Bill Lienhard

{{Short description|American basketball player (1930–2022)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}

{{Infobox basketball biography

| name = Bill Lienhard

| image =

| caption =

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 5

| weight_lb = 180

| birth_date = {{birth date|1930|01|14}}

| birth_place = Slaton, Texas, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|2022|02|08|1930|01|14}}

| death_place = Lawrence, Kansas, U.S.

| high_school = Newton (Newton, Kansas)

| college = Kansas (1949–1952)

| draft_year = 1952

| career_start =

| career_end =

| career_number =

| career_position = Forward

| highlights =

• NCAA champion (1952)

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalSport | Men's basketball }}

{{MedalCountry | the {{USA}} }}

{{MedalCompetition | Olympic Games }}

{{MedalGold | 1952 Helsinki | Team competition }}

}}

William Barner Lienhard (January 14, 1930 – February 8, 2022) was an American basketball player who competed in the 1952 Summer Olympics.

Lienhard was born in Slaton, Texas. He went to college at the University of Kansas, where he was a member of the 1952 NCAA Champion basketball team. He was then part of the American Olympic basketball team, which won the gold medal. He played a total of five matches during the Summer Games in Helsinki. After the Olympics, he joined the Air Force, where he continued to play basketball. Upon leaving the Air Force, he retired from the sport and lived as a banker in Kansas.{{cite Sports-Reference |url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/li/bill-lienhard-1.html |title=Bill Lienhard |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131181915/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/li/bill-lienhard-1.html |archivedate=January 31, 2012 |df= }} Lienhard died on February 8, 2022, at the age of 92.{{cite web|url=https://eu.cjonline.com/story/sports/college/hawk-zone/2022/02/09/bill-lienhard-kansas-basketball-1952-national-champions-ku-team-dies/6727517001/|title=Bill Lienhard, former Kansas men's basketball player and 1952 national champion, dies at 92|work=The Topeka Capital-Journal|first=Jordan|last=Guskey|date=9 February 2022|access-date=9 February 2022}}