Johnny Green

John Michael Green, nicknamed "Jumpin' Johnny," was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association, born December 8, 1933, in Dayton, Ohio, and died November 16, 2023. He attended Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, where, standing under six feet tall, he did not play basketball. After graduation he worked part-time at a Dayton bowling alley, then for a construction company and at a junkyard for six months before joining the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War. While in the military, at age 20, he grew to 6-foot-5 and played on his base's basketball team. The Marine base football coach, Dick Evans, a Michigan State alumnus, recognized Green's athletic ability and wrote a letter of recommendation to Spartans coach Forddy Anderson. At age 21, Green visited Michigan State while on leave in October 1955 and later enrolled there. Playing college basketball for the Michigan State Spartans, he earned consensus second-team All-American honors. In the NBA, Green was a four-time All-Star.