Richard Ernest Atha (September 21, 1931 – February 6, 2020) was an American

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 (appro ...

player and coach.

Basketball career

He played collegiately for the

Indiana State Sycamores The Indiana State Sycamores are the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletic teams of Indiana State University. Since the 1977–78 academic year, Indiana State has been a member of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). The Indiana State foot ...

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 The Indiana Collegiate Conference (ICC) was a men's college athletic conference in the United States, in existence from 1950 to 1978. It consisted solely of schools in Indiana. The charter members of the conference were Indiana State University ...

guard and was selected as an

Helms Athletic Foundation The Helms Athletic Foundation, founded in 1936, was a Los Angeles-based organization dedicated to the promotion of athletics and sportsmanship. Paul H. Helms was the organization's founder and benefactor, funding the foundation via his owner ...

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, 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. 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 Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the Na ...

in the

1953 NBA draft The 1953 NBA draft was the seventh annual draft of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The draft was held on April 24, 1953, before the 1953–54 season. In this draft, nine remaining NBA teams took turns selecting amateur U.S. college ba ...

; 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 The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games at ...

(now the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Central Division (NBA), Central Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), East ...

) (1957–58) in the

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

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 Oxford is a town in Oak Grove Township, Benton County, Indiana. The population was 1,165 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Lafayette, Indiana, Metropolitan Statistical Area. History Oxford was Benton County's first town. Commissioners app ...

, 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 and into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. Atha died on February 6, 2020, at age 88.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

References

External links

*
Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame
* 1931 births 2020 deaths American men's basketball players Basketball coaches from Indiana Indiana State University people Detroit Pistons players High school basketball coaches in Indiana Indiana State Sycamores men's basketball players New York Knicks draft picks New York Knicks players Point guards Basketball players from Lafayette, Indiana Basketball players at the 1951 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1951 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States in basketball 20th-century American sportsmen {{1930s-US-basketball-bio-stub