Cotton Nash


Charles Francis "Cotton" Nash is a former Major League Baseball outfielder and National Basketball Association forward.

Basketball career

Born in Jersey City, New Jersey, Nash played collegiately for Adolph Rupp's legendary University of Kentucky Wildcats basketball team, where he was named a first-team All-American in 1964. He went on to play in the NBA for the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Francisco Warriors during the 1964–65 NBA season. He had his most success in the American Basketball Association with the Kentucky Colonels, averaging 8.5 points per game, 4.9 rebounds per game, and 1.2 assists per game.

Baseball career

While at the University of Kentucky, Nash also played on the school's baseball team. In 1963, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Cotuit Kettleers of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He went on to appear in 13 games over three MLB seasons with the Chicago White Sox and Minnesota Twins. One of those games was with the White Sox on September 10, 1967, in the ninth inning of Joe Horlen's no-hitter; he replaced Ken Boyer at first base and recorded all three putouts in the inning.

Multi-sport legacy

Nash is one of 13 multi-sport athletes to have played in both the NBA and Major League Baseball. The thirteen are: Danny Ainge, Frank Baumholtz, Gene Conley, Chuck Connors, Dave DeBusschere, Johnny Gee, Dick Groat, Steve Hamilton, Mark Hendrickson, Nash, Ron Reed, Dick Ricketts and Howie Schultz..