Jerome Lane

Jerome Lane Sr. (born December 4, 1966) is an American former professional basketball player who played six seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Lane played college basketball for the University of Pittsburgh, where he was an All-American and led the NCAA in rebounding as a sophomore.

Jerome Lane

Personal information
Born	(1966-12-04) December 4, 1966 (age 56) Akron, Ohio
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	230 lb (104 kg)
Career information
High school	St. Vincent – St. Mary (Akron, Ohio)
College	Pittsburgh (1985–1988)
NBA draft	1988 / Round: 1 / Pick: 23rd overall
Selected by the Denver Nuggets
Playing career	1988–2000
Position	Power forward / Small forward
Number	35, 33, 34, 30
Career history
1988–1991	Denver Nuggets
1992	Indiana Pacers
1992	Milwaukee Bucks
1992	Oximesa Granada
1992–1993	Cleveland Cavaliers
1993–1994	La Crosse Catbirds
1994	Rapid City Thrillers
1994	Formula Shell
1994–1996	Oklahoma City Cavalry
1996–1997	Fórum Filatélico
1997–1998	Caja Cantabria
1998–2000	Idaho Stampede
Career highlights and awards
4× CBA rebounding leader (1994–1996, 1999) Consensus second-team All-American (1988) NCAA rebounding leader (1987) Third-team All-American – AP, NABC, UPI (1987) First-team All-Big East (1987) Third-team Parade All-American (1985)
Career NBA statistics
Points	1,154 (5.3 ppg)
Rebounds	1,258 (5.8 rpg)
Assists	322 (1.5 apg)
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals Men's basketball Representing  United States Pan American Games 1987 Indianapolis Team competition

High school career

Born in Akron, Ohio, Lane played shooting guard for Saint Vincent-Saint Mary High School and appeared in the McDonald's All-American Game.

College career

He joined the Pittsburgh Panthers in 1985–86 as a 170-pound freshman. By his junior season, the 6'6" forward was 60 pounds heavier. In 1986–87, his 13.5 rebounds per game made him the first player 6'6" or shorter to lead the country in rebounds per game (13.5) since Niagara's Alex Ellis in 1957–58. He left school after leading the Big East Conference in rebounding during the 1987–88 season.^[1]

Professional career

Lane was selected in the first round of the 1988 NBA draft by the Denver Nuggets with the 23rd pick overall. Lane played in the NBA for five seasons with the Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks and Cleveland Cavaliers. Lane shined in the Continental Basketball Association as a star for the Oklahoma City Cavalry. He was an all-star in the league from 1994–96 and led the league in rebounding in 1995 (11.8) and 1996 (16.8). After a successful stint in Spain he returned to the CBA and led the league once more in rebounding in 1999, pulling down 14.5 rebounds per game for the Idaho Stampede.

Career statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1988–89	Denver	54	1	10.2	.426	.000	.384	3.7	1.1	0.4	0.1	4.8
1989–90	Denver	67	46	14.3	.469	.000	.367	5.4	1.6	0.8	0.3	5.0
1990–91	Denver	62	25	22.3	.438	.250	.411	9.3	2.0	0.8	0.2	7.5
1991–92	Denver	9	5	15.7	.250	.000	.421	4.9	1.4	0.2	0.1	3.1
1991–92	Indiana	3	0	10.0	.600	.000	.000	6.0	1.3	0.0	0.0	2.0
1991–92	Milwaukee	2	0	3.0	1.000	.000	.500	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.5
1992–93	Cleveland	21	2	7.1	.500	.000	.250	2.5	0.8	0.6	0.1	2.8
Career		218	79	14.7	.441	.063	.379	5.8	1.5	0.6	0.2	5.3

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1988–89	Denver	2	0	10.5	.286	.000	1.000	3.0	1.0	0.0	0.0	3.0
1989–90	Denver	2	2	7.0	.000	.000	.500	0.5	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.5
Career		4	2	8.8	.200	.000	.750	1.8	1.0	0.0	0.0	1.8

College

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1985–86	Pitt	29	-	24.5	.470	-	.655	5.1	1.6	0.8	0.4	9.1
1986–87	Pitt	33	-	35.4	.568	.500	.603	13.5	2.2	1.3	0.4	15.8
1987–88	Pitt	31	-	35.2	.513	.000	.615	12.2	2.8	1.3	0.2	13.9
Career		93	-	31.9	.525	.267	.618	10.4	2.2	1.1	0.4	13.1

Playing style

Although best known for his rebounding skills, Lane was also an adept ball handler. His jump shot and foul shooting were never consistent. He was voted as the best rebounder in the history of the ACB.^[2]

Shattering the backboard

On January 25, 1988 in a college basketball game featuring Lane's Pittsburgh team playing Providence on a national television broadcast, Lane broke the glass backboard with a one-handed dunk with Sean Miller assisting on the play. Often referred to simply as "The Dunk", the play was famously called by color analyst Bill Raftery when he exclaimed "Send it in, Jerome!!"^[3] The play is on ESPN's list of the "100 Greatest Sports Highlights"^[4] and has been the subject of numerous articles even decades later.^[5][6][7][8]

Personal life

His son Jerome Lane Jr. is a wide receiver who once signed with the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL).

See also

• List of NCAA Division I men's basketball season rebounding leaders

Notes

1. Hruby, Patrick (March 10, 2011). "Jerome Lane dunks his way into history". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
2. "Los reyes del rebote de la historia de la ACB".
3. Video on YouTube
4. . Archived from the original on 2007-12-19. Retrieved 2007-12-18.
5. Schonbrun, Zach (January 24, 2013). "A Dunk and an Exclamation That Still Reverberate". The New York Times. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
6. Yomtov, Jesse (January 25, 2013). "25th anniversary of Bill Raftery's 'Send it in, Jerome!' call". USA Today. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
7. Gorman, Kevin (January 24, 2013). "25 years later: Send it in, Jerome!". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
8. Norlander, Matt (January 25, 2013). "Jerome Lane's famous backboard-breaking dunk is 25 years old". CBS Sports.com. Retrieved January 25, 2013.

External links

• Jerome Lane Dunk on YouTube
• Jerome Lane career stats at basketball reference.com
• Men's Rebounding Leaders at basketball.com