Richard Albert Van Arsdale (born February 22, 1943) is an American former 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 and coach, and a current

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) executive. A graduate of

Emmerich Manual High School Emmerich Manual High School is a public high school in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. It was a traditional high school in the Indianapolis Public Schools district. It is now one of the schools operated by Christel House Academy. History Establishm ...

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, Van Arsdale played collegiately at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

under longtime head coach

Branch McCracken Emmett B. "Branch" McCracken (June 9, 1908 – June 4, 1970) was an American basketball player and coach. He served as the head basketball coach at Ball State University from 1930 to 1938 and at Indiana University Bloomington from 1938 to 1943 a ...

. He was selected by the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

in the second round of the 1965 NBA draft, and was named to the

NBA All-Rookie Team The NBA All-Rookie Team is an annual National Basketball Association (NBA) honor given since the 1962–63 NBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the NBA head coaches who are not allowed to vote for playe ...

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, together with his identical twin brother Tom. Van Arsdale played in the NBA for twelve seasons; three with the Knicks and the remainder with the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

(their first selection in the 1968 expansion draft). Van Arsdale, a three-time All-Star, was consistently one of the best free throw shooters in professional basketball. He retired from the NBA in 1977 and is remembered in Phoenix basketball lore as the "original Sun". Van Arsdale later became the Suns' general manager; he is currently the team's senior vice president of player personnel. Following the firing of John MacLeod in February

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

, he was the interim head coach for that season's final 26 games. He is the

identical twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

brother of

Tom Van Arsdale Thomas Arthur Van Arsdale (born February 22, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player. A graduate of Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis, the guard played collegiately at Indiana University under longtime head coach ...

. The twins played together through college and again in Phoenix during the 1976–77 season, the final for both.

References

External links

Basketball-Reference.com: Dick Van Arsdale (as coach)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Arsdale, Dick 1943 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball coaches American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Indiana Basketball players from Indianapolis Identical twins Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players National Basketball Association All-Stars National Basketball Association executives National Basketball Association players with retired numbers New York Knicks draft picks New York Knicks players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Phoenix Suns announcers Phoenix Suns expansion draft picks Phoenix Suns head coaches Phoenix Suns players Shooting guards Small forwards American twins Twin sportspeople