TACOMA – The Pacific Lutheran men's basketball team lost one of its all-time great alums and supporters over the weekend as Hall of Famer Tom Whalen passed away following a serious illness and surgery.

Whalen, a 1996 PLU Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, had a regular presence among the PLU men's basketball team up through the 2013-14 season. Nearly 50 years after he graduated from PLU, Whalen proudly participated every way he could in the program in which he set numerous records and starred for two years.

"Tom was a tremendous supporter of our program, attending practices, games, and giving our young men many inspirational messages," PLU men's basketball coach Steve Dickerson said. "He was a great man and will be missed by family, friends and Lutes everywhere."

Whalen transferred to PLU in 1962 after two years in community college, and he made the most of his two years on the court for the Lutes. He set a PLU school record with 656 points (an average of 24.2 per game) in 1963-64, making him only the second Lute to score 600 points in a season. That came after a 1962-63 season that featured 537 points as Whalen remains one of only two PLU players to post two 500-point seasons.

His 1,193 career points rank 17th on the PLU all-time list, and he is the only member of the Lutes' 1,000-point club who reached the threshold in two seasons. His career scoring average of 21.6 points per game is a PLU record, as are his 259 made field goals and 559 field goal attempts during the 1963-64 season. PLU won the Evergreen Conference title and advanced to the national tournament during both of his seasons with the Lutes.

The lanky 6-5 center was known for a sweeping hook shot and earned numerous honors in his two years at PLU, including two-time first-team All-Evergreen Conference, two-time NAIA District I Player of the Year, NAIA second-team All-America, honorable mention UPI All-Coast and honorable mention AP All-America.

A memorial service for Whalen will be held on Sunday, March 23, at 3 p.m. at Sound Life Church in Tacoma (3425 176th St. E.). Memorial gifts can be sent to PLU's Office of Advancement in memory of Tom. All proceeds will go to Lute Club/Men's Basketball.