Conrad William Dierking (October 2, 1936 – December 29, 2013) was an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player from 1958 to 1971.

Early life

Connie Dierking was born in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and grew up on Long Island, where he starred in basketball for Central High School in

Valley Stream, New York Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 census. The incorporated Village of Valley Stream is within the Town of Hempstead, ...

University of Cincinnati

The 6'9"

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...

then attended the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati) is a public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1819 as Cincinnati College, it is the oldest institution of higher education in Cincinnati and has an annual enrollment of over 44,0 ...

, where he continued to excel, setting the Bearcats' single-season record of 18.8 rebounds per game, which still stands. He also set the Bearcats' single-game record of 33 rebounds. He led the team in scoring in 1956–57 with 18.5 points per game, and he averaged a double-double of 15.8 points and 14.9 rebounds per game in 1957–58, leading the Bearcats to the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

championship. Dierking's teammates included basketball hall-of-famer

Oscar Robertson Oscar Palmer Robertson (born November 24, 1938), nicknamed "the Big O", is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Robertson playe ...

. Dierking was named second-team All-American by the Newspaper Enterprise Association. He was named to the University of Cincinnati's James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986.

NBA career

He was drafted in the first round of the

1958 NBA draft The 1958 NBA draft was the 12th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 22, 1958, before the 1958–59 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...

as the fifth overall pick by the

Syracuse Nationals The Philadelphia 76ers are an American basketball team currently playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association (NBA). The 76ers are third in NBA history in wins and playoff appearances. 1946– ...

. He played two seasons for the Nationals, with per-game averages of 4.6 and 6.9 points and 3.6 and 6.4 rebounds, respectively. Dierking left the NBA to play in the American Basketball League for the

Philadelphia Tapers The Philadelphia Tapers were an American professional basketball team that played a partial 1962–1963 season in the American Basketball League (1961–62). It traces its history to the 1950s AAU New York Tapers. AAU New York Tapers Originall ...

and the

Cleveland Pipers The Cleveland Pipers were an American industrial basketball team based in Cleveland, Ohio in the 1950s and early 1960s. The Pipers are mostly known for having played in the short-lived American Basketball League from 1961–62. They were also a p ...

before returning to the NBA for the 1963–64 season with the Philadelphia 76ers, for whom he averaged 6.5 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. During the 1964–65 season, on January 15, 1965, he was part of an historic trade. He was one of three players (along with Paul Neumann and

Lee Shaffer Lee Philip Shaffer II (born February 23, 1939) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'7" forward born in Chicago, Shaffer starred at the University of North Carolina, where he was the ACC Men's Basketball Player of the Year ...

) traded by the 76ers to the San Francisco Warriors for basketball hall-of-famer

Wilt Chamberlain Wilton Norman Chamberlain (; August 21, 1936 – October 12, 1999) was an American professional basketball player who played as a center. Standing at tall, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 14 years and is widely reg ...

. For the season, he averaged 7.9 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. On October 20, 1965 he was traded by the Warriors along with

Art Heyman Arthur Bruce Heyman (June 24, 1941 – August 27, 2012) was an American professional basketball player. Playing for Duke University in college, in 1963 he was USBWA Player of the Year, AP Player of the Year, UPI Player of the Year, ''Sporting ...

to the Cincinnati Royals for Bud Olsen and cash. With the Royals, Dierking was reunited with his college teammate, Oscar Robertson. Dierking had his most productive seasons during his five full seasons with the Royals as their starting center. His best season were the three from 1967–68 through 1969–70. In 1967–68, he played in 81 games and averaged 16.4 points and 9.5 rebounds, with career-high numbers of a .765 free throw shooting percentage and a field goal percentage of .467. In 1968–69, he played in all 82 games and averaged 16.3 points and 9.0 rebounds, and in 1969–70, he averaged a career-high 16.7 points along with 8.2 rebounds. During the 1970–71 season, he played one game for the Royals and was traded along with

Fred Foster Fred Luther Foster (July 26, 1931 – February 20, 2019) was an American record producer, songwriter, and music business executive who founded Monument Records. As a record producer he was most closely associated with Roy Orbison, and was also ...

to the 76ers for

Darrall Imhoff Darrall Tucker Imhoff (October 11, 1938 – June 30, 2017) was an American professional basketball player. He spent 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing for six teams from 1960 to 1972. He made an NBA All-Star team, an ...

and a future draft pick. He played 53 games for the 76ers in what would be his final season. In his NBA career, Dierking averaged 10.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.

Personal life

Connie Dierking died on December 29, 2013, at the age of 77. He is survived by his wife, Robyn (Thirlwell) Dierking; five daughters, Jane, Joey, Suzy, Wendy, and Cammy, a longtime news anchor for

WKRC-TV WKRC-TV (channel 12) is a television station in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, which provides certain services to MyNetworkTV affiliate WSTR-TV (channel 64) under a lo ...

; six grandchildren; and two brothers and two sisters. He was preceded in death by a grandchild.

References

External links

* Book, "Cincinnati's Basketball Royalty", by Gerry Schultz {{DEFAULTSORT:Dierking, Connie 1936 births 2013 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American Basketball League (1961–62) players American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York City Centers (basketball) Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball players Cincinnati Royals players Cleveland Pipers players Philadelphia 76ers players San Francisco Warriors players Sportspeople from Brooklyn Syracuse Nationals draft picks Syracuse Nationals players