Arlen Bockhorn

Last updated
Arlen Bockhorn
Arlen Bockhorn.jpg
Personal information
Born (1933-07-08) July 8, 1933 (age 89)
Campbell Hill, Illinois
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Listed weight200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High schoolTrico (Campbell Hill, Illinois)
College Dayton (1955–1958)
NBA draft 1958 / Round: 3 / Pick: 17th overall
Selected by the Cincinnati Royals
Playing career1958–1965
Position Shooting guard
Number15, 11
Career history
1958–1965 Cincinnati Royals
Career statistics
Points 5,430 (11.5 ppg)
Rebounds 2,234 (4.7 rpg)
Assists 1,645 (3.5 apg)
Stats   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Arlen Dale "Bucky" Bockhorn (born July 8, 1933) is a retired American basketball player. He was a guard for the National Basketball Association's Cincinnati Royals from 1958 to 1965. He played college basketball at the University of Dayton and is a member of Dayton's Hall of Fame and All-Century team.

Contents

Early life

Raised in the small coal-mining town of Campbell Hill, Illinois, Bockhorn attended Trico Consolidated High School. [1] [2]

College career

Bockhorn spent a year at the University of Dayton and two years in the U.S. Army before becoming a starter for three National Invitation Tournament (NIT) teams at Dayton, beginning in 1955–56. [3] As a sophomore at Dayton, Bockhorn was on a team that had a 25–4 record, finished third in the final Associated Press poll and was runner-up in the NIT. He averaged 10.7, 11.8 and 10.8 points in his three UD seasons, averaging 12.4 rebounds in 1957–58 when he was the team's most valuable player. [3] In his three seasons, the Flyers were a combined 69–17. [4]

Bockhorn has the distinction of being one of three brothers to play on one varsity major college team, in 1957–58 with brothers Terry and Harold, one of the few times this has happened in Division I history. [5] Brothers Matthew, Thomas and William Brennan also played together in 1957–58, for Villanova University. The two trios of brothers were the last to play together in Division I for 54 seasons until Miles, Mason, and Marshall Plumlee played for Duke University in 2011–12. [6]

NBA career

Bockhorn was selected in the third round (17th overall) of the 1958 NBA draft by the Cincinnati Royals. [7]

Known primarily as a tough defender, [8] [9] he was primarily a starter at guard alongside Johnny McCarthy for one season, [10] Win Wilfong for one season, then future Hall-of-Famer Oscar Robertson for three seasons, [11] his most productive season was 1961–62, when he averaged a career-high 15.8 points along with 4.7 rebounds and a career-high 4.6 assists [7] The Royals posted a record of 43–37, advancing to the NBA playoffs, where they were ousted by the Detroit Pistons. [12] On January 18, 1962,. Bockhorn and Oscar Robertson became the first NBA teammates to record triple-doubles in the same game: [13] Bockhorn had 19 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds, while Robertson totalled 28–16–14 in a 151–133 win against the Philadelphia Warriors. [14]

In 1962–63, with Bockhorn still a starter and averaging 11.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game, the Royals went 42–38 to again make the playoffs, where they defeated the Syracuse Nationals in the first round. [15] In the Eastern Division finals against the Boston Celtics, the Royals extended the eventual champions to a seventh and deciding game, which the Royals lost 142–131. Although the Royals got 43 points from Robertson (Bockhorn scored nine), the Celtics countered with Sam Jones' 47 and Tom Heinsohn's 31. [16]

In 1963–64, with Bockhorn primarily coming off the bench and averaging 8.3 points per game, the Royals recorded a stellar 55–25 record and once again advanced to the Eastern Division finals, where they again lost to the Celtics, this time in five games. [17]

A knee injury curtailed his career 19 games into the 1964–65 season. [4] [18]

In seven NBA seasons, all with the Royals, Bockhorn played in 474 games, averaging 11.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. [7]

Personal life

After retiring from the NBA, Bockhorn became a successful businessman in Dayton. [1] Since 1970, Bockhorn has provided the color commentary for WHIO radio broadcasts of University of Dayton men's basketball games. In 2010, he was awarded the Bob Vetrone Atlantic 10 Media Award by the league's sports information directors. He has also been a big booster and advocate of the University of Dayton. [19]

Bockhorn is a member of the University of Dayton Hall of Fame and in 2003–04 he was named to Dayton's All-Century Team. [20] In 2011, he was inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2012, the practice court at the University of Dayton's new Cronin Athletics Center was named Bockhorn Court. [1] [21]

He and his wife, Peggy, reside in Dayton. [22]

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The 1963–64 season was the Royals 16th season in the NBA and its seventh in Cincinnati. The Royals finished in 2nd place with a 55–25 record, the second best record in the NBA. The team's outstanding roster included Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Team Captain Wayne Embry, Jack Twyman, Arlen Bockhorn, Bob Boozer, Tom Hawkins, Adrian Smith, Bud Olsen, Larry Staverman and coach Jack McMahon . The team is noteworthy for having both the NBA MVP in Robertson and the NBA Rookie of the Year in Lucas, a rare occurrence in NBA history. The team played most of their home games at Cincinnati Gardens arena, but also hosted home games that season in Dayton, Lima, Columbus at Saint John arena and Cleveland at Cleveland Arena. In the playoffs the Royals defeated the Philadelphia 76ers in a 5-game series, but both Lucas and Olsen would be lost to injury. In the Eastern Conference Final, the Royals were eliminated by the Boston Celtics, who triumphed in 5 games.

The 1964–65 season was the Royals' 19th season in the NBA and eighth in Cincinnati. By the end of the season, Oscar Robertson's career statistics for the first five years of his career averaged out to a triple double: 30.3 points per game, 10.4 rebounds per game, and 10.6 assists per game. The season began with high hopes as the Royals had played well the previous season against Boston and were improving as a team. In addition to Robertson, second-year big man Jerry Lucas rose to superstar status this season. He averaged 21 points and 20 rebounds over 66 games played. He joined Robertson on the All-NBA First Team named at the season's conclusion. Injuries, though, were a big factor this season. Key guard Arlen Bockhorn was lost to a career-ending injury in November. The other four opening-day starters, Robertson, Lucas, Jack Twyman and Wayne Embry, were each lost for several games or more also. Lucas was named MVP of the 1965 NBA All-Star Game. But the same day's events saw superstar Wilt Chamberlain traded to the rival Philadelphia 76ers. Now Cincinnati had two strong title contenders to deal with in their own division. Philadelphia later defeated the Royals in the 1965 playoffs.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 "Dayton Flyers practice court named for UD great Arlen "Bucky" Bockhorn | Mega Sports News". megasportsnews.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  2. ↑ "ISSUU – University of Dayton Men's Basketball Media Guide by University of Dayton". issuu.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  3. 1 2 "Ohio Basketball Hall of FameArlen "Bucky" Bockhorn – Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame". ohiobasketballhalloffame.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  4. 1 2 "Past UD star Bockhorn surprised, pleased by Hall of Fame inductio | www.springfieldnewssun.com". springfieldnewssun.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  5. ↑ Thomas Tryniski (19 June 2013). "In The End... All You Really Have Is Memories" (PDF). Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  6. ↑ "The Plumlees are the latest—but not the only—basketball – 11.07.11 – SI Vault". Archived from the original on 2011-11-28. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  7. 1 2 3 "Bucky Bockhorn NBA Stats | Basketball-Reference.com". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  8. ↑ Robertson, O. (2003). The Big O: My Life, My Times, My Game. Rodale Books. p. 142. ISBN   9781579547646 . Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  9. ↑ Embry, W.; Boyer, M.S. (2004). The Inside Game: Race, Power, and Politics in the NBA. University of Akron Press. p. 135. ISBN   9781931968140 . Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  10. ↑ "1958–59 Cincinnati Royals Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  11. ↑ "1960–61 Cincinnati Royals Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  12. ↑ "1961–62 Cincinnati Royals Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  13. ↑ "LeBron and Lonzo Become 8th Tandem to Record Triple-Doubles in NBA History". Los Angeles Lakers. Retrieved 2018-12-16.
  14. ↑ "Cincinnati Royals at Philadelphia Warriors Box Score, January 18, 1962". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-12-16.
  15. ↑ "1962–63 Cincinnati Royals Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  16. ↑ "Cincinnati Royals at Boston Celtics Box Score, April 10, 1963 | Basketball-Reference.com". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  17. ↑ "1963–64 Cincinnati Royals Roster and Stats | Basketball-Reference.com". basketball-reference.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  18. ↑ "University of Dayton Flyers – FLYERS REPRESENTED WELL AT 2011 OHIO BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME INDUCTIONS". daytonflyers.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  19. ↑ "Dayton Sports | UD Flyers, Cleveland Browns & more | www.whio.com". whiotv.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  20. ↑ "ISSUU – University of Dayton Men's Basketball Yearbook by University of Dayton". issuu.com. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
  21. ↑ Video on YouTube
  22. ↑ "Flyers name practice court after UD legend". Springfield News Sun. Retrieved 2015-04-13.
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