'Milky' Phelps to be inducted into the Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame
Phelps was the school’s first All-American and led the Aztecs to the 1941 National Championship.
San Diego State men’s basketball Hall of Famer Milton “Milky” Phelps will be inducted into the Small College Basketball National Hall of Fame’s 2024 class, the organization announced from its headquarters in Kansas City, Mo.
Phelps is one of 12 individuals, seven players, four coaches and one contributor/player, who will be inducted in a ceremony on Friday, November 1, at the Polk Theatre in Lakeland, Fla.
A 1941 graduate of SDSU, then known as San Diego State College, he is the first Aztec to earn All-America honors: garnering them in 1939, 1940 and 1941, his sophomore through senior campaigns.
In addition, he led the team in scoring in each of his first three seasons on The Mesa and was the first player to finish his career with 1,000-plus points (1,043) while wearing Scarlet and Black and averaged double figures for his college career (10.7 points per game). A great scorer, he was equally adept at distributing the ball and playing “Aztec defense.”
Phelps led the Aztecs to the championship game of the National Intercollegiate Basketball Tournament (now the NAIA) three times, in 1939, 1940 and 1941, and won the title in 1941 with a 36-34 victory over Murray State.
Phelps was posthumously inducted into the San Diego State Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988 and the 1941 team was inducted in 2002. His jersey, one of three retired Aztec men’s basketball jerseys, hangs in the rafters of Viejas Arena.
In 1942, while training to serve in World War II, Phelps was killed in a naval exercise in Corpus Christi, Texas.
