At the time of his graduation in the spring of 1954, Paul Lauritzen was being touted as the “greatest basketball player in Augustana history”. In the years that have passed since Lauritzen’s final game have only slightly weathered that lofty appraisal.
Lauritzen, at 6’ 3”, did not have the imposing size of many collegiate centers, but he was still able to dominate the games he played. Former Augustana basketball coach Lenny Kallis called Lauritzen, “The finest inside player I have ever coached” and added that Lauritzen’s devastating short “hook” shot was “unstoppable”.
The former Rock Island High School product completely re-wrote Augustana’s basketball record book during his four year-stay. He became the first Viking cager to score 40 or more points in a single game when he erupted for 43 points against Cornell College in 1953. He duplicated that feat in 1954 with a 41 point performance against North Central. His 444 points as a senior set an Augustana single season record and helped establish him as the first Augustana player ever to break the 1,000 point barrier for a career.
He set a national small college standard for field goal percentage in a single season when he connected at a .629 clip as a senior. The record lasted for nearly 30 years before it was broken. He also held records for best single season scoring average (23.4 ppg) and most free throws attempted in a single season (207).
Among Lauritzen’s many honors were three all-conference certificates, including a first team berth in 1954. He also served as team captain in 1953-54 and was named the Vikings team MVP after both his junior and senior seasons.
The big lefty, who also competed for four years on the Augustana tennis team, earned a Master’s degree in education from Western Illinois in 1961 and completed his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in 1964.
