Basketball (1955-59)

Jerry Shipp was born in Shreveport, Louisiana on September 27, 1935. He graduated from high school at Blue, Oklahoma and attended Southeastern from 1955-1959.

Shipp was one of the greatest basketball players in the history of this institution. He was a three time All-Conference player who twice led the conference in scoring. He set the conference single game scoring record with 54 points against Phillips University in 1957. He set a conference free throw record with 19 for 19 against East Central in 1958.

Following graduation he played five years with the Phillips 66 basketball team. He was selected three times to the AAU All-American team and the National Industrial Basketball League All-Star team. He was the highest scoring non-center in the history of the Phillips 66 team. He ranked third among the all time career scorers.

Shipp had a fabulous career in international competition, playing in over 20 countries around the world. He was the high scorer on the U.S. team in the Pan-American games in San Palo, Brazil in 1963. He was also the high scorer on the U.S. team that won the World Basketball Tournament in Rio de Janeiro in 1963, and a member of the U.S. team in the world games in Manila, Philippines in 1964.

He was a member of the United States team which toured the Soviet Union in 1961 and 1963.

Jerry Shipp brought many honors to Southeastern with his outstanding career in amateur basketball. He was the captain and high scorer on the U.S. Olympic Basketball Team in the Tokyo games in 1964. He was nominated for the Sullivan Award as the most outstanding U.S. amateur athlete of that year. He was elected to the Helms Foundation Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Southeastern Athletic Hall of Fame on January 21, 1978.