Richard C. Ives (April 26, 1926 – May 5, 1997) was an American basketball player for the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (U of I, UIowa, or Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is organized int ...

from 1943–44 to 1946–47. A native of

Diagonal, Iowa Diagonal is a city in northwest Ringgold County, Iowa, the United States. The population was 344 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The community was named for the fact that two railroads intersected diagonally near the t ...

, Ives passed up the opportunity to play college basketball at

Drake University Drake University is a private university in Des Moines, Iowa, United States. The University offers over 140 undergraduate and graduate programs, including professional programs in business, education, Legal education, law, and pharmacy. Drake U ...

on a full athletic scholarship so that he could play at

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

under coach "Pops" Harrison. Ives had been a stand-out basketball player at Diagonal High School and led the team to the state championship. Ives entered the University of Iowa in the fall of 1943 as a 17-year-old

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or colloquially frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational in ...

. Due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and the lack of able-bodied male student athletes across the nation, the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

allowed freshmen to play varsity sports in college, which until that time had been disallowed. With this rare opportunity, Ives went on to have a highly successful four-year letter-winning career as a Hawkeye. He led the team in scoring for his first three seasons, and as a freshman he scored a then-unheard of school- and

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

-record 43 points in a single game. It is still the third highest scoring game in Iowa history and it earned him the nickname "Diagonal Dagger." Ives was a three-time

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

, and in 1944–45 he was voted as a consensus Second Team All-American (coincidentally, fellow sophomore teammate Herb Wilkinson was also a consensus All-American). That season, the Hawkeyes also won the Big Ten Conference championship. After 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 in 1946–47, Ives was drafted by the

Pittsburgh Ironmen The Pittsburgh Ironmen were a charter member of the Basketball Association of America (a forerunner of the National Basketball Association). The team was based in Pittsburgh and played at Duquesne Gardens. They ended their only season in the BAA i ...

of the

Basketball Association of America The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA merged with the National Basketball League (United States), National Basketball Lea ...

(which would become the

National Basketball Association 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 ...

) but never played a game for them. He instead coached basketball and baseball at

Parsons College Parsons College was a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college located in Fairfield, Iowa. The school was named for its wealthy benefactor, Lewis B. Parsons Sr., and was founded in 1875 with one ...

, married Joan Newton and lived in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids is a city in Linn County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. The population was 137,710 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, second-most populous city in Iowa. The city lies o ...

where Ives had a hardware business. In 1954 they moved to

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

, and resided there for the rest of their lives. Ives died on May 5, 1997, in Miami.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ives, Dick 1926 births 1997 deaths All-American college men's basketball players Basketball players from Iowa Forwards (basketball) Iowa Hawkeyes baseball players Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball players Basketball players from Cedar Rapids, Iowa Basketball players from Miami Parsons Wildcats baseball coaches People from Ringgold County, Iowa Pittsburgh Ironmen draft picks American men's basketball players 20th-century American sportsmen