Fred LaCour

Fred LaCour was an American professional basketball player. LaCour was selected in the 1960 NBA draft by the St. Louis Hawks after a collegiate career at the University of San Francisco. In his NBA career, LaCour averaged 6.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game while playing for the Hawks and then the San Francisco Warriors. He also played one season for the San Francisco Investors of the National Industrial Basketball League in 1960.

High school career

LaCour played on the varsity team at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco, California where he graduated from in 1956. He stood at and his array of ball-handling and shooting abilities enabled him to play at any position. LaCour led his team to a combined 81–12 record in his three seasons. He was selected as California Mr. Basketball in 1955 and 1956. LaCour was inducted into the San Francisco Prep Hall of Fame for basketball in 1983.

Personal life

LaCour was of Louisiana Creole mixed-race descent. His friends claimed that he subsequently struggled with his racial identity. His coach with the San Francisco Dons, Phil Woolpert, stated that LaCour's "attempts to integrate into a white-type culture met rebuff after rebuff" and he did not identity as a black person; Woolpert described it as the "most difficult and insoluble problem ever confronted."

Death

On August 5, 1972, LaCour died at the Ralph K. Davies Memorial Hospital in San Francisco. He had been hospitalized for almost three months during a battle with cancer. LaCour donated his body for cancer research.