Lynn "Buck" Compton (2018) - Hall of Fame

Lynn "Buck" Compton

Induction:
2018

A decorated war hero and later a California State judge, the late Lynn "Buck" Compton was a two-sport star at UCLA, earning all-conference honors as a catcher on the baseball team and playing as a two-way guard on both offense and defense for the football team. Compton's career batting average at UCLA was around .340, and he was a charter member of the UCLA Baseball Hall of Fame in 1988. In 1942, he led the UCLA football team to its first-ever win over USC and its first-ever conference championship. The 1942 Bruins were also the first UCLA team ever to go to the Rose Bowl. Compton joined the Army in 1942 during World War II and earned several military distinctions, including a Silver Star, Bronze Star and a Purple Heart. Upon his return from the war, he returned to UCLA and played one final season for the baseball team in 1946. He turned down an offer to play minor league baseball to concentrate on a career in law, and he worked his way up the ladder from policeman, to detective, to the chief deputy district attorney for the city of Los Angeles. In 1970, he was appointed to the California Courts of Appeal, where he served as a judge for 20 years.