Steve Platt could flat out fill it up for Huntington College, as he remains the best scorer in Indiana college basketball history.
Before there was Larry Bird as a small-town Indiana legend, there was Steve Platt.
Platt was a three-year starter at Union Township High School in Huntington County during the early 1960s. He scored 1,270 points during his career as the 79-student school threatened several larger schools with upsets.
And then he took five years off to concentrate on farming and his young family before new Huntington College coach Keith Spahr persuaded Platt to give basketball another try. The 6-foot-5 Platt continued farming while studying and playing basketball, and he also continued filling up the basket.
Platt's accurate jumper and continual drives to the basket helped him score 3,700 points in his career with Huntington -- the most by any Indiana college player. He led the nation in scoring with 36 points per game his junior year and came back to score 38 points per game as a senior.
His scoring was so good, he still ranks as the seventh-leading scorer in NAIA history, and he was inducted into the NAIA Hall of Fame.
Platt was drafted by the Washington Bullets but was the last player cut in the fall of 1974. He then signed with the Fort Wayne Hoosiers of the International Basketball Association, a professional minor league starting up in its first season.
He was just as successful as a professional, scoring 34.1 points to lead the IBA in scoring. Unfortunately, the IBA folded after one season, and Platt returned to farming. He's currently in his sixth season coaching the Huntington College men's team.
