Tom Thacker (basketball)
{{short description|American basketball player and coach}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox basketball biography
| name = Tom Thacker
| image = Tom Thacker.jpg
| caption =
| height_ft = 6
| height_in = 2
| weight_lbs = 170
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1939|11|02}}
| birth_place = Covington, Kentucky, U.S.
| high_school = William Grant (Covington, Kentucky)
| college = Cincinnati (1960–1963)
| draft_year = 1963
| draft_round = 1
| draft_pick = territorial pick
| draft_team = Cincinnati Royals
| career_start = 1963
| career_end = 1971
| career_number = 25, 12, 11, 44
| career_position = Guard / forward
| coach_start = 1973
| coach_end = 1978
| years1 = {{nbay|1963|start}}–{{nbay|1965|end}}
| team1 = Cincinnati Royals
| years2 = {{nbay|1967|full=y}}
| team2 = Boston Celtics
| team3 = Indiana Pacers
| cyears1 = 1974–1978
| cteam1 = Cincinnati (women's)
| highlights =
As player:
- NBA champion (1968)
- ABA champion (1970)
- 2× NCAA champion (1961, 1962)
- Consensus first-team All-American (1963)
- 2× First-team All-MVC (1962, 1963)
| bbr = thackto01
}}
Thomas Porter Thacker (born November 2, 1939) is an American former basketball player. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Cincinnati Royals and the Boston Celtics from 1963 to 1968, and from 1968 to 1971, for the American Basketball Association's Indiana Pacers. He is the only player to have played on an NCAA championship team, an ABA championship team, and an NBA championship team.
Early life
Thacker was born in and grew up in Covington, Kentucky across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, the son of William and Velma Arvin Thacker. He attended Our Savior's High School until integration closed it in 1956.{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/cincinnati/docs/nky-t/12|title=Chapter T of the Encyclopedia of Northern Kentucky|website=Issuu}} He then attended the all-black William Grant High School, where he played basketball. He averaged 31.7 points per game as a junior and led the team to a 26–5 record. As a senior, he averaged 33.8 points as the team went 31–7.{{Cite web|url=https://www.usaonrace.com/setting-it-straight/711/transition-game-civil-rights-warrior-recalls-racial-boundaries-of.html|title=Transition Game ... Civil Rights Warrior Recalls Racial Boundaries Of Integration|website=www.usaonrace.com}} He scored 36 points in his final high school game as the team lost the Kentucky state championship game, 85–84.{{Cite web|url=https://nkaa.uky.edu/nkaa/items/show/220|title=Thacker, Tom Porter · Notable Kentucky African Americans Database|website=nkaa.uky.edu}}
In 1959 he needed a few credits to earn his degree, so he attended Holmes High School during the summer and graduated.
College career
Thacker attended the University of Cincinnati and played three varsity seasons for the Bearcats under coach Ed Jucker. As a sophomore in 1960–61, he averaged 12.3 points per game and was named All-Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) as the Bearcats won the league title.{{cite web |url=http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/cinn/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/1011UCMBKMEDIASUP.pdf |title= Photo|access-date=2020-06-05}} The Bearcats finished the season with a record of 27–3 and, on March 25, 1961, Cincinnati, led by the balanced attack of Thacker, Bob Wiesenhahn, Tony Yates, Paul Hogue and Carl Bouldin, won the NCAA Championship with a 70–65 overtime win over the Ohio State Buckeyes.
As a junior in 1961–62, Thacker averaged 11.0 points per game and was again All-MVC. The Bearcats again captured the MVC and posted a 29–2 record. With Ron Bonham and George Wilson replacing the departed Wiesenhahn and Bouldin, the Bearcats again captured the NCAA title on March 24, 1962, again over Ohio State, 71–59.
As a senior in 1962–63, he averaged 15.8 points per game, led the team in assists with 4.0 per game, and was named the team MVP. He was also named All-MVC for the third consecutive season. In addition, he was a consensus first-team All-American along with teammate Bonham. The Bearcats, with the same starting lineup as the year before except for Larry Shingleton replacing the departed Hogue, won the league crown yet again and, for the third straight season, advanced to the NCAA championship game. However, on March 23, 1963, the Bearcats lost to Loyola University Chicago.
Professional career
Thacker was chosen in the first round (fifth overall) of the 1963 NBA draft as a territorial pick by the Cincinnati Royals. During his three seasons with the Royals, he played about nine minutes per game as a backup guard, averaging 2.8, 2.5, and 3.7 points per game, respectively during the 1963–64 through 1965–66 seasons.{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/thackto01.html|title=Tom Thacker NBA/ABA Stats|website=Basketball Reference|publisher=Sports Reference LLC|accessdate=13 March 2024}} On May 1, 1966, he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the NBA expansion draft, but he decided to retire and did not play that season.
On August 4, 1967, he returned to the NBA and was signed as a free agent by the Boston Celtics. It turned out to be a fortuitous trade for Thacker. Averaging about 12 minutes per game and 4.2 points and 2.5 rebounds per game, he earned a championship ring as the Celtics won the NBA title in a six-game finals series over the Los Angeles Lakers.{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/BOS/1968.html|title=1967-68 Boston Celtics Roster and Stats|website=Basketball-Reference.com}} He also posted a career single-game high of 17 points twice, on February 11, 1968, against the Lakers and again on March 7 against the Bulls.{{Cite web|url=https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/t/thackto01/gamelog/1968/|title=Tom Thacker 1967-68 Game Log|website=Basketball-Reference.com}}
After Thacker's fourth NBA season, on May 6, 1968, he was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA expansion draft. However, he opted to play in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for the Indiana Pacers. In 1968–69, playing just 18 games, he averaged 5.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, all career personal bests. In 1969–70, he played 70 games, averaging 2.7 points per game and helped the Pacers capture the ABA championship{{cite web |url=http://www.thefatbirds.com/dan-zinchuk/winning-championships-and-tom-thacker.html |title=Winning Championships and Tom Thacker - Dan Zinchuk |access-date=2014-03-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140319001630/http://www.thefatbirds.com/dan-zinchuk/winning-championships-and-tom-thacker.html |archive-date=2014-03-19 }} in six games over the Los Angeles Stars. In his third and final ABA season of 1970–71, he played eight games and his seven-year professional career ended.
Coaching career
He became the first African-American coach at the University of Cincinnati, leading the women's basketball program from 1974 to 1978.{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5yyzxFiAfV4C&q=tom+thacker+grant+high+school&pg=PA86 | title=Tales from Cincinnati Bearcats Basketball| isbn=9781582617459| last1=Perry| first1=Michael| last2=Lachey| first2=Nick| year=2004}} Thacker was the second coach for the Cincinnati Bearcats women's basketball team and would go on to have an 55–43 record over four seasons, leading three winning campaigns during his coaching time.
Personal life
Thacker earned both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree from the University of Cincinnati. He is also a member of the Beta Eta chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity.
Thacker owns his own small business, Tom Thacker Enterprises, in Cincinnati.{{cite web |url=http://www.manta.com/c/mm7x39z/tom-thacker-enterprises-inc |title= Company website|website=www.manta.com|access-date=2020-06-05}}
He has served as deputy director of the Cincinnati Urban League,{{Cite web|url=http://www.celticslife.com/2012/03/what-hell-happened-totom-thacker.html|title=What the Hell Happened to...Tom Thacker?}} and he also served as a teacher with Cincinnati Public Schools. In 1986, he was inducted into the Northern Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame and, in 1989, into the Northern Kentucky Black Hall of Fame.
He was inducted into the [http://ohiobasketballhalloffame.com/hall-of-fame/inductees/2016/tom-thacker.html Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame] at the [http://ohiobasketballhalloffame.com/news-events/induction-ceremony/2016-induction-ceremony/ 11th Annual Ceremony] on May 21, 2016, in Columbus.
Career statistics
{{NBA player statistics legend|champion=y}}
| class ="wikitable" |
| style="background:#afe6fa; width:3em;"|†
|Denotes seasons in which Barnhill's team won an ABA championship |
=NBA/ABA=
==Regular season==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
|-
! Year
! Team
! GP
! MPG
! FG%
! 3P%
! FT%
! RPG
! APG
! PPG
|-
| style="text-align:left";|{{nbay|1963}}
| style="text-align:left;"|Cincinnati
| 48 || 9.5 || .293 || || .491 || 2.4 || 1.1 || 2.8
|-
| style="text-align:left";|{{nbay|1964}}
| style="text-align:left;"|Cincinnati
| 55 || 8.5 || .333 || || .489 || 2.3 || .7 || 2.5
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|{{nbay|1965}}
| style="text-align:left;"|Cincinnati
| 50 || 9.6 || .406 || || .395 || 2.4 || 1.2 || 3.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|{{nbay|1967}}†
| style="text-align:left;"|Boston
| 65 || 12.0 || .419 || || .512 || 2.5 || 1.1 || 4.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|{{abay|1968}}
| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana (ABA)
| 18 || 19.2 || .342 || .000 || .581 || 3.7 || 2.9 || 5.4
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6fa;"|{{abay|1969}}†
| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana (ABA)
| 70 || 14.5 || .330 || .256 || .551 || 3.0 || 2.6 || 2.7
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|{{abay|1970}}
| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana (ABA)
| 8 || 11.5 || .353 || .000 || 1.000 || 2.8 || .9 || 1.6
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career (NBA)
| 218 || 10.0 || .371 || || .482 || 2.4 || 1.0 || 3.3
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career (ABA)
| 96 || 15.1 || .335 || .227 || .564 || 3.1 || 2.5 || 3.1
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career (overall)
| 314 || 11.6 || .360 || .227 || .508 || 2.6 || 1.5 || 3.2
{{s-end}}
==Playoffs==
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:95%; text-align:right;"
|-
! Year
! Team
! GP
! MPG
! FG%
! 3P%
! FT%
! RPG
! APG
! PPG
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1964
| style="text-align:left;"|Cincinnati
| 6 || 7.2 || .261 || || .250 || 2.2 || .5 || 2.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1965
| style="text-align:left;"|Cincinnati
| 4 || 11.8 || .385 || || .750 || 3.0 || .8 || 3.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1966
| style="text-align:left;"|Cincinnati
| 4 || 11.5 || .318 || || .750 || 2.3 || 1.3 || 4.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6ba;"|1968†
| style="text-align:left;"|Boston
| 17 || 4.8 || .292 || || .286 || 1.0 || .5 || .9
|-
| style="text-align:left;"|1969
| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana (ABA)
| 16 || 24.4 || .308 || .000 || .596 || 4.8 || 4.3 || 6.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;background:#afe6fa;"|1970†
| style="text-align:left;"|Indiana (ABA)
| 14 || 13.4 || .316 || .273 || .545 || 3.4 || 2.6 || 2.4
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career (NBA)
| 31 || 7.0 || .305 || || .474 || 1.6 || .6 || 1.9
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career (ABA)
| 30 || 19.3 || .310 || .188 || .586 || 4.2 || 3.5 || 4.4
|- class="sortbottom"
| style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"|Career (overall)
| 61 || 13.0 || .308 || .188 || .558 || 2.9 || 2.0 || 3.1
{{s-end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{basketballstats}}
{{navboxes|list=
{{Cincinnati Bearcats women's basketball coach navbox}}
{{1961 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball navbox}}
{{1962 Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball navbox}}
{{1963 NCAA Men's Basketball Consensus All-Americans}}
{{1963 NBA draft}}
{{Boston Celtics 1967–68 NBA champions}}
{{Indiana Pacers 1969–70 ABA Champions}}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thacker, Tom}}
Category:All-American college men's basketball players
Category:American men's basketball players
Category:Basketball coaches from Kentucky
Category:Basketball players from Kentucky
Category:Boston Celtics players
Category:Chicago Bulls expansion draft picks
Category:Cincinnati Bearcats men's basketball players
Category:Cincinnati Bearcats women's basketball coaches
Category:Cincinnati Royals draft picks
Category:Cincinnati Royals players
Category:Continental Basketball Association coaches
Category:Indiana Pacers players