Louisville hoops legend Felton Spencer has died

Mar 12, 2023 - 9:18 PM

Former Louisville basketball star Felton Spencer passed away Sunday afternoon, his family shared on social media. Spencer was 55.

After starring at Eastern High School in Louisville, Spencer played at U of L from 1986-90. He earned First Team All-Metro Conference as a senior in 1990 after posting averages of 14.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. His career field goal percentage of 62.8 is still the highest in the history of Cardinal basketball.

Following his college career at Louisville, Spencer was chosen with the sixth overall pick in the 1990 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. In his first season as a professional, Spencer was voted to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team after averaging 7.1 points and 7.9 rebounds while shooting 51.2 percent from the floor. Spencer played a dozen seasons and appeared in 640 games in the NBA, suiting up for the Utah Jazz, Orlando Magic, Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks in addition to the T-Wolves.

In recent years, Spencer served as an assistant coach at both Spalding and Bellarmine.

One of my earliest basketball memories was getting to go into the locker room after a Timberwolves-Bullets exhibition game at Freedom Hall and getting Spencer to autograph a playing card I had. He was as nice then as he was when I interacted with him over the years at various U of L events or when he was an assistant at Bellarmine.

He will certainly be missed.