Connie Dierking

Connie Dierking
Connie Dierking
Born	Conrad William Dierking; 2 October 1936 (age 90); Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	29 December 2013 (aged 77)
Other names	Connie Dierking
Occupation	Professional basketball player
Years active	1958–1971
Known for	NBA career as center; played for Syracuse Nationals, Philadelphia 76ers, San Francisco Warriors, Cincinnati Royals

Conrad William Dierking (October 2, 1936 – December 29, 2013) was a professional American basketball player whose career spanned from 1958 through 1971.

Early life

Dierking was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised on Long Island. He distinguished himself in basketball while attending Central High School located in Valley Stream, New York.

University of Cincinnati

Measuring 6 feet 9 inches tall, Dierking played collegiate basketball at the University of Cincinnati. He established the Bearcats' single-season rebounding average record at 18.8 per game—a record that remains unbroken—as well as a single-game rebound record of 33. During the 1956–57 season, he led the team in scoring with an average of 18.5 points per game and posted a double-double average of 15.8 points and 14.9 rebounds in the 1957–58 campaign, helping Cincinnati secure the Missouri Valley Conference title. Among his teammates was Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson. Dierking received second-team All-American recognition from the Newspaper Enterprise Association and was inducted into the University of Cincinnati's James P. Kelly Athletics Hall of Fame in 1986.

NBA career

Selected fifth overall in the 1958 NBA draft by the Syracuse Nationals, Dierking spent two seasons averaging 4.6 and 6.9 points alongside 3.6 and 6.4 rebounds per game respectively. He then competed in the American Basketball League for the Philadelphia Tapers and Cleveland Pipers before returning to the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers during the 1963–64 season, where he averaged 6.5 points and 5.6 rebounds.

On January 15, 1965, he was involved in a significant trade that sent him, along with Paul Neumann and Lee Shaffer, from the 76ers to the San Francisco Warriors in exchange for Hall of Famer Wilt Chamberlain. That season, Dierking posted averages of 7.9 points and 6.4 rebounds.

Later, on October 20, 1965, Dierking and Art Heyman were traded by the Warriors to the Cincinnati Royals in return for Bud Olsen and cash considerations, reuniting him with his former college teammate Oscar Robertson.

Dierking reached his career peak during five seasons as starting center for the Royals, notably between 1967–68 and 1969–70. In the 1967–68 season, he appeared in 81 games, averaging career-best figures of 16.4 points and 9.5 rebounds per game while achieving personal highs in free throw percentage (.765) and field goal percentage (.467). The subsequent seasons maintained steady production with averages of 16.3 points and 9.0 rebounds (1968–69), followed by a career-high scoring average of 16.7 points alongside 8.2 rebounds (1969–70).

During the 1970–71 campaign, after participating in one game for the Royals, Dierking was traded together with Fred Foster to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Darrall Imhoff and a future draft choice, concluding that season with appearances in 53 games.

Across his NBA tenure, Dierking averaged a total of 10.0 points and 6.7 rebounds per contest.

Personal life

Connie Dierking died on December 29, 2013, at age seventy-seven. He is survived by his wife Robyn (Thirlwell) Dierking; five daughters—Jane, Joey, Suzy, Wendy, and Cammy (who has had a long career as a news anchor for WKRC-TV)—six grandchildren; along with two brothers and two sisters. A grandchild predeceased him.

NBA

Source

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
Template:Nbay	Syracuse	64		11.3	.362	.593	3.6	0.5	4.6
Template:Nbay	Syracuse	71		15.8	.365	.574	6.4	0.8	6.9
Template:Nbay	Philadelphia	76		16.9	.372	.675	5.6	0.7	6.5
Template:Nbay	Philadelphia	38		19.2	.389	.651	6.3	1.1	7.8
Template:Nbay	San Francisco	30		18.8	.427	.541	6.5	1.0	8.0
Template:Nbay	Cincinnati	57		13.7	.416	.610	4.3	0.8	5.6
Template:Nbay	Cincinnati	77		24.7	.399	.744	7.8	2.1	9.3
Template:Nbay	Cincinnati	81		32.6	.467	.765	9.5	2.4	16.4
Template:Nbay	Cincinnati	82		31.0	.443	.762	9.0	2.7	16.3
Template:Nbay	Cincinnati	76	\|32.2	.419	.752	8.2	2.2	16.7
Template:Nbay	Cincinnati	1	\|23.0	.188	–	7.0	1.0	6.0
Template:Nbay	Philadelphia	53	5	13.5	.399	.685	4.3	1.1	5.8
Career		706	5	21.9	.417	.697	6.7	1.5	10.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	MPG	FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	PPG
"1959"	"Syracuse"	"4"	"8.5"	" .167"	" .778"	"4.3"	"0.5"	"2.8"
"1960"	"Syracuse"	"3"	"10.7"	" .300"	" .000"	"5.0"	"0.3"	"4.0"
"1964"	"Philadelphia"	"5"	"14.2"	" .424"	" .556"	"6.0"	"1.0"	"6.6"
"1966"	"Cincinnati"	"4"	"16.0"	" 0.500"	" 0.900"	"3.8"	"0.3"	"6.8"
"1967"	"Cincinnati"	"4"	" 37.8"	" .427"	" 1.000"	" 13.0"	" 3.5"	" 17.5"
'Career'	'20'	'17.6'	'0.399'	'0.771'	'6.5'	'1.2'	'7.7'

External links

Book: Cincinnati's Basketball Royalty authored by Gerry Schultz