Richard O'Neal (September 7, 1935 – September 17, 2013) was an American

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. He was an All-American college player at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

(TCU) and a second round draft pick of the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

in the

1957 NBA draft The 1957 NBA draft was the 11th annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 17, 1957, before the 1957–58 season. In this draft, eight NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college basketball play ...

. O'Neal was born in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

and starred at Polytechnic High School in

Fort Worth Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...

. For college, the 6'7"

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

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 eccentricity ...

chose nearby TCU. O'Neal would become one of the Horned Frogs' all-time greats as he scored 1,723

points Point or points may refer to: Places * Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland * Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States * Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland * Point ...

(23.9 per game) and captured 790

rebounds 'Rebound' is a term used in sports to describe the ball (or puck or other object of play) becoming available for possession by either opponent after an attempt to put the ball or puck into the goal has been unsuccessful. Rebounds are generally ...

(11.0 per game) in his three-year career from 1954 to 1957. During his time, he was named first team All-

Southwest Conference The Southwest Conference (SWC) was an NCAA Division I college athletic conference in the United States that existed from 1914 to 1996. Composed primarily of schools from Texas, at various times the conference included schools from Oklahoma an ...

all three seasons and received national recognition as an All-American each year as well (honorable mention as a sophomore and junior and third team honors as a senior). Following his college career, O'Neal was drafted by the Boston Celtics in the second round of 1957 NBA draft (16th pick overall). However, he never played in the league, instead opting for dental school at

Baylor University Baylor University is a private Baptist Christian research university in Waco, Texas. Baylor was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Texas and one of the fir ...

and a long career in the private sector as a dentist, orthodontist and school administrator. O'Neal was inducted into the

Texas Sports Hall of Fame The Texas Sports Hall of Fame recognizes athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made "lasting fame and honor to Texas sports". It was established in 1951 by the Texas Sports Writers Association. Once it made its first induction (baseball ...

in 1985. In 2010, he became the first player in TCU basketball history to have his jersey honored by the school. Dick O'Neal died in his sleep on September 17, 2013.

References

External links

College stats at Draft Review
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneal, Dick 1935 births 2013 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American dentists American men's basketball players Baseball players from Dallas Basketball players from Dallas Baylor University alumni Boston Celtics draft picks Centers (basketball) Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Fort Worth, Texas TCU Horned Frogs baseball players TCU Horned Frogs men's basketball players 20th-century dentists