Bob Skousen
Willard Robert “Bob” Skousen Jr. was a Brigham Young University basketball legend. He held the all-time single game scoring record of 47 points for half a century before Jimmer Fredette broke it with 49 in 2009. Skousen’s record-making game was only his second game back from serving a two-year mission to Australia for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was a member of the Mormon Yankees basketball team while serving his mission. Bill Aaron remembers Skousen scored more than 52 points in one of those games in Australia.
- “He was a tremendous shooter,” said Provo’s Bill Aaron, who saw Skousen play and was on the same LDS mission in Australia. “He was a tremendous missionary for his church. During that time, the average missionary was involved in one or two baptisms a year in Australia. Bob Skousen baptized 60 people into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”[1]
Deseret News columnist Dick Harmon said of Skousen, “He lived and played during a time when shooting was an art form, and when you scored a zillion points, it really meant something because there was no 3-point line, nobody got a bonus for distance.”[2]
Skousen married Toni Gale and they had four children. He worked as a highway contractor and rancher. He was also a pilot, art collector and dealer, and raised llamas.
Skousen was born on February 9, 1939. He died on February 12, 2016, in Mesa, Arizona.
