Estes was a 6-6 forward for the USU Aggies in the mid-60s -- way before most of you were following bb. He averaged 20 points as a sophomore, 28.3 as a junior, and was averaging 33.7 and 13.7 rebounds his senior year before tragedy struck. Estes trailed only the U's HOF Rick Barry in the national scoring race.
On Feb. 8, 1965, Estes scored 48 points that included his 2000th point as Utah State routed the Univ. of Denver. That night, there was an accident in Logan that resulted in a down power line. Estes and a teammate had a postgame dinner and were returning to campus when they passed the accident scene for the third time that night. Curiosity got the best of them so they decide to investigate the accident scene. Estes' shorter teammate ducked under the live power line, but Estes brushed against the wire. He was immediately executed.
Although I never saw any games by either player in the dark ages, I'll speculate that Estes was somewhat similar to Wake's Dickie Hemric, with the former being a better shooter and Hemric a stronger inside player. I believe that both should be in the Basketball HOF. I have no doubt that there are worse players there,
On Feb. 8, 1965, Estes scored 48 points that included his 2000th point as Utah State routed the Univ. of Denver. That night, there was an accident in Logan that resulted in a down power line. Estes and a teammate had a postgame dinner and were returning to campus when they passed the accident scene for the third time that night. Curiosity got the best of them so they decide to investigate the accident scene. Estes' shorter teammate ducked under the live power line, but Estes brushed against the wire. He was immediately executed.
Although I never saw any games by either player in the dark ages, I'll speculate that Estes was somewhat similar to Wake's Dickie Hemric, with the former being a better shooter and Hemric a stronger inside player. I believe that both should be in the Basketball HOF. I have no doubt that there are worse players there,