Billy Evans has died at the age of 88 ©Team USA

Billy Evans, a member of the United States basketball team which won the gold medal at the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, has died at the age of 88.

Evans was a legendary player for the University of Kentucky, helping the team go unbeaten in the 1953-1954 season.

He scored 716 career points and 549 rebounds in 83 career games for the Wildcats over three campaigns, from 1952 to 1955.

Evans was later selected by the Rochester Royals in the fifth round of the 1955 National Basketball Association draft and was picked to represent the US at Melbourne 1956.

The US won the Olympic basketball title at the Games in the Australian city by defeating the Soviet Union 89-55 in the final.

Evans, a guard, was also part of the US squad which claimed Pan American Games gold in 1959.

He was inducted into the State of Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988.