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BYU Basketball: Remembering Mel Hutchins, the first Cougar Hoops great

By Shaun Gordon

OAKLAND, CA - FEBRUARY 06: A detailed view ot the official Spalding NBA basketball held in the air by referee Lauren Holtkamp #7 during an NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors at ORACLE Arena on February 6, 2018 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - FEBRUARY 06: A detailed view ot the official Spalding NBA basketball held in the air by referee Lauren Holtkamp #7 during an NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors at ORACLE Arena on February 6, 2018 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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Former BYU Basketball star Mel Hutchins passed away on Wednesday at age 90, but his jersey in the rafters serves as a reminder of the first Cougar hoops great.

When you ask BYU Basketball fans to think of the program’s greatest hoopsters, you’ll probably hear two names more often than anyone else: Jimmer Fredette and Danny Ainge.

Those whose memories jump back another decade will add Kresimir Cosic to that list.

But anyone who can think back another two decades will name the first great Cougar basketball star: Mel Hutchins.

Hutchins passed away on Wednesday at age 90. And while he donned a BYU uniform 70 years ago, his contributions to the program can’t be understated.

He put BYU Basketball on the map.

Sure, he wasn’t the Cougars’ first All-American, but he was BYU’s first consensus All-American.

More importantly, in his senior year he led the team to an NIT Championship, back when the NIT was a much bigger deal than it is now. That title turned BYU into a nationally recognized basketball program. The Cougars wouldn’t be the No. 11 team in the country in all-time wins if that 1951 team hadn’t jump-started it all.

Looking Back

Hutchins played varsity basketball at BYU for three years (1947-48,1949-51). After his sophomore year he returned home to California to work for a year before coming back to Provo to finish out his collegiate career.

As a 6’6 big man, he was an excellent defender and an offensive weapon. Even with the low scoring of that era, he finished his career averaging 11.9 points per game, including 15.4 on average as a senior.

He teamed up with Roland Minson to create a dynamic one-two punch that led the Cougars to a 28-9 record in 1950-51, which included wins over St. Louis, Seton Hall, and Dayton to win the NIT Championship.

Hutchins is tied as the highest-drafted player ever (with Shawn Bradley), going No. 2 in the 1951 NBA Draft to the Milwaukee Hawks, and earned Rookie of the Year honors in his first season. He’d end up playing seven years of NBA basketball, voted an All-Star five times, earning MVP votes in two separate seasons, playing in the NBA Finals twice, and leading the league in rebounds during his rookie campaign.

A severe knee injury ended his playing career in 1958. He stepped out of the spotlight and became a real estate agent and an avid golfer and water-skier, enshrined in the BYU Hall of Fame in 1976.

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And five years ago he joined his teammate Minson as one of only four BYU Men’s Basketball players to have their jerseys retired (along with Ainge and Cosic).

While fewer and fewer people can say they saw Hutchins, Minson, and that 1951 team play, those jerseys will be there as a permanent reminder of who put BYU Basketball on the map.

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