Myer Upton "Whitey" Skoog (born November 2, 1926) is a retired American professional basketball

Basketball

Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player for the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers. He was born in Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth, Minnesota

Duluth is a port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and is the county seat of Saint Louis County. The fourth largest city in Minnesota, Duluth had a total population of 86,265 in the 2010 census. Duluth is also the second largest city that is located on Lake Superior after Thunder Bay, Ontario,...

.

A 5'11" (180 cm) and 180 lbs (82 kg) guard, Skoog played collegiately at the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

. Following his All-America senior season, he was drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft

NBA Draft

The NBA Draft is an annual event in which the thirty teams from the National Basketball Association can draft players who are eligible and wish to join the league. These players are usually amateur U.S. college basketball players, but international players are also eligible to be drafted...

 by the Lakers in 1951. The Lakers won three NBA Championships

NBA Finals

The NBA Finals is the championship series of the National Basketball Association . The series was named the NBA World Championship Series until 1986....

 in his first three years in the league. Skoog played in six seasons in the NBA before back injuries forced his retirement.

Following his career in the NBA, Skoog became the basketball coach and men's golf coach at Gustavus Adolphus College

Gustavus Adolphus College

Gustavus Adolphus College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States. A coeducational, four-year, residential institution, it was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans. To this day the school is firmly...

and was inducted into the school's hall of fame in 1987.