Hazzard, Walter R. Jr.
Basketball
b. April 15, 1942, Wilmington, DE
Hazzard was the key player on the 1963-64 UCLA team that won all thirty of its games and the NCAA championship, the start of coach John Wooden's dynastic streak when UCLA won ten titles in twelve years. The 6-foot-3, 185-pound guard was named the tournament's most valuable player. He was also a consensus All-American and he was selected by the U. S. Basketball Writers Association as college player of the year.
After playing for U. S. team that won the 1964 Olympic gold medal, Hazzard joined the Los Angeles Lakers of the NBA. He never became as big a star as he was in college, although he averaged 23.9 points a game in 1967-68.
After three seasons with the Lakers, he went to the Seattle Supersonics in 1967, then played for the Atlanta Hawks from 1968-69 through 1970-71 and the Buffalo Braves from 1971-72 through 1972-73. After a brief stint with the Golden State Warriors, he returned to Seattle for the 1973-74 season before retiring.
Hazzard became a Muslim late in his career and adopted the name Mahdi Abdul-Rahmad. In his 10 NBA seasons, he scored 9,087 points, averaging 12.6 a game, and had 3,555 assists. He coached UCLA from 1984-85 through 1987-88, winning 77 games and losing 48.