Eugene Lavon Banks (born May 15, 1959) is a retired American professional basketball player. He is one of a handful of players to make high school All-America three times. He was named to the McDonald\'s American team in 1977 and was the very first McDonald\'s Classic MVP. He also played in the prestigious Dapper Dan Scholastic High School All-American Basketball Classic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and won MVP honors of that game. He scored a career high 53 points in his senior year at West Philadelphia high school and was voted the number one high school player of the year, along with Albert King.\n', '

A 6\'7" forward born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Banks starred at Duke University, where he received the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Rookie of the Year award in 1978. As a freshman starter at power forward, Banks played a strong role in Duke reaching the NCAA Finals, where they eventually lost to Joe Hall\'s Kentucky Wildcats. Banks was the sixth African American player in Duke\'s history. He also received team MVP honors three times. His Duke career is noteworthy in other regards as well. In 1981, during Mike Krzyzewski\'s first year in the home game against the Blue Devils\' heated rival, the North Carolina Tar Heels, he hit the game-tying shot as time expired, sending the crowd into a massive frenzy. Duke went on to win in overtime, ushering in a new era in Blue Devils basketball. Banks also won the ACC scoring title in 1981, over such ACC/NCAA All-Americans as James Worthy (UNC) and Ralph Sampson (UVA). He was inducted into the prestigious Duke Sports Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Duke Hall of Honors in 1996. He was an NCAA two-time All-American during his tenure at Duke and finished in the top ten of almost every statistical category of Duke basketball.[citation needed] As of the start of the 2016-17 season, Bank\'s 53.9% career field goal percentage ranks 28th all-time for NBA players, less than one-thousandth of a percentage point behind Wilt Chamberlain.\n', '

Banks went on to play six seasons in the National Basketball Association with the San Antonio Spurs and the Chicago Bulls. He averaged 11.3 points per game spanning over 468 games in his professional NBA career. His career high of 44 points was achieved against the Los Angeles Lakers in 1983. He recorded his first NBA triple-double with the Chicago Bulls.\n', '

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