Mike Green arrived at Louisiana Tech in the late 1960s and graduated 4 years later as the all-time leading scorer/rebounder in school history. As a senior in 1973 he averaged 30.9 PPG/15.7 RPG and was named Southland Conference POY. After joining the ABA he was named to the All-Rookie team in 1974 and and an All-Star in 1975, then spent several years in the NBA until retiring in 1980. In 1996 he was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame and in 2015 he was inducted into the Louisiana Tech Athletics Hall of Fame. HoopsHD got to chat with former Bulldog manager/current Bulldog photographer Tom Morris about Mike’s college and pro career. Mike passed away in 2018 but today would have been his 70th birthday so we take this time to remember his life/legacy.
In January of 1971 Green had 22 PTS/16 REB in a 9-PT win over top-ranked Southwestern Louisiana and the following week the Bulldogs became the #1 ranked team in the nation: where does that rank among the biggest wins in school history? Back then we called them USL and they had some phenomenal games against us. I would rank it in the top-5 at least, if not the top-3.
The following year his team averaged 101.1 PPG: how unstoppable was their offense? Very! You have to remember that there was no 3-PT line/dunking. Mike could shoot inside/outside but Coach Scotty Robertson used a fast-break offense.
In January of 1973 he scored 47 PTS against Lamar to break the school’s single-game record: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot he put up seemed to go in because he was “in the zone”? Yes…but every shot he took in every game appeared to go in. He had an outside shot and was quick but mostly dominated in the paint.
In 1973 he was named conference POY/AP College Division POY and his 30.9 PPG was #2 in the nation: what did it mean to him to receive such outstanding honors? It meant a lot but he was a rather private person. When they had a game he was ready to play and everybody knew how great he was: the fans would show up 3 hours early to get a seat in our gym that could not even hold 2000 people. It was hard to see him play at home unless you had a reserved seat.
He remains the school’s all-time leader with 2340 PTS/1575 REB: did you realize at the time how prolific a player he was, and do you think that anyone will ever break his records? Of course we knew at the time how prolific he was. He and Bo Lamar from USL put on a lights-out show every time their 2 teams played. I consider him to the best college player in school history. I forget how close Mike McConathy came but it will be hard to break his records, especially because most great players do not stick around for 4 years. The 3-PT line might help.
He was a 4-time all-conference player: how was he able to remain so consistent throughout his college career? When you are 6’10” and can jump out of the gym it is not very hard! It is hard for me to come up with enough adjectives/adverbs regarding the impact he had. He had some great teammates after Coach Robertson built a great team around him and they were fun to watch. He was 1 of the 1st to recruit players who moved the ball up and down the court.
Ruston has seen its share of racial tension in the past and the program was placed on indefinite probation and Green’s college coaches were placed on probation by the NCAA after he graduated: how difficult was his time on campus? I do not know all of the details but that kind of probation related to boosters was commonplace on many campuses. The only racial tension Mike faced was the time it took for him to make the school’s Hall of Fame: he had to wait until certain administrators retired. I do not know if it was racial but there was some kind of animosity.
He played 3 seasons in the ABA and was named to the 1974 ABA All-Rookie team and 1975 ABA All-Star team: how was he able to make such a smooth transition from college to the pros? I have seen several photos of him with his head around the rim. He was an excellent shot-blocker/defender and could also shoot/handle the ball and get up/down the court.
In Game 7 of the 1979 Eastern Conference Finals with San Antonio he scored 4 PTS but Bob Dandridge scored 37 PTS including the series-winning shot with 8 seconds left in a 2-PT win by Washington (who became the 3rd team in NBA history to overcome a 3–1 series deficit): where does that rank among the most devastating losses of his career? I always think about the good but him not having a longer pro career and not being a bigger star was disappointing to many of us. I think that money might have hindered star athletes in that era because they did not pay as much attention to basketball.
In 2015 he was inducted into the Louisiana Tech Hall of Fame: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? There is a saying that the Hall of Fame will happen if you do not outkick your coverage. There is only a hard-core group who really understands how great he was in college. Karl Malone was a very good college player but he did not make his true mark until he reached the NBA. Mike was always entertaining at practice and always had fun. 1 day they had a contest about who could put the most quarters atop the backboard…and he won.
