Robert Albert Kurland (December 23, 1924 – September 29, 2013) was a American basketball center, who played for the two-time NCAA champion Oklahoma A&M Aggies (now Oklahoma State Cowboys) basketball team. He led the U.S. basketball team to gold medals in two Summer Olympics, and led his AAU team to three national titles. He is a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Early life Kurland was born in St. Louis, Missouri to Albert and Adele Kurland. He graduated from Jennings High School in Jennings, Missouri, where he participated in basketball and track. College career Kurland, a Missouri native, considered attending the University of Missouri. But when Oklahoma A&M played a game at Saint Louis University, A&M coach Henry Iba invited Kurland to dinner and offered him a scholarship. Missouri could only offer Kurland a job. Many of Kurland's family members had not finished high school, and Kurland was the first in his family to attend college at any level. Kurland was an integral part of the team's consecutive NCAA titles in 1945 and 1946, and was named the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player both times. In the 1945–46 season, he scored a then-season record 643 points, including 58 in a game against Saint Louis University, which featured freshman Ed Macauley. Kurland was voted Helms Foundation College Basketball Player of the Year. Kurland was known to leap above the rim to grab opponents' shots. This led to the NCAA banning defensive goaltending in 1945. Kurland has been credited as the first person to dunk in a college basketball game. The rivalry between him and De Paul's George Mikan would foreshadow similar matchups, especially those of basketball's "big men." In college, Kurland was active in many campus activities, including the student council, for which he served as president in 1945 and 1946. He graduated with a bachelor of science in education. AAU career Kurland never played professional basketball, passing up the newly formed Basketball Association of America and National Basketball League (which would merge, forming the National Basketball Association), to play for Phillips Petroleum's A.A.U. team, the Phillips 66ers. Kurland played for six years with Phillips, winning three championships. Summer Olympics Since Kurland never played professionally, he was eligible as an amateur for the Olympic Games. In the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England, he led the U.S. basketball team to the gold medal. He was second on