Abe Lemons
A.E. "Abe" Lemons (November 21, 1922 - September 2, 2002) was an American college basketball player and coach. As a coach at Oklahoma City University, Texas-Pan American University and The University of Texas, he compiled a record of 599 wins and 343 losses in 34 seasons.
Early life
Lemons was born in Ryan, Oklahoma and given the initials-only name "A.E.". He grew up in the town of Walters, Oklahoma and graduated from Walters High School in Spring 1941.
He earned a basketball scholarship to play for Southwestern Oklahoma Teachers College (now known as Southwestern Oklahoma State University). and their long-time coach Rankin Williams.
After United States entered World War II in December 1941, he joined the Merchant Marine. He served in the Pacific and often referred to the pressures of his war experience to put sports pressures into perspective.
After the war, he enrolled at Hardin College, which had just added a four-year senior college in 1946. He was a 6 foot 4 inch center/forward for the Indians, who finished 4-15 under first-year head coach Fermon “Red” Rutledge, during the 1946-47 season.
