffering a stroke.

The condition of the former NBA star was described as grave. The 69-year-old Hudson also suffered a stroke in February of 2005..

Hudson is one of three Hawks to have his number retired. His No. 23 is joined by Bob Pettit’s No. 9 and Dominique Wilkins’ No. 21.

“This has bothered me all day,” Wilkins told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Wednesday. “I am very close to Lou. He is a special guy in the landscape of Atlanta.”

Hudson, known as “Sweet Lou,” was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks in the first round (No. 4 overall) of the 1966 draft. He also had his No. 14 retired by the University of Minnesota.

Hudson played 11 of his 13 NBA season for the Hawks. He was a six-time All-Star, being honored in consecutive seasons from 1967-86 to 1973-74. He spent his last two seasons with the Lakers. The 6-foot-5 guard/forward played 890 NBA games and averaged 20.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.7 assists.
“Retired NBA players are like a small fraternity,” Wilkins said. “He had such an impact on my career. He told me, from when I was a rookie, to let the game come to me. I always remembered that.”

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/atlanta-h...-hospitalized/
 

Sorry to hear this news. Thanks for posting Iceland12.

Lou has suffered a few strokes over the past number of years, and was in a wheelchair the last couple of times he was at The Barn.

Few players can match his talent and toughness. He breaks his hand and just plays with the other. Godspeed to a Gopher legend.

Go Gophers!!
 


He is....

BleedGopher said:
Sorry to hear this news. Thanks for posting Iceland12.

Lou has suffered a few strokes over the past number of years, and was in a wheelchair the last couple of times he was at The Barn.

Few players can match his talent and toughness. He breaks his hand and just plays with the other. Godspeed to a Gopher legend.

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

......the reason I became hooked on gopher basketball as a young fan. Wore number 14 in high school because of him, and once got into a bar argument by saying he was better than Michael Jordon.
 

He is....

BleedGopher said:
Sorry to hear this news. Thanks for posting Iceland12.

Lou has suffered a few strokes over the past number of years, and was in a wheelchair the last couple of times he was at The Barn.

Few players can match his talent and toughness. He breaks his hand and just plays with the other. Godspeed to a Gopher legend.

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

......the reason I became hooked on gopher basketball as a young fan. Wore number 14 in high school because of him, and once got into a bar argument by saying he was better than Michael Jordan.

Thoughts and prayers to a great one!
 


Clark, Hudson, and Yates was the beginning of a new era in Gopher basketball.Those three came in with Terry Kunze
and Mel Northway. Northway was about 6'8" or 9, but Hudson still jumped center. I believe it was against Purdue. Hudson hit his head on the backboard and took a couple of stitches.
 

ruppertflywheel said:
Clark, Hudson, and Yates was the beginning of a new era in Gopher basketball.Those three came in with Terry Kunze
and Mel Northway. Northway was about 6'8" or 9, but Hudson still jumped center. I believe it was against Purdue. Hudson hit his head on the backboard and took a couple of stitches.
Click to expand...

Actually Kunze came in a year ahead of those three. Lost his starting job when the three became eligible as sophomores.

Attended my first game when Lou was a sophomore.

Some friends tried to get him up on water skies one summer in Alex. All they said was he almost drowned.
 

Great Athlete also ran track at the U and was drafted by Dallas Cowboys...history of stroke problems: ...You suffered a major stroke on a Park City ski slope in 2005, and currently are an "ambassador" for the Power to End Stroke organization. Did you think that you were going to die, and how exactly do we have the power to end strokes?

LH: That day I ran five miles in the morning, then went skiing and got a bit lightheaded at the top of the mountain. I skied for about an hour, walked into the gym, and was unable to talk. I am trying to make a recovery and I promised my 6'6" therapist that nobody is going to work harder, so in May we are going to play 1-on-1 in the parking lot!
 

leftyslefty said:
......the reason I became hooked on gopher basketball as a young fan. Wore number 14 in high school because of him, and once got into a bar argument by saying he was better than Michael Jordon.
Click to expand...

Also the reason I got hooked on Gopher basketball.
 




<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Talked to Mardi Hudson, Lou's wife. He's been off life support since March 29 after a terrible stroke 5 days earlier.</p>— Patrick Reusse (@1500ESPN_Reusse) <a href="https://twitter.com/1500ESPN_Reusse/statuses/454301689470652416">April 10, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>He's in hospice care in Atlanta. "Thanks to that big heart of his, Lou's still w/ us,'' Mardi said. "He's a fighter.''</p>— Patrick Reusse (@1500ESPN_Reusse) <a href="https://twitter.com/1500ESPN_Reusse/statuses/454302206192148480">April 10, 2014</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Go Gophers!!
 


“@basketballtalk: RIP RT @ajchawks: Hawks great Lou Hudson had passed away. Story to come. #ATLHawks”
 



Sad news indeed. He was so well respected.

Greensboro native and NBA great Lou Hudson dies at 69

Hudson was a quarterback, a first baseman, a sprinter – and a small forward so athletic that he hit his head on the backboard in his first Big Ten game, took stitches to close the wound, came back and scored 36 points against Purdue.

An All-American in 1965 as a junior at Minnesota, Hudson averaged 24.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. He broke his right hand as a senior, yet still led the Golden Gophers to the Big Ten championship, averaging 19.8 points per game shooting left-handed with his right hand in a cast.

http://www.news-record.com/news/local_news/article_987ebc96-c185-11e3-92a5-001a4bcf6878.html

Go Gophers!!
 

Remembered him playing with the Hawks. Great player there. Heard and read nothing but great things about his time with the Gophers also. Gopher fans can only hope that they can someday see another backcourt as good on and off the court, as Sweet Lou and Archie Clark.
 

BleedGopher said:
Sad news indeed. He was so well respected.

Greensboro native and NBA great Lou Hudson dies at 69

Hudson was a quarterback, a first baseman, a sprinter – and a small forward so athletic that he hit his head on the backboard in his first Big Ten game, took stitches to close the wound, came back and scored 36 points against Purdue.

An All-American in 1965 as a junior at Minnesota, Hudson averaged 24.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. He broke his right hand as a senior, yet still led the Golden Gophers to the Big Ten championship, averaging 19.8 points per game shooting left-handed with his right hand in a cast.

http://www.news-record.com/news/local_news/article_987ebc96-c185-11e3-92a5-001a4bcf6878.html

Go Gophers!!
Click to expand...

Just to be accurate, the Gophers did NOT win a Big Ten Championship with Lou Hudson. Their best finish with Lou was his junior year where they were second to Michigan. (Cazzie Russell's Wolverines won the Big Ten all three years that Lou played for the U.)

Was a great player, I am just old enough to remember the disappointment of defeat against Michigan in 1965 (the game essentially determined the Big Ten champion) and the wrist fracture the following year.

I attended a gopher game many years ago in which they either retired his jersey or inducted him into the U of MN Hall of Fame (or could have been both, I forget). Anyway, Ray Christenson gave a wonderful introductory speech and noted at the time that Lou was only Gopher Basketball player in history to have a second varsity letter (track).
 

http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_25545774/former-hawks-all-star-lou-hudson-dies-at


His No. 23 was retired by the Hawks, joining Bob Pettit and Dominique Wilkins as the only other Hawks players so honored. His No. 14 was retired by the University of Minnesota, where he was one of the school's first black players.

"Lou Hudson holds a special place in the Hawks family, in the hearts of our fans and in the history of our club," Hawks co-owner Michael Gearon said. "As a fan growing up with this team, I'm fortunate to say I was able to see almost every game Sweet Lou played as a member of the Hawks.

"He was an integral part of successful Hawks teams for over a decade, and is deservedly recognized with the ultimate symbol of his significance to the franchise with the number 23 hanging inside Philips Arena."

Beginning with the 1969-70 season, Hudson averaged at least 24 points in five straight seasons. In his years with the Hawks, he averaged at least 20 points seven times. He set a career high with his average of 27.1 points per game in the 1972-73 season.

He scored 57 points against Chicago on Nov. 10, 1969, matching the franchise record also set by Pettit and Wilkins.

Hudson was a first-round pick by St. Louis in 1966 and made the NBA all-rookie team. He missed part of his second season while serving in the Army.

Following the team's move from St. Louis, he scored the first points for the new Atlanta team in 1968. He helped lead the Hawks to the 1970 Western Division championship.

Hudson, a native of Greensboro, N.C., is also a member of the North Carolina, Georgia and Atlanta sports hall of fame. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 1966 even though he didn't play college football.

Hudson suffered his first stroke in 2005 and later campaigned for the "Power to End Stroke" organization.
 

Sad news. One of my very favorites and IMO the best gopher player ever. Unbelievably athletic. Would have gotten more recognition except in those days only the conference champ went to the NCAA and we couldn't get past Michigan. Just a class act.
 



I know many of you do not read the StarTrib and may even deliberately avoid some of their sports columnists, but today's Reusse column is a nice tribute to Sweet Lou. Admittedly I do not always agree with his point-of-view, but more often than not I do appreciate Pat's sense of history when it comes to subject matters such as this, and today he did not disappoint.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/gophers/254911111.html
 

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