Danny Yates, Class of 1962

While attending Salem (Westosha) Central High School, Danny Yates was a standout boys basketball player. Many of the school records that Mr. Yates set during the 1961-62 season still stand to this day. This includes the most made field goals in a single season (211) and total points in a single season (498). He is also second in school history with an average of 23.7 points per game. These records are even more impressive when you consider that Mr. Yates played high school basketball before there was a three-point line.   

“He was a big time player. His numbers likely suffered from the fact that his team was so dominate that the starters seldom played far into the 4^th quarter. At the time he played, there was only one division in basketball. Central was a school of 500 students and Danny came up big versus Beloit in the WIAA Regional, scoring 35 points in their only losing effort of the season. If we had gotten past that game, we would have only had to play schools of our size or smaller in the WIAA Sectional Tournament”.   Coach Mark Olsen

Following his graduation from Central High School, Mr. Yates served two years in the U.S. Army and one year in Vietnam with the 25^th Infantry Division. After completing his service to his country, Mr. Yates earned a Biology degree from Carthage College. He worked at Abbott Laboratories in the Department of Toxicology as a Pharmaceutical Dispensing Scientist. Mr. Yates is now enjoying being retired.    

• Boys Basketball (1960, 1961, 1962)
  • Southeastern Conference Co-Champions (1960 & 1961)
  • Team finished 16-4 (1960)
  • 1^st Team All-Conference (1961 & 1962)
  • Individually lead the conference in scoring
  • 1961 records were not found  
  • 1962 with 23.7 pts per game
  • 1^st Team All-Conference and Team Captain (1962)  
  • 2^nd Team All-State
  • Team Conference Champions (1962)
  • Team finished 20-1 (18-0 in conference)  
  • Team ranked 16^th in state, average margin of victory was 26 pts.