– Photos courtesy of the City of Lebanon
The City of Lebanon has announced that a new piece of art that was displayed at the State Fair has found its way back to Lebanon and will be displayed in the Boone County Courthouse.
The basketball-shaped piece of art honoring Rick Mount was one of 24 created and displayed at the Indiana State Fair, and it was brought back to Lebanon this week to be displayed at the Boone County Courthouse.
“Stop by and check it out for yourself,” the city released. “It’s a great photo op and a great way to honor the greatest basketball shooter of all time.”
Mount was a Lebanon High School graduate who attended Purdue before being drafted into the ABA by the Indiana Pacers as a shooting guard after declining a spot with the NBA on the Los Angeles Lakers. Nicknamed Rick “the Rocket” Mount, he began his career by leading the Lebanon High School team in scoring, culminating in a 33.1 points-per-game average throughout his junior and senior seasons. Mount became known in the Indiana high school sports circuit due to an outstanding performance in 1965 when Lebanon faced off against Crawfordsville High School at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. With 10,000 people in attendance, the team was able to raise enough money to buy a bus, and Mount would cement his career by scoring 57 points in a single game.
Mount would be featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 1966, becoming the first high school boy representing a team sport to appear on the cover. At the end of his high school career, he was awarded the Indiana “Mr. Basketball” award and was named “USA Basketball Yearbook Player of the Year,” which is given to the nation’s best high school player of the year. Mount finished his Lebanon career with 2,595 points, which was the second-highest total in Indiana high school history at the time, and as of December 2021 he is ranked seventh in Indiana history.
After graduating, Mount considered committing to the University of Miami, but he decided to stay home and attend Purdue University where he would play under
head coach George King. As a freshman, Mount was unable to play on the varsity team due to NCAA regulations, but he scored 33 points in a scrimmage against the varsity team in front of crowd of 9,500 people at Lambert Fieldhouse. Mount averaged 35 points-per-game while shooting 54.5 percent on the freshman squad where he tallied up 490 points on the team.
Mount would play on the varsity team for the 1967-1968 season, and in his first game he scored a game-high of 28 points. A last-second, two-point loss to top-ranked UCLA team. Mount would average 28.4 points-per-game to lead Purdue to a 15-9 record where he was named a Second Team All-American and First Team All-Big Ten during his sophomore season. Following the U.S. Olympic Trials in April, he was selected as an alternate to the U.S. National Team.
During his junior season at Purdue for the 1968-1969 season, Mount would lead the Boilermakers to a Big Ten Conference title and the school’s first NCAA tournament appearance where the team would enter the NCAA Finals before losing to UCLA once again.
Mount became known for his “leaping lofter,” which secured the win against Marquette to bring the team to the Final Four as he sunk the shot with two seconds left in overtime. Mount led all scorers in the tournament with a 40.6 point average in the three games, and he averaged 33.3 points in the entire season. After the season, he was selected as a First Team All-American and the Big Ten Player of the Year.
During his senior year for the 1969-1970 season, Mount shot two 53-point games and a 61-point game, which was played against the conference champions Iowa. Mount averaged 35.4 points during the season and was named First Team All-American and Big Ten Player of the Year for the second year in a row. Mount left Purdue as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,323 points throughout his three varsity seasons. Mount would end his collegiate career with scoring double figures for 72 consecutive games while scoring 30 or more points in 46 of the games, and both remain as Purdue school records.
Mount was considered an excellent pro prospect, but his signing by the ABA resulted in the Los Angeles Lakers not drafting him until the eighth round of the 1970 NBA draft. Mount was drafted by the Indiana Pacers as the first overall pick, which led him to sign with the Pacers. Mount also likely signed with the ABA as the league had an established 3-point line, and outside shooting was his specialty. Sports historians believe that Mount could still hold numerous records had the three-point line existed during his college career.
Mount would play for the Pacers for the 1970-1971 season and the 1971-1972 season, and in his second season, he averaged 2.9 assists and 14.2 points-per-game as he racked up 57 three-pointers during the season.
He would then be traded to the Kentucky Colonels for the 1972-1973 season where he averaged 15 points-per-game, and he averaged 17 points in the playoff games to lead the Colonels to the ABA Finals against the Pacers.
In the middle of the 1973-1974 season, Mount was traded to the Utah Stars where he led his team to the ABA Finals for the third season in a row despite losing to the New York Nets.
Mount spent the last season of his ABA and professional career with the Memphis Sounds in the 1974-1975 season where he averaged his highest scoring average of 17.1 points every game for his professional career. His career was cut short due to a dislocated shoulder that he sustained during the season.
Mount still lives in Lebanon with his wife Donna. His son, Rich, left Lebanon High School with the ninth most points in Indiana high school history and played on the Purdue basketball team for two seasons before transferring to Virginia Commonwealth University. He now works in Lebanon as a police officer.
Mount and his father were inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in New Castle in 1992, and he was followed by his son being inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame’s Silver Anniversary Team in 2014.
