View source for Ed Ratleff

{{Short description|American basketball player}}
{{redirect|Ratleff|a similar surname|Ratliff}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name            = Ed Ratleff
| image           = Ed_Ratleff_Long_Beach.jpg
| width           = 
| caption         = Ratleff as a sophomore at Long Beach State
| height_ft       = 6
| height_in       = 6
| weight_lb       = 195
| birth_date      = {{birth date and age|1950|03|29}}
| birth_place     = [[Bellefontaine, Ohio]], U.S.
| high_school     = [[East High School (Columbus, Ohio)|East]] ([[Columbus, Ohio]])
| college         = [[Long Beach State 49ers men's basketball|Long Beach State]] (1970–1973)
| draft_year      = 1973
| draft_round     = 1
| draft_pick      = 6
| draft_team      = [[Houston Rockets]]
| career_start    = 1973
| career_end      = 1978
| years1          = {{nbay|1973|start}}–{{nbay|1977|end}}
| team1           = [[Houston Rockets]]
| career_number   = 42
| career_position = [[Shooting guard]] / [[small forward]]
| highlights      = 
* 2× Consensus first-team [[NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|All-American]] ([[1972 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|1972]], [[1973 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|1973]])
* 2× [[Big West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year|PCAA Player of the Year]] (1972, 1973)
* 3× First-team All-PCAA (1971–1973)
* No. 42 [[Long Beach State 49ers men's basketball#Retired numbers|retired by Long Beach State 49ers]]
| CBBASKHOF_year = 2015
| stats_league    = NBA
| stat1label      = [[Point (basketball)|Points]]
| stat1value      = 2,813 (8.3 ppg)
| stat2label      = [[Rebound (basketball)|Rebounds]]
| stat2value      = 1,363 (4.0 rpg)
| stat3label      = [[Assist (basketball)|Assists]]
| stat3value      = 896 (2.7 apg)
| medal_templates = 
{{MedalSport | Men's [[basketball]] }}
{{MedalCountry | {{USA}} }}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Olympic Games]] }}
{{MedalSilver | [[1972 Summer Olympics|1972 Munich]] | [[1972 United States men's Olympic basketball team|Team]] }}
}}

'''William Edward "Easy Ed" Ratleff''' (born March 29, 1950) is an American former professional [[basketball]] player for the [[Houston Rockets]] of the [[National Basketball Association]] (NBA). He attended [[East High School (Columbus, Ohio)]] where he led his high school basketball team to the Ohio State Championship in 1968 and was joined by [[Bo Lamar|Dwight "Bo" Lamar]] to claim the 1969 Ohio High School title.<ref name="East High School">{{Cite web|url=https://www.publicschoolreview.com/east-high-school-profile/43205|title=East High School Profile (2020-21) &#124; Columbus, OH|website=Public School Review|date=7 November 2023 }}</ref> Ratleff played [[college basketball]] for the [[Long Beach State 49ers men's basketball|Long Beach State 49ers]], earning consensus first-team [[NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans|All-American]] honors twice. He was chosen for the [[1972 United States men's Olympic basketball team|1972 U.S. Olympic team]] and participated in the Munich Games. He was selected with the sixth overall pick of the [[1973 NBA draft]] and played five NBA seasons.

==High school==
Ratleff attended Columbus East High School in [[Columbus, Ohio]], leading his team to the AAA (big school) state championship in 1967–1968 with a 25–0 record.<ref name="ohiobasketballhalloffame.com">{{Cite web|url=https://ohiobasketballhalloffame.com/?p=400|title=Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame|website=ohiobasketballhalloffame.com}}</ref> The ’68-69 Tigers were also undefeated state champions. Overall in three seasons he led the Tigers to three state championship games, two state championships and a 70-1 record.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://archive.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20140407/HSSPORTS03/303200020/5th-star-sought-all-time-All-Ohio-prep-basketball-team |title=Archived copy |access-date=February 11, 2015 |archive-date=February 11, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150211223243/http://archive.zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20140407/HSSPORTS03/303200020/5th-star-sought-all-time-All-Ohio-prep-basketball-team |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==College career and Olympics==
A 6'6" [[guard (basketball)|guard]]/[[forward (basketball)|forward]], he played college basketball at [[California State University, Long Beach]] under coach [[Jerry Tarkanian]]. He still holds the school's career record for scoring average (21.4). He was twice named first-team AP All-American by the AP, in 1971–72 and 1972–73.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/awards/all_america.html|title=NCAA College Basketball AP All-America Teams|website=Basketball-Reference.com}}</ref>

Ratleff played for the [[United States national basketball team]] at the [[1972 Summer Olympics]], where the United States lost a [[1972 Olympic Men's Basketball Final|controversial gold medal game]] to the [[Soviet Union]]. Ratleff and his teammates refused to accept silver medals in protest at the refereeing controversy. Throughout the Olympic tournament, Ratleff averaged 6.4 [[points per game]].<ref>[http://www.usabasketball.com/history/moly_1972.html USA Basketball] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822182059/http://www.usabasketball.com/history/moly_1972.html |date=2007-08-22 }}.</ref>

==Professional career==
Ratleff was chosen with the sixth pick in the [[1973 NBA draft]] by the [[Houston Rockets]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/draft/NBA_1973.html|title=1973 NBA Draft|website=Basketball-Reference.com}}</ref> He played five season for the Rockets, averaging 8.3 points and 4.0 [[rebound (basketball)|rebounds]] in his NBA career.<ref name=bbr>{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/r/ratleed01.html|title=Ed Ratleff NBA Stats|website=[[Basketball Reference]]|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|accessdate=19 February 2025}}</ref>

==Personal life==
In 1991 his number 42 was retired by Long Beach State. In 2009, he was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame.<ref name="ohiobasketballhalloffame.com"/> In 2015, he was part of the class inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame and in 2017 he was inducted into the Ohio High School Athletic Association Ring of Champions.

==Career statistics==
{{NBA player statistics legend}}

===NBA===
Source<ref name=bbr/>

====Regular season====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
!Year
!Team
!GP
!MPG
!FG%
!FT%
!RPG
!APG
!SPG
!BPG
!PPG
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1973}}
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1973–74 Houston Rockets season|Houston]]
| '''81''' || 21.9 || .434 || .798 || 3.5 || 2.2 || 1.1 || .3 || 7.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1974}}
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1974–75 Houston Rockets season|Houston]]
| 80 || 32.0 || .461 || .826 || '''5.7''' || 3.2 || '''1.8''' || '''.6''' || '''11.8'''
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1975}}
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1975–76 Houston Rockets season|Houston]]
| 72 || '''33.3''' || '''.485''' || .816 || 5.3 || '''3.6''' || 1.6 || .5 || 11.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1976}}
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1976–77 Houston Rockets season|Houston]]
| 37 || 14.4 || .435 || .619 || 2.1 || 1.2 || .5 || .2 || 4.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1977}}
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1977–78 Houston Rockets season|Houston]]
| 68 || 17.1 || .419 || '''.830''' || 2.4 || 2.3 || .9 || .3 || 4.4
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career
| 338 || 24.9 || .454 || .803 || 4.0 || 2.7 || 1.3 || .4 || 8.3
{{s-end}}

====Playoffs====
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
!Year
!Team
!GP
!MPG
!FG%
!FT%
!RPG
!APG
!SPG
!BPG
!PPG
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1975 NBA playoffs|1975]]
| style="text-align:left;"|[[1974–75 Houston Rockets season|Houston]]
| 8 || 36.4 || .414 || .850 || 6.6 || 4.4 || 1.8 || .1 || 11.1
{{s-end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{navboxes
|list=
{{United States Men Basketball Squad 1972 Summer Olympics}}
{{1973 NBA draft}}
{{1972 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1973 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans}}
{{Big West Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year navbox}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratleff, Ed}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American sportsmen]]
[[Category:All-American college men's basketball players]]
[[Category:American men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Basketball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Basketball players from Ohio]]
[[Category:Denver Rockets draft picks]]<!--1973 ABA Senior Draft-->
[[Category:Houston Rockets draft picks]]
[[Category:Houston Rockets players]]
[[Category:Long Beach State Beach men's basketball players]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic silver medalists for the United States in basketball]]
[[Category:People from Bellefontaine, Ohio]]
[[Category:Shooting guards]]
[[Category:Small forwards]]
[[Category:United States men's national basketball team players]]