Year Inducted: 1973
Nominated By: Unknown
Sports Competed In: Basketball
Athlete, Coach or Contributor: Athlete
Cal Tatum is the all-time leading scorer in the history of CSU Pueblo basketball. The 6-1 guard scored 2,143 points (106 games, 20.2) on average. A four-season starter for the then-Indians, Tatum's career points rank as the eighth-best scoring total in the history of collegiate basketball in the state of Colorado.
As an inaugural member of the Athletics Hall of Fame class at CSU Pueblo in 2009, Tatum was the sixth and final member of the Muskegon 6 that played at then-Southern Colorado State College from its first four-year campaign in 1963-1964 through 1972-1973.
Playing before the 3-point shot in college basketball, Tatum earned 1973 All-American recognition by Basketball Weekly (first team), the National Association of Basketball Coaches (second), United Press International (second), and the Associated Press (fourth).
A four-time all-league player for SCSC, Tatum was the conference's top player as both a junior and senior. In leading the Indians to the "elite eight" in the 1972 NCAA Division II Championships, Tatum was the most valuable player in the 1972 West Regionals at Massari Gym where SCSC defeated UC Irvine and Seattle Pacific for the title.
In his final season (1972-1973) with SCSC, Tatum averaged 25.1 points (703, 28 games) a game, leading the Indians to their second-straight NCAA Division II Championships. Tatum is one of only 15 players in the history of college basketball in the state of Colorado to score over 700 points in a single season.
Despite his size and playing as a guard, Tatum still ranks as the fifth-leading rebounder in CSU Pueblo history with 804 (7.6 average). In leading the Indians in scoring four straight seasons, Tatum made nearly 48 percent of his shots from the field (856 of 1,786) and 78 percent of his free throws (431 of 552). He also averaged 2.4 assists per game.
As mentioned, Tatum came from basketball-rich Michigan, where he made his mark at Muskegon High School in the late 1960s with his combination of speed, ball handling, jumping, and remarkable long-range shooting. “For his size, I’ve never seen an athlete who is so proficient in so many phases of the game,” said then-Muskegon coach Mike Murphy after Tatum earned Class A all-state honors in 1969.
Tatum averaged 22.4 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, and four steals per game in his senior year to earn first-team all-state honors. He was fourth-team all-state as a sophomore and second-team all-state as a junior. He graduated as the Big Reds’ all-time leading scorer with 1,250 points and a career average of 22.7 points per game.
Drafted in the first round by the Carolina Cougars of the American Basketball Association in May 1973, Tatum was traded to Denver and played in the pre-season for the Rockets. After his playing days, Tatum worked in the federal government in the San Francisco-Oakland area.
In a July 2006 article in the Pueblo Chieftain, three Greater Pueblo Sports Hall of Famers rated Tatum among the city's all-time bests. Longtime Chieftain sportswriter Dave Socier felt that “Tatum was 10 to 15 years ahead of his time, as far as how he played the game and how athletic he was. I've never heard anybody say he wasn't really, really good." Norm Colglazier said Tatum was "extremely athletic; he could jump out of the gym, hang in the air." Jim Ranson added that "Cal Tatum was as good as ever came out of Pueblo."
