Erling Stoud Platou (August 30, 1896 – June 17, 1958) was an American standout college basketball player at the University of Minnesota and, later, a pediatrician at the University of Minnesota Medical Center.
As a guard on the basketball team, Platou led the 1918–19 Golden Gophers to an undefeated season (13–0 overall, 10–0 conference) by averaging a then-remarkable 11.6 points per game.
In the early days of basketball, such a scoring average was unheard of, and it was his prowess that earned him the Helms Foundation National Player of the Year honor that season as a junior.
The Helms Foundation also awarded Minnesota a retroactive national championship years later for the 1918–19 season.
He played on the team in 1914–15 and 1915–16, but then the war temporarily ceased all intercollegiate sports at Minnesota.