Richard Allan Davies (January 21, 1936 – February 25, 2012) was an American basketball player. He played for the gold medal-winning

United States men's national basketball team The USA Basketball Men's National Team, commonly known as the United States men's national basketball team, is the basketball team representing the United States. They are the most successful team in international competition, winning medals in ...

at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 ( ja, 東京1964), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this ho ...

. He is also the youngest brother of

Bob Davies Robert Edris Davies (January 15, 1920 – April 22, 1990) was an American professional basketball player. Alongside Bobby Wanzer he formed one of the best backcourt duos in the National Basketball Association's early years. Davies and Wanzer le ...

, who was inducted into the

Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is an American history museum and hall of fame, located at 1000 Hall of Fame Avenue in Springfield, Massachusetts. It serves as basketball's most complete library, in addition to promoting and pres ...

as a player in 1970. Davies was born and raised in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in Pe ...

and attended John Harris High School. He then attended

Gettysburg College Gettysburg College is a private liberal arts college in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1832, the campus is adjacent to the Gettysburg Battlefield. Gettysburg College has about 2,600 students, with roughly equal numbers of men and women. ...

and played freshman basketball for his brother, who was the coach at the time, before transferring to

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(LSU) where he lettered for two seasons. Standing at and weighing 176 pounds (80 kg), Davies played the

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

position. He was

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of LSU for one season, and in 1960 was selected by the

St. Louis Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

in the 11th round of the NBA draft. Despite his late-round selection, Davies opted to play in the

Amateur Athletic Union The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has ...

for the Akron Goodyear Wingfoots. He was selected to represent the United States in the 1964 Summer Olympics, one in which they went 9–0 and won the gold medal. Davies averaged 3.4 points per game, and his personal tournament-high was 12 points in the opening game against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. The following season,

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 ...

' head coach

Red Auerbach Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American professional basketball coach and executive. He served as a head coach in the National Basketball Association (NBA), most notably with the Boston Celtics. ...

invited him to play in their summer camp, followed by an offer to play in the preseason for a chance to make the roster. Davies declined in order to maintain his amateur status and played for the Wingfoots while working for company as well. He eventually became a vice-president for

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is an American multinational tire manufacturing company founded in 1898 by Frank Seiberling and based in Akron, Ohio. Goodyear manufactures tires for automobiles, commercial trucks, light trucks, motorcycles, S ...

. Dick Davies holds the rare distinction having played for four coaches who are now in the

: Red Auerbach at the 1964 Boston Celtics summer league;

Hank Iba Henry Payne Iba (; August 6, 1904 – January 15, 1993) was an American basketball coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head basketball coach at Northwest Missouri State Teacher's College, now known as Northwest Missouri S ...

at the 1964 Summer Olympics;

John McLendon John B. McLendon Jr. (April 5, 1915 – October 8, 1999) was an American basketball coach who is recognized as the first African American basketball coach at a predominantly white university and the first African American head coach in any professi ...

for the eight game Olympics "prep tour"; and Bob Davies at Gettysburg College. On February 25, 2012 Davies died from a heart attack. He was 76. At the time of his death Davies resided in Loudon, east of

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

. Dick Davies was the father of Bob (Bobby) Davies, who briefly played basketball for Vanderbilt, and the uncle of actor

Eddie Frierson Eddie Frierson is an American voice actor and writer. He has provided voices for such films as ''Wreck-It Ralph'', ''Hotel Transylvania'', ''The Princess and the Frog'', ''ParaNorman'', ''Curious George'', ''Tangled'' the video games '' Medal of ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davies, Dick 1936 births 2012 deaths Amateur Athletic Union men's basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players at the 1964 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Gettysburg College alumni Guards (basketball) LSU Tigers basketball players LSU Tigers track and field athletes Medalists at the 1964 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for the United States in basketball People from Loudon, Tennessee Basketball players from Knoxville, Tennessee St. Louis Hawks draft picks United States men's national basketball team players