Terry Dischinger

Terry Dischinger was one of the stars of the great 1960 U.S. Olympic gold medalists. He joined the team after his sophomore year at Purdue where it was obvious he was going to be a great player. In both his junior and senior years, the 6-7 (2.00) Dischinger made All-America and then was drafted in the second round by the Chicago Zephyrs. Dischinger graduated from Purdue with a degree in chemical engineering.

He immediately produced, averaging 25.5 points and becoming the third of four consecutive NBA rookies of the year to come from the 1960 Olympic team. Dischinger had two more excellent years, averaging 21 and 18 points, but then had to join the Army for two years. He was never the same player again although he remained in the NBA for six more years, averaging about 10 points per game.

In his last few years, Dischinger attended dental school at the University of Tennessee College of Dentistry in the off-season, and even did a two-game stint as player-coach of the Pistons in 1971. He ended his career with the Portland Trail Blazers. After sub-specializing at the Oregon Health and Science University, he practiced orthodontics for over 30 years in Lake Oswego, Oregon. He had several patents to his name and lectured frequently to teach younger orthodontists.

Dischinger was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1989. Dischinger’s 1960 US Olympic team was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010. In 2019, he was elected into the College Basketball Hall of Fame, and he is also a member of the Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame and the National Federation of High Schools Hall of Fame.