Lou Hudson, a North Carolina native, was one of the first African-Americans to receive an athletic scholarship to play basketball for the University of Minnesota.
Hudson along with Archie Clark and Don Yates arrived in 1962 after being offered scholarships by Gophers coach John Kundla.
After playing on the freshmen team in the 1962-63 season, Hudson moved into the Gophers staring lineup as a sophomore in 1963. The 6-foot-5 forward led the Gophers in scoring with an 18.1 points-per-game average. The Gophers finished in third place in the Big Ten with a 10-4 record.
As a junior in the 1964-65 season, he led the Gophers in scoring (23.3 points per game) and helped the Gophers to a second-place finish in the Big Ten. After the season he was named first-team All-Big Ten and honorable mention All-America.
In the fourth game of his senior season, he suffered a broken right wrist. After the injury he played with a cast on his right wrist and shot the ball left-handed. For the season, he averaged 19.8 points per game. He was second team All-Big Ten and third-team All-America.
Following his senior season, Hudson was a first-round draft in the NBA draft. He played 13 seasons in the NBA and was a six-time NBA All-Star.
His college jersey (#14) was retired by the Gophers in 1994 and his NBA jersey (#23) was retired by the Atlanta Hawks.
Hudson is a member of the University of Minnesota's "M" Club Hall of Fame.
