Pasadena City Alum Honored With Painting In Finland

By Robert Lewis, Pasadena City SID

Larry Pounds, #9 on the Pasadena City College men's basketball all-time scoring list, went on to be drafted in the NBA by the Golden State Warriors. The 1973 alumnus would take his talents to Finland and become one of the greatest players in that country's history. This week, the City of Kotka honored him by unveiling a painting of Pounds in his playing days for KTP-Basket.

Pounds, now 70, was the Korisliiga Most Valuable Player in 1991, an award given to the Finnish League's best player. He helped KTP earn four Finland League championship gold medals between 1987 and 1994. In a lengthy career, he averaged 26.2 points a game.

A personal painting of the KTP Eagles legend was revealed on Oct. 8 at the Karhuvuori Sports Hall. The painting was made by artist Olavi Heino and was ordered as a celebration of Pounds' career by the City of Kotka, where he still resides.

The PCC great, who played for the Lancers between 1971-73 and was one of just 11 PCC players to ever reach 1,000 points in his community college career, happens to be the father of PCC Hall of Famer Dionne Pounds.

The younger Pounds was PCC women's basketball's first 1,000-point scorer, matching her dad's achievements, and led PCC to back-to-back state championship finals in 2004 and 2005. She was the State Player of the Year in 2004-05 as well as the South Coast Conference MVP.