Fred Slaughter, Member of UCLA's First NCAA Basketball Championship Team, Dies in Santa Monica

SANTA MONICA, CA - Fred Slaughter, the starting center on the first UCLA men's basketball team to win a national championship, has died at the age of 74, the school's athletics department announced this weekend.

Slaughter died at his Santa Monica home on Oct. 6, surrounded by his family, the school announced. His family said he died of natural causes.

Slaughter was a three-year starter for Bruins coach John Wooden, helping the legendary Wooden win the first of his 10 national championships in 1964, Slaughter's senior season.

At 6-feet-5 inches tall, he was a far cry from future Bruins centers Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton, seven-footers who would each win multiple national titles at Westwood. But Slaughter was an effective anchor for a small Bruins starting five that used a famous 2-2-1 zone defense to post a 30-0 record in that 1963-64 season. Slaughter averaged 7.9 points and 8.1 rebounds that year.

Slaughter was more than just a sports star at UCLA -- he was also senior class president. He later earned a law degree at Columbia University and launched a successful career as a sports agent and attorney.

In the 1970s, he served as assistant dean of admissions and student affairs at UCLA's School of Law.

Slaughter was inducted into UCLA's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004.

-- City News Service, photo courtesy of UCLA