Juan "Pachín" Vicéns

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This article is about the Puerto Rican basketball player. For the indoor sports arena and auditorium named after him, see Juan Pachín Vicéns Auditorium.

Juan "Pachín" Vicens was a renowned basketball player from Ciales, Puerto Rico. He played point guard for the Ponce Lions (Leones de Ponce). He joined the team in 1950 when he was only 15 years old, and would eventually lead the team to six championships. He studied and played basketball in Kansas State University and averaged 11.6 points as point guard for head coach Tex Winter (innovator of the triangle offense) from 1954 to 1956. Vicens was the second-leading scorer for the 1955-56 squad that won the Big Seven Conference and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Other milestones are:

Named MVP of the league twice (1958 and 1960).
First player of the league to reach 5,000 points.
Member of the Puerto Rican National Basketball Team for 12 years (1954 to 1966).
Named "Best Basketball Player of the World" in 1959 during the Mundo Basket tournament held in Chile.

In 1972, the Ponce Lions gave their new venue the name of Juan Pachín Vicéns Coliseum.