Dick Atha

{{Short description|American basketball player (1931–2020)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox basketball biography | name = Dick Atha | image = | width = | caption = | height_ft = 6 | height_in = 2 | weight_lb = 190 | birth_date = {{birth date|1931|09|21}} | birth_place = Otterbein, Indiana | death_date = {{death date and age|2020|2|6|1931|09|21}} | death_place = Oxford, Indiana | nationality = American | high_school = Otterbein (Otterbein, Indiana) | college = Indiana State (1950–1953) | draft_year = 1953 | draft_round = 6 | draft_pick = 50 | draft_team = New York Knicks | career_start = 1955 | career_end = 1958 | career_position = Point guard | career_number = 17, 7 | years1 = {{nbay|1955|full=y}} | team1 = New York Knicks | years2 = {{nbay|1957|full=y}} | team2 = Detroit Pistons | highlights = 3x All-Indiana Collegiate Conference (ICC)

1x Helms Athletic Foundation All-American (1953) | stat1label = Points | stat1value = 137 | stat2label = Rebounds | stat2value = 66 | stat3label = Assists | stat3value = 51 | bbr = athadi01 | medal_templates = {{MedalSport | Men's basketball}} {{MedalCountry | {{USA}} }} {{MedalCompetition|Pan American Games}} {{MedalGold | 1951 Buenos Aires | Team competition }} }}

'''Richard Ernest Atha''' (September 21, 1931 – February 6, 2020) was an American basketball player and coach.

==Basketball career== He played collegiately for the Indiana State Sycamores and scored 1,119 career points. He led the team in scoring during the 1951–52 and 1952–53 seasons. He was a 3-time All-Indiana Collegiate Conference guard and was selected as an Helms Athletic Foundation All-American for the 1953 season; leading the Sycamores to a 3rd-place finish in the National NAIA Tournament. He started every game during his 3-yr varsity career (85 games), as the Sycamores compiled a 57–28 (20–10 ICC) record. During the 2nd round of the 1952–53 NAIA Tournament,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xSEVAAAAQBAJ|title=Everything You Wanted to Know About the New York Knicks: A Who's Who of Everyone Who Ever Played On or Coached the NBA's Most Celebrated Team|last=Benson|first=Michael|date=2007-09-27|publisher=Taylor Trade Publishing|isbn=9781461734789|language=en}}</ref> he scored his career high (32 points) vs Arkansas Tech as the Sycamores soundly defeated the Wonder Boys, 100–81.

The Sycamores finished third in the tourney; which marked their fifth NAIA Final Four appearance; Atha led the team in scoring (100 pts) with a 20.0 ppg during tourney play.

During his sophomore season, (1950–51), Atha was a member of the US National Men's Basketball team; he averaged 4.3 ppg in helping the U.S. to a 6–0 record and the first gold medal in Pan Am Games history.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.usab.com/mens/panamerican/mpag_1951.html |title=Usab: First Pan American Games 1951 |access-date=2013-11-18 |archive-date=2014-05-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527213745/http://www.usab.com/mens/panamerican/mpag_1951.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

He was selected by the New York Knicks in the 1953 NBA draft; however, he served two years in the United States Army before beginning his professional career; he played for the Knicks (1955–56) and Fort Wayne Pistons (now the Detroit Pistons) (1957–58) in the NBA for 43 games before an injury ended his playing career. He was one of fourteen rookies to make the 1955–56 squad.

==Later career== Following his NBA career, Atha was the head basketball coach at Oxford High for ten seasons. When Oxford High consolidated into Benton Central High School in Oxford, Indiana, he became the principal, serving during the 1970s and 1980s. He moved to the athletic director post in the summer of 1986, and retired from that position in 1997.

He was inducted into the Indiana State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gosycamores.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=15200&ATCLID=1550264|title=Dick Atha – Indiana State Athletics Hall of Fame – GoSycamores.com Official Web Site of Indiana State Athletics|website=www.gosycamores.com|access-date=2016-05-26|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160805133047/http://www.gosycamores.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=15200&ATCLID=1550264|archivedate=2016-08-05}}</ref> and into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hoopshall.com/hall-of-fame/dick-atha/?back=HallofFame|title=Dick Atha {{!}} Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame|website=www.hoopshall.com|access-date=2016-05-26}}</ref>

Atha died on February 6, 2020, at age 88.<ref>{{cite web|last=Golden|first=Todd Aaron|url= https://www.tribstar.com/sports/local_college_sports/isu_sports/isu-basketball-legend-atha-dies-at/article_d606a94e-718b-5489-969f-5aa20edd4f05.html| title= ISU basketball legend Atha dies at 88| work= Tribune-Star| date= February 6, 2020| accessdate= February 8, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/jconline/obituary.aspx?n=richard-atha-dick&pid=195324818&fhid=26300|title = Richard "Dick" Atha Obituary (1931–2020) Journal & Courier|website = Legacy.com}}</ref>

== Career statistics == {{NBA player statistics legend}}

===NBA=== Source<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/athadi01.html|title=Dick Atha|website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|accessdate=14 April 2023}}</ref>

====Regular season==== {| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;" !Year !Team !GP !MPG !FG% !FT% !RPG !APG !PPG |- | style="text-align:left;" |1955–56 | style="text-align:left;" |New York |'''25''' |'''11.5''' |'''.409''' |.778 |'''1.7''' |'''1.3''' |'''3.7''' |- | style="text-align:left;" |1957–58 | style="text-align:left;" |Detroit |18 |8.9 |.362 |'''.833''' |1.3 |1.1 |2.4 |- class="sortbottom" | colspan="2" style="text-align:center;" |Career |43 |10.4 |.393 |.795 |1.5 |1.2 |3.2 |}

==References== <references/>

== External links == *{{basketballstats|bbr=a/athadi01|name=Richard Atha}} *[http://www.hoopshall.com/hall-of-fame/dick-atha/?back=HallofFame Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame] *{{InterSportStats|3000389196|Richard Atha}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atha, Dick}} Category:1931 births Category:2020 deaths Category:American men's basketball players Category:Basketball coaches from Indiana Category:Indiana State University people Category:Detroit Pistons players Category:High school basketball coaches in Indiana Category:Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball players Category:New York Knicks draft picks Category:New York Knicks players Category:Point guards Category:Basketball players from Lafayette, Indiana Category:Basketball players at the 1951 Pan American Games Category:Medalists at the 1951 Pan American Games Category:Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in basketball Category:20th-century American sportsmen