Darrall Tucker Imhoff (October 11, 1938 – June 30, 2017) was an American professional basketball player. He spent 12 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), playing for six teams from 1960 to 1972. He made an NBA All-Star team, and was also an Olympic Gold medalist. He is often remembered for being one of the defenders tasked with guarding Wilt Chamberlain during his famed 100-point game in 1962.
Imhoff was born October 11, 1938, to Clark and Lorraine (Tucker) Imhoff. He grew up in San Gabriel, California and attended Alhambra High School, Alhambra, California, where he played center on the school's basketball team.
After making the team as a walk-on at the University of California, Berkeley (Cal), Imhoff was a two-time All-American and was the top rebounder on the 1959 NCAA championship team, hitting the winning basket for Cal in the 1959 NCAA title game. He was the leading scorer (13.7 points per game) and rebounder (12.4 rebounds per game) on the 1960 NCAA runner-up Berkeley team, and was a member of the gold medal-winning 1960 U.S. men's Olympic basketball team.
As a collegian, Imhoff was a shot blocker and a rebounder around whom coach Pete Newell built his NCAA champion Cal team. Imhoff believed the team's strength and success came from the players genuine love for each other and coach Newell.
The 1958-59 Cal team led the NCAA in defense, allowing only 51 points per game. In the 1959 NCAA final four semifinal game between Cal and the University of Cincinnati, and its star Oscar Robertson, Imhoff had 22 points and 16 rebounds in the Cal victory. In the 1959 NCAA championship game, the Golden Bears edged Jerry West's West Virginia University team, 71–70. Cal was leading 69–68 with 17 seconds left when Imhoff put back his own missed shot to give Cal the winning margin.
Imhoff, Robertson and West were all named to the NCAA tournament's first team. Robertson and West went on to exceptional NBA careers, induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and were selected as among the 75 greatest NBA players of all time. Imhoff received second-team All-American honors as a junior in 1959, and was first-team All-Pac 10. In 1959, Imhoff was rated by some as the best college player in the country.
During its 1959-60 season, prior to tournament play, Cal limited its opponents to 48.2 points per game. The 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235-pounder (106.6 kg) Imhoff anchored the nation's top-rated defense from his center spot. Newell described Imhoff's unique role as the "main spring" in Cal's defense, both in stopping his own man and helping his other teammates against players they had to defend against. Imhoff led Cal back to the NCAA championship game. Cal once again beat Cincinnati in the semifinals, where Imhoff had 11 rebounds and 25 points, before losing to Ohio State and future Hall of Famers Jerry Lucas and John Havlicek (another two of the NBA's 75 greatest player selections) in the championship game, 75–55.
Imhoff was named an Associated Press first-team All-American in 1960, along with Lucas, Robertson, West and Tony Jackson, and was a consensus first-team All-American. Imhoff would later be teammates with Lucas, West and Robertson on the men's 1960 U.S. Olympic basketball team. He was named first-team All-Pac 10 for the second year in a row, and was selected as Cal's Most Valuable Player.
He was either a two-time First Team All-American or a second-team All-American in 1959 and first-team in 1960; and a member of Berkeley's Nu chapter of Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.
Imhoff was inducted into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame in 1988 and enshrined in the Pac-10 Hall of Honor in 2005. His jersey at Cal (No. 40) was retired during a game between Cal and Stanford at Haas Pavilion on February 14, 2009.
In 75 career games at Cal, Imhoff averaged 10.0 points and 9.5 rebounds.
Imhoff was a senior awaiting entry into the NBA in 1960 when he was among those trying out for the 1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team to compete in the Summer Olympic Games. The try outs consisted of play among an NCAA college all-star team coached by future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame and Cal coach Pete Newell, Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) teams and Armed Forces all stars. Newell would be the U.S. Olympic coach, and Imhoff was among the college players he was involved in ultimately selecting to play on the Olympic team.
The Olympic roster also included future Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame college all-stars Bellamy, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, and Jerry Lucas among the college players, future National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame player Bob Boozer of the Peoria Caterpillars among the AAU players, and Adrien Smith representing the Armed Forces all-stars. College all-star players like future Hall of Famers John Havlicek and Lenny Wilkens did not make the team.
In the Olympics, Walt Bellamy and Imhoff saw action together as center and power-forward during the Rome Games, especially against the tall Soviet national team (which included 7 ft 5 in (2.26 m) 300 pound (136.1 kg) Jan Krumnisch), as the Americans usually jetted out to a big lead early and then rested their starters. The U.S. men's team was referred to as a "dream team" at the time, winning all eight Olympic games by an average of over 40 points per game, defeating the Soviet team 81–57, and winning the gold medal game against Brazil, 90–63. It has been called the greatest amateur basketball team of all time by the Naismith Hall of Fame. Imhoff averaged 4.5 points in the 8 games as the Team USA captured the gold medal.
The entire 1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team and coaching staff was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2011.
Imhoff was the most highly publicized draft pick of the 1960 NBA draft. The New York Knicks, picking third overall, made him their first pick, a move which generated much excitement for the team. Imhoff was selected after fellow All-Americans and future Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson (No. 1) and Jerry West (No. 2), who along with Imhoff were considered the three most prominent players in the draft. Before the draft, it was recognized that Imhoff would not be a scorer in the NBA, but hoped he could be a presence against Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell as a mobile player and rebounder.
The Knicks had two all-stars already, Richie Guerin and Willie Naulls. They looked for Imhoff to complete a potential contender in the league's largest city if he could develop quickly, by providing rebounding and defense to go along with the scoring of Guerin, Naulls and Kenny Sears. Imhoff had a rookie season which fell below hopes, and the Knicks finished the season 21–58.
As a rookie, Imhoff averaged only 16 minutes, 4.8 rebounds and 4.7 points per game, as backup center to Phil Jordan. Robertson was Rookie of the Year, averaging 30.5 points, 9.7 assists and 10.1 rebounds per game, and West averaged 17.6 points, 4.2 assists and 7.7 rebounds per game and was an all star. In his second season, Imhoff averaged 5.9 points and 6.2 rebounds in almost 20 minutes per game; but again played behind Jordan.