Collegiate Career
Basketball Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson, then of the University of Iowa, was among the first to recognize Lester's talent. At Iowa, Lester was a four-year starter, earning All-American honors in 1979, and First Team All-Big Ten honors in 1978 and 1979. He led the Iowa Hawkeyes to a share of the 1979 Big Ten title and to the Final Four of the 1980 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament.
In his senior season, Lester missed 15 Big Ten games due to a knee injury. At the time he left the lineup, Iowa was undefeated and ranked among the top ten teams in the nation. He returned to the Hawkeye lineup on March 1, 1980, for the final game of the regular season against the University of Illinois. With the consent of Illinois Head Coach Lou Henson, the Iowa Athletic Department delayed the game in order to hold a ceremony to retire Lester's jersey, and number (12). At that time, Lester already owned the Iowa records for scoring and assists. In addition to missing 15 games, Lester's assist record was all the more remarkable given that he shared playing time (and hence, ball touches) with two other players ranked among Iowa's top ten in career assists.
Nineteen regular season wins earned Iowa a five seed in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament (then, a 36 team field). In the four tournament wins that took Iowa to the Final Four, Lester dished out 26 assists while committing only seven turnovers. He scored Iowa's first ten points in the semi-final game against Louisville, but after eight minutes of play reinjured his knee and left the game. In Lester's absence, Louisville bested Iowa by eight points and went on to win the tournament. Not counting the Louisville game, the 1980 Iowa Hawkeyes were 15-1 with Lester, and 8-9 without him.
Even after the further success Lute Olson enjoyed at the University of Arizona (including four Final Four appearances, a National Championship, and players like Mike Bibby, Gilbert Arenas, and Jason Terry), Olson regards Lester as the best player he ever coached. Hall of Famer Earvin "Magic" Johnson, who played two seasons at Michigan State University, once claimed Lester the toughest opponent he ever faced in the Big Ten.
Read more about this topic: Ronnie Lester
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