Lloyd Batts

Lloyd Batts (born May 9, 1951) is a retired American basketball player.

Early life Born in Chicago, Batts was one of seven children. His father died when Lloyd was 12. His mother was deaf mute, and the state of Illinois decided the brothers and sisters should live with relatives who could better care for them, so Lloyd and two siblings moved to live with an aunt and uncle in a south suburb of Chicago, Illinois.

Batts became a star forward for Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Illinois. As a young player in Chicago, he was known as a "hang-gliding, super-flying sort of player" who was a "legend of local playgrounds." He averaged 29 points per game as a junior and 35 as a senior. He was a two-time all-state selection and named the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year as a senior. He graduated in 1970 as the Wildcats' all-time leading scorer with more than 1,600 points.

In 2012, Batts was inducted into the Illinois High School Basketball Hall of Fame.

As a sophomore in 1971–72, Batts led the Bearcats in scoring with 18.7 points per game as the team, coached by Tay Baker, posted a 17–9 record. As a junior under new coach Gale Catlett,

By the end of his career, Batts' 1,585 career points made him the school's fourth all-time scorer behind Hall-of-Famers Oscar Robertson and Jack Twyman and also Ron Bonham. He currently stands 11th. and also in the fourth round of the 1974 American Basketball Association (ABA) draft by the Kentucky Colonels.

His ABA rights were traded to the Virginia Squires, In 1978, he signed a non-guaranteed two-year contract with the NBA's Chicago Bulls, but he was cut from the team prior to summer league play. for nine years—seven in Belgium, one in Italy and one in France. He is also currently the Boys Dean of Students at Chicago Vocational Career Academy.

Personal life Batts has two children, Davina and Lloyd Jr.