Richard Thomas O'Keefe (September 29, 1923 – December 17, 2006) 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 Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. After serving as captain of the St. James High School basketball team in his hometown of

San Francisco, California San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, O'Keefe began his

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

career with

Santa Clara Broncos The Santa Clara Broncos are athletic teams that represent Santa Clara University. The school colors are red and white. The nicknames for teams is The Broncos and the student fans are referred to as the "Ruff Riders". The Broncos compete in the NC ...

in 1941. He missed the 1944–45 and 1945-46 seasons to serve in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, but returned to play his senior year with the Broncos in 1946-47. O'Keefe was selected with the ninth overall pick in the

1947 BAA draft The 1947 BAA draft was the 1st draft of the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which later became the National Basketball Association (NBA). The fledgling BAA held a joint draft with the established National Basketball League (NBL). Both le ...

by the

Washington Capitols The Washington Capitols were a former Basketball Association of America (forerunner of the National Basketball Association) team based in Washington, D.C. from 1946 to 1951. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerbach ...

and played with the team for four years until it folded in 1951. After his basketball career, O'Keefe worked as a security chief. He served as a charter member of Santa Clara's Athletic Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the San Francisco Prep Hall of Fame in 2002.

BAA/NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Okeefe, Dick 1923 births 2006 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball players from California Santa Clara Broncos men's basketball players Shooting guards Small forwards Washington Capitols draft picks Washington Capitols players