Quick Facts
Biography
Richard E. "Dick" Atha (born September 21, 1931) is a retired 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 was selected as an 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). He has a career high 32 points vs Arkansas Tech, in the 2nd round of the 1952-53 NAIA Tournament
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 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.
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 '80s. 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 Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. He was inducted into the Indiana State University Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984