John Green

John Bernard Green (born July 30, 1940) is an American former college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins. He received honorable mention as an All-American in his senior year in 1962, when he led the Bruins in scoring, and they advanced to their first Final Four. Green was thrice voted all-conference in the Athletic Association of Western Universities (AAWU), including a first-team selection. He was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the third round of the 1962 NBA draft.

Early life Green was born in Rochester, Minnesota. where his father, Bernard, ran a drugstore, before moving to South St. Paul. He was named the league's player of the year. He then went to Pierce College and earned player of the year honors in the Western State Conference as a freshman after averaging close to 25 points per game.

Basketball career Green transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was a three-year starter at guard for the Bruins. Extroverted and lively, he was nicknamed "the Mouth" by his teammates. Green earned second-team All-AAWU honors in each of his first two seasons. He led the team in scoring as a sophomore in 1959–60 with 265 points in 26 games for an average of 10.2 points per game, and ranked fourth in 1960–61 with 324 points (12.5 per game). In his senior year in 1961–62, UCLA began the season slowly, losing seven of their first 11 games. The team grew adept at handling sophomore guard Walt Hazzard's incredible passes, which they initially thought were impossible and were not expecting. The Bruins went 12–2 to become AAWU champions. They clinched the title against Washington after coming back from 12 points down with 12 minutes remaining, winning the game on a driving layup by Green. UCLA entered the 1962 NCAA tournament with the worst record at 16–9. They reached the Final Four for the first time in the school's history, and the first of 12 for their coach, John Wooden. The Bruins lost 72–70 to No. 2–ranked and eventual champion Cincinnati, after the Bearcats' Tom Thacker made a deep shot with three seconds remaining. including 19 in the second half and two free throws to tie the contest with 1:34 remaining. He was chosen for the all-tournament second team. UCLA's leading scorer for the season at 19.3 points per game, he developed into one of the country's top shooters. He played at top speed, convinced that Hazzard would get him the ball if he got open. The Helms Foundation named him a first-team All-American, while Converse placed him on their second team. Green's season total of 559 points ranked second in UCLA history, behind Willie Naulls' 661 points in 1955–56. Green's 262 free throw attempts were almost twice as many as the next teammate. He left the Bruins ranked No. 4 in school history with 1,148 career points. He was inducted into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 2001. However, they released him in September after acquiring veteran guard Dick Barnett. Schaus was satisfied with his backcourt of Barnett and Hot Rod Hundley as backups to starters Jerry West and Frank Selvy. Later that year, Green played in the San Fernando Valley Municipal Sports Association's preseason basketball tournament, and won the championship with Goddard's. In 1963, he played in the Valley College summer league with Powers Realty. In the championship game, Green scored a game-high 24 points in an 81–63 win over Entre Nous.

Later years Green worked in banking and real estate appraising before retiring and moving back to Houston in 2003.