WEB NOTE: The following is reprinted from the Terre Haute Tribune Star. Terry Dischinger was a 1958 graduate of Garfield High School.
By Mark Bennett
The Tribune-Star
TERRE HAUTE — A half-century after contributing to one of international basketball’s most dominating performances, Terry Dischinger and his USA Olympic teammates have not been forgotten.
The 1960 U.S. men’s Olympic squad has been nominated for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. The hall announced its 2010 nominees today. The final selections for the Class of 2010 will be announced Monday, April 5 in Indianapolis, prior to the NCAA men’s championship game.
Dischinger, a Terre Haute native, was the fourth-leading scorer on a U.S. roster that included four future Naismith Hall of Famers — Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Jerry West and Walt Bellamy. Dischinger, a 6-foot-7 forward from Purdue at the time, averaged 11.8 points per game in eight games. Robertson and Lucas averaged 17 per game, followed by West at 13.8. Bellamy scored 7.9 a game.
In one of its most impressive victories, the U.S. squad routed Yugoslavia 104-42, with Dischinger and Robertson leading with 16 points each.
The team’s coaches — Pete Newell and (then manager) Arthur “Dutch” Lonborg — also are individual Hall of Fame members.
The U.S. went 8-0 at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, compiling an average winning margin of 42.4 points. Ten of the 12 American players later performed in the NBA, including Dischinger. He was the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1963 after averaging 25.5 points and 8 rebounds per game for the Chicago Zephyrs. Dischinger later played for the Baltimore Bullets, Detroit Pistons and Portland Trail Blazers. In nine seasons, he averaged 13.8 points and 5.6 rebounds, and hit 50.6 percent of his field goals.
His pro career was interrupted by a two-year stint in the U.S. Army in 1966 and ’67, when he served active duty in Vietnam.
In 1999, a Tribune-Star committee of sports historians chose Dischinger as the greatest athlete of the 20th century in Vigo County. He was a multi-sports star at Garfield High School.
Dischinger, now 69 and an orthodontist, lives in Lake Oswego, Ore.
Also on the Hall’s 2010 nomination list is the 1992 U.S. Olympic basketball team, which featured former Indiana State University star Larry Bird. That “Dream Team” also went 8-0 in the Games at Barcelona, Spain.
The rest of the nominees include: players Dennis Johnson, Bernard King, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Scottie Pippen and Jamaal Wilkes; coaches Bob Hurley, Don Nelson and Tex Winter; contributor Jerry Buss. From the Women’s Screening Committee, the nominees are Cynthia Cooper, Harley Redin and the All-American Red Heads team. From the International Screening Committee, the nominees are coach Vladimir Kondrashin and Brazilian Legend Maciel “Ubiratan” Pereira. The Veterans Screening Committee nominees are Richard Guerin and Gus Johnson.
The induction ceremony is scheduled for Aug. 13 at Springfield