Richard Albert Van Arsdale (born February 22, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player and coach.

Early life

Van Arsdale was born on February 22, 1943 in Indianapolis, along with his identical twin brother Tom Van Arsdale. They attended Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis. In 1961, the brothers were jointly awarded the Indiana Mr. Basketball award, and the Trester Award for Mental Attitude.

College career

Kentucky's College Basketball Hall of Fame and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Adolph Rupp tried to get the brothers to attend Kentucky, but they chose the University of Indiana, playing on the school's basketball team from 1962 to 1965 under head coach Branch McCracken. At 6ft 5in, Van Arsdale played guard and small forward. He was an All-American in 1965, and also an Academic All-American. In three years, he scored 1,240 points with 719 rebounds (while his brother scored 1,252 points with 723 rebounds). He averaged a double-double for the Hoosiers over his career, with 17.2 points per game and 10.0 rebounds per game. In 1963–64, he was named to the All-Big Ten team after averaging 22.3 points and 12.4 rebounds per game in his second year with the Hoosiers. Van Arsdale was a member of the U.S. team that won the gold medal in the 1965 Summer Universiade. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. In February 2019, the Van Arsdale brothers were honored by Indiana at halftime of a game between Indiana and Purdue.

Professional career

He was selected by the New York Knicks in the second round of the 1965 NBA draft, the tenth overall pick, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team in 1966, together with Tom. Van Arsdale played in the NBA for twelve seasons; three with the Knicks and the remainder with the Phoenix Suns (their first selection in the 1968 expansion draft). Van Arsdale, a three-time All-Star (1969-1971), NBA All-Defensive Second Team (1974), and was consistently one of the best free throw shooters in professional basketball, averaging 79% over his entire career, and near or over 80% from 1969-1977. He retired from the NBA in 1977 and is remembered in Phoenix basketball lore as the "original Sun". As a Sun, he averaged 16.4 points per game, 4.1 rebounds per game, and 3.3 assists per game, and his number 5 jersey was retired by the Suns.

Post-playing career

Van Arsdale later became the Suns' general manager and senior vice president of player personnel. Following the firing of John MacLeod in February 1987, he was the interim head coach for that season's final 26 games. He also worked as a television and radio color commentator for the Suns, alongside Al McCoy.

Personal life

He is the identical twin brother of Tom Van Arsdale. The twins played together through college and again in Phoenix during the 1976–77 season, the final for both. The original lockers of both Tom and Dick remain in the display case in the lobby of the Emmerich Manual High School gymnasium. He suffered a massive stoke in 2005, but made a physical recovery, though with some speech difficulties. He and Tom share a post-retirement art studio in Scottsdale, Arizona, which they opened in May 2018. Their art focuses on promoting racial tolerance and harmony.

Career statistics

NBA

Source

Regular season

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Playoffs

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