Richard Lea Dickey (October 26, 1926 – July 3, 2006) was an American professional basketball player for the National Professional Basketball League's Anderson Packers and

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 ...

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 ...

, although he is best remembered for his college career while playing at NC State.

Early life

Dickey was born in

Rigdon, Indiana Rigdon is an unincorporated community in Green Township, Grant County, and in Duck Creek Township, Madison County, Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most po ...

. He attended Pendleton High School in Pendleton, Indiana and graduated in 1944. During his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

year of his high school basketball career, of which he started for three years, Dickey earned All-Sectional honors while playing for coach Art Gross.

Career

College

Dickey decided to attend

North Carolina State University North Carolina State University (NC State) is a public land-grant research university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded in 1887 and part of the University of North Carolina system, it is the largest university in the Carolinas. The universit ...

to play basketball for future

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

coach Everett Case two years after he graduated high school. It is his college career for which Dickey is most remembered. Between 1946–47 and 1949–50, the

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 ...

(who would later play

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 ...

professionally) led the Wolfpack to all four Southern Conference championships during his tenure and was named all-conference four times. He is the only NC State player to earn that distinction. The Wolfpack compiled an overall record of 106–23 in that time, finishing with season records of 26–5, 28–4, 25–8 and 27–6. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

in 1947–48, Dickey was voted a consensus Second Team All-American. In 1949–50, Dickey's senior season, the Wolfpack advanced to the NCAA Tournament Final Four, where they lost to eventual national champion CCNY, 78–73. When the Wolfpack defeated Holy Cross in the quarterfinals, Dickey cut down the rim's net, which was an Indiana high school basketball tradition that he is credited with introducing to the college game. He was also selected to play in the East-West College All-Star game at the end of the year.

Professional

After graduating in 1950, Dickey was selected as the 25th pick in the third round by the Baltimore Bullets in the

1950 NBA draft The 1950 NBA draft was the fourth annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). This is the first draft after the Basketball Association of America (BAA) was renamed the NBA. The draft was held on April 25, 1950, before the 1950–5 ...

. Although he was drafted by an NBA team, he actually spent his first year of professional basketball, 1950–51, playing for the Anderson Packers in the National Professional Basketball League, which existed independently for only that season. In , Dickey played for the

of the NBA and finished with 127 points, 81 rebounds and 50 assists. Dickey would be let go at the end of the season and never played professionally again.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Later life

After his basketball playing career ended, Dickey spent much of his later life in the insurance industry, spending 29 years with Farm Bureau Insurance. He received a handful of belated honors for his basketball efforts at NC State and in the high school level, including a 2005 induction into the

Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame The Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame is a sports museum and hall of fame in New Castle, Indiana. While it honors men and women associated with high school, college, and professional basketball in Indiana, an emphasis is placed on the athlete's high ...

and having his college jersey number (#70) officially honored by NC State. Dickey died on July 3, 2006, in

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 ...

at age 79. The cause of death was due to complications from recent lung surgery. He was survived by his wife, Jean, and his seven children.

References

External links

Dick Dickey's entry
at the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickey, Dick 1926 births 2006 deaths All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players Baltimore Bullets (1944–1954) draft picks Basketball players from Indiana Boston Celtics players Forwards (basketball) Guards (basketball) NC State Wolfpack men's basketball players People from Grant County, Indiana People from Pendleton, Indiana Sportspeople from the Indianapolis metropolitan area