Career
Almanza came to the United States from Mexico in 1954 and began attending Jefferson High School in El Paso, Texas that year. Almanza was a three-year starter for the Texas Longhorns men"s basketball team from 1958-1961 under head coach under head coaches Marshall Hughes (1958-1959) and Harold Bradley (1959-1961). He led the 1958-1959 and 1960-1961 Texas teams in rebounding, with season averages of 8.0 and 9.2 rebounds per game, respectively.
Almanza was also second in scoring on the 1958-1959 team with an average of 11.0 points per game, fourth in scoring in 1959-1960 with an average of 10.8 points per game, and second in scoring in 1960-1961 with an average of 14.0 points per game.
Almanza competed for Mexico on the national basketball team in the 1960 Rome Olympics and the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He served as his team"s co-captain in 1960 and led the team in scoring with an average of 19.8 points per game.
He returned in 1964 to lead the Mexican national team in scoring for a second time with an average of 14.7 points per game. Mexico placed twelfth in basketball in both Olympics.
Almanza was selected with the fourth pick of the seventh round of the 1961 National Basketball Association Draft (63rd overall pick) by the Los Angeles Lakers.
He retired after 35 years of employment with New York Life.
