Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball

Gilbert "Gib" Ford (September 14, 1931 – January 10, 2017) was an American basketball player and business executive, who competed in the 1956 Summer Olympics as part of the American basketball team, which won the gold medal. Born in Tulia, Texas, he played college basketball at the University of Texas. He worked for thirty-five years at Converse, Inc., ultimately becoming the company's chairman and CEO.
Ford played for Amarillo High School. In 1950 he was a Texas High School All State player and a participant in the Texas High School All Star Game. His name is enshrined in the Texas High School Basketball Hall of Fame. Following High School, Ford played basketball for the University of Texas from 1950 to 1954, and was co-captain of the team his senior year, when the team was a co-champion of the Southwest Conference. He was named to various All-SWC teams and took part in the 1954 Shrine East/West College All Star Game in Kansas City. In 1986, he was inducted into the University of Texas Longhorn Hall of Honor.After graduation from Texas in 1954, where he was also a member of Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, Ford was a starter for the famous Phillips 66 Oilers, which won the National AAU Championship in 1955, and the National Industrial Basketball League Championship in 1955 and 1958. While serving in the Air Force, Ford played on the 1956 All Air Force Team and the All Armed Forces Team, which qualified for the 1956 Olympic trials.
In August 1994, Ford was appointed chairman of the board and CEO of Converse, Inc. He retired December 1, 1996 after 35 years of service with the company. Ford first joined Converse as a member of the sales staff in 1961, and served in a number of executive capacities before becoming president of the company in 1986.
Ford was affiliated with several sporting goods and footwear manufacturers' organizations. He served two terms, 1982–85 and 1991–93, as the chairman of the board of the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA). He was instrumental in creating the industry's first Super Show in 1986, the world's largest sporting goods trade show. He also was a member of the boards of directors of the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry, the Two/Ten Foundation, the Footwear Industries of America, the Rubber and Plastic Footwear Manufacturers Association, the New England Sports Hall of Fame, and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. He served a six-year term as a member of the board of trustees for Gettysburg College in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

Clifford "Cliff" Eugene Barker (January 15, 1921 – March 17, 1998) was an American basketball player who won the gold medal with the USA national basketball team at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and two national championships at the University of Kentucky.

While at the University of Kentucky, Barker was an All-SEC (Second Team) and All-SEC Tournament guard during the 1947–48 and 1948–49 seasons.
A member of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, Barker was a B-17 Flying Fortress gunner and spent 16 months as a prisoner-of-war.

Howard Earl "Howie" Williams (October 29, 1927 – December 25, 2004) was an American basketball player who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics. Williams played collegiately at Purdue University where he was a 2x All-Big Ten guard (1948–49, 1949–50); he was selected as the Purdue team MVP in his junior and senior seasons and as Team Captain in 1949-50; posting a career total of 735 points (10.0 game avg). He led the Big Ten Conference in Free Throw Percentage (85.7%) for the 1948-49 season.
He was a 3rd Round pick of the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950 NBA draft but chose instead to sign a contract with the Peoria Caterpillars of the American Athletic Union and the National Industrial Basketball League. The Caterpillars finished 4th in the NIBL but won the National AAU title (the first of three consecutive titles), knocking off the regular season champions, the Phillips Oilers in the semi-finals on Williams last second bucket. Williams and the rest of the Caterpillar team defeated the NCAA Champion Kansas Jayhawks in the AAU Title game. Following the title game, the Los Angeles Times named Williams the AAU Player of the Year; Williams then led Peoria to another AAU National title in 1953.
The 1952 win placed Williams as well as Peoria teammates; Ronald Bontemps, Marcus Freiberger, Frank McCabe and Dan Pippin on the U.S. Olympic squad. That team, led by fellow native Hoosier Clyde Lovellette won the gold medal. He played all eight games and finished #8 in scoring for the squad.
Williams spent four seasons playing for the Caterpillars and finished with 1,235 career points, eighth on their career scoring list.
He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989 and the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame in 1991. He died in Phoenix, Arizona in 2004; following a 35-year career with the Caterpillar Corporation.

Wilmer Frederick Hosket (born December 20, 1946) is an American former professional basketball player. He played five seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and played college basketball for the Ohio State Buckeyes.
A 6'8" power forward/center, Hosket played basketball at Belmont High School in Dayton, Ohio, where he won an Ohio state championship in 1964. He was named Ohio Player of the Year and was also MVP of the state tournament.He played college basketball at the Ohio State University from 1965 to 1968. He led his Ohio State team in scoring and rebounding during each of his three varsity seasons and was named to three All Big Ten Conference Academic First Teams. In fall 1968, he competed at the Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal with the United States national basketball team.Hosket then played four seasons (1968–1972) in the National Basketball Association as a member of the Buffalo Braves and New York Knicks. He averaged 4.0 points per game in his career and won a league championship with the Knicks in 1970.After retiring as a player, Hosket served on three United States Olympic Basketball Committees. He also founded Buckeye Basketball Camp (not officially affiliated with Ohio State University) in his home state of Ohio.In 1998, Hosket was named as the President of the OHSAA Foundation and served as the foundation's first executive director. He is a principal at Hosket & Ulen, an independent insurance agency. Hosket and his wife, Patty, have three grown sons (all graduates of Ohio State) and reside in Columbus.Hosket's father, Bill Hosket, Sr., and his son, Brad Hosket, also played basketball at Ohio State.Hosket is a member of the Ohio State Hall of Fame and was named in 1993 to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Silver Anniversary team. He was honored in 2002 by the Ohio High School Athletic Association with its highest honor – the Ethics and Integrity Award. In 2006, he was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame.