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On New Year’s Eve the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame announced its Class of 2024 including 2-time NCAA champ Dave Meyers, 1957 NCAA champ Lennie Rosenbluth, and NBA all-time top-50 rebounder Sam Lacey. Sam led New Mexico State to 3 straight NCAA tourneys, was named 1st-team All-American in 1970, and was inducted into the New Mexico State Athletics Hall of Fame in 1975. Sam passed away in 2014 but earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with legendary New Mexico State radio play-by-play man Jack Nixon about the best basketball player in school history.

Sam was born/raised in Indianola, MS: what made him choose New Mexico State? In the mid-1960’s, when Sam came out of high school, schools in the South and in Texas would not recruit Black athletes, and other schools had unspoken “quotas” on non-White recruits. Coach Lou Henson and his assistant Ed Murphy were confronted by locals in Indianola when they went to recruit Sam. The locals thought they were there to campaign for voting and civil rights, something that was not welcome in the South at the time. Coach reassured them that they were just there for basketball reasons, and they were not bothered after that. Coach showed Sam the opportunities he would have if he played at NMSU.

The Aggies made 3 straight NCAA tourneys from 1968-1970 and lost to UCLA every single year: what was it like for them to face the mighty Bruins at the peak of their powers? Frustrating! Initially, NMSU had to get by UCLA to advance during those first two years. The field was only 16 team back then with “play-in games” for lower seeds to get into the actual bracket. The thinking among the fans was that if the Aggies just could be paired against someone else then they could make their way to the finals. In 1970, NMSU was put in the Midwest Region (rather than the West) and did advance to the finals at last…only to face UCLA yet again. Coach Henson told me once that he knew they would have to face UCLA eventually and felt the team enjoyed the challenge of facing Lew Alcindor, et al.

In 1970 he was named 1st-team All-American and led the team to the #5 spot in the final AP poll: do you think that they might have won it all if Lacey had not suffered a foot injury early in the Final 4 game vs. UCLA? We think so, but that is with our hearts, not our true powers of reasoning. In the end you must play the hand that is dealt. I grew up in Omaha and was home from college when nationally ranked NMSU played Creighton in February of 1970. I went to the sold-out game…and wound up seeing one of only three games the Aggies lost that entire season! Six years later, I moved here to do play-by-play for the Aggies on radio, and I also worked with Coach Henson from 1998-2006.

48 hours after beating St. Bonaventure in the 3rd-place game, he was drafted 5th overall by Cincinnati (each of the 4 players drafted ahead of him became Hall of Famers: Bob Lanier/Rudy Tomjanovich/Pete Maravich/Dave Cowens): did he see that as a validation of his college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? It was a dream come true. A Black child growing up in a town of 6,000 in rural Mississippi could only fantasize about having a chance to achieve the things that Sam did. His college career speaks for itself, and the draft confirmed that.

He averaged a double-double during each of his 1st 6 seasons and in 1975 he made his only NBA All-Star appearance: what did it mean to him to receive such an outstanding honor? Sam was a modest person who played during a “Golden Age” of centers, as your questions above have referenced. To finally get that nod was appreciated.

In 1981 as captain in Kansas City he helped lead the Kings to the Western Conference Finals: what made him such a great leader? He was able to lead by doing. He was not a big talker, but was someone who prepared the right way, worked hard, and played hard. Most teammates who are competitors respond well to that type of behavior from their captain.

He remains 1 of only 5 NBA players to have 100 BLK/100 STL in 7 straight seasons (along with Hall of Famers Hakeem Olajuwon/Julius Erving/David Robinson/Ben Wallace): how did he balance his scoring with his rebounding with his defense? I think he got the foundation to showcase his skills from playing for Coach Henson. There are not many coaches who knew more about that game and about developing players to their fullest ability. Sam was not a “finished product” when he came to Las Cruces but had tremendous physical ability that he learned how to use effectively at both ends of the court from Coach.

His 493 REB in 1970 remains the most in school history and his 9687 career REB as a pro remains top-50 in NBA history: what was his secret for being a great rebounder? “Wanting to”. Sam had long arms and great instinctive reactions on the court…but rebounding is about the determination to get the ball and Sam had that.

In 1975 he was inducted into the New Mexico State Athletics Hall of Fame, in 2008 he was 1 of the 1st inductees into the Aggies Ring of Honor, and in 2015 he became the first New Mexico State basketball player to be inducted into the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame: where does he rank among the best athletes in school history? In hoops: at the top. Charley Johnson (who played for 15 years in the NFL) would be the top football player. We have also had PGA-tournament-winning golfers (including Rich Beem/Bart Bryant/Tom Byrum) and others who went to the NBA (including Pascal Siakam/John Williamson), but Sam and Charley would be the best: do not ask me to choose!

He passed away in 2014 but last week was elected to the College Basketball Hall of Fame: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? As one of the guys who put New Mexico State University on the “National Map” for college basketball, one of the singularly most talented athletes to play in Las Cruces, and someone who gave all he had to his sport.