MSU Athletics

Not many names are more synonimous with basketball than Midwestern graduate Lowell "Cotton" Fitzsimmons (1953-56).

The Hannibal, Mo. native had already established himself as a top-notch hardwood talent prior to arriving to the Midwestern University campus prior to the 1953-54 season.

Fitzsimmons was a two-time junior college All American while averaging 25.5 points a game at Hannibal-LaGrange where he led the Trojans to consecutive national championships.

Cotton, as he was dubbed due to his extremely light-colored locks, then enjoyed three solid seasons as an Indian as he would close his three-year career with 1,095 points while helping the program to an NAIA quarterfinal showing in 1956.

Shortly after, Fitzsimmons accepted his first head coaching position at Moberly (Mo.) Junior College where he would serve until accepting the top spot at Kansas State.

He would pilot the Wildcats to a Big 8 Championship in 1980 before beginning a 25-year run as an NBA head coach by moving on to the first of three stints with the Phoenix Suns.

Fitzsimmons complied 832 wins which also included tenures with the Atlanta Hawks, Buffalo Braves, Kansas City Kings and San Antonio Spurs.

He was named NBA Coach of the Year in 1979 and again in 1989, but that was just the beginning of the honors for Fitzsimmons.

Chronilogically, he was named to the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame in 1981, National Junior College Hall of Fame in 1985, Missouri Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988, the NAIA Alumnus of the Year in 1995 and to the Phoenix Suns Ring of Honor in 2005.

Hannibal-LaGrange retired Cotton's No. 34 jersey in 2003 before was inducted into the Midwestern State Hall of Honor in 2004.