Terry Gilbert Dischinger ( DISH-ing-ər; November 21, 1940 – October 9, 2023) was an American professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Dischinger was a three-time NBA All-Star and the 1963 NBA Rookie of the Year, after averaging 28 points per game in his three seasons at Purdue University.
In 2019, Dischinger was inducted to the College Basketball Hall of Fame. In 2010, the 1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team of which Dischinger was a member, was collectively inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Dischinger practiced orthodontics after his NBA career.
Dischinger attended James A. Garfield High School in Terre Haute, Indiana. The son of the football coach, Dischinger was a 3-year letter winner in basketball and was twice being named the Purple Eagles' MVP. During his senior season (1957–58), he was selected as captain and was the MVP of the 1958 Indiana All-Star team. Dischinger was also a 1958 Parade All-American.
During his high school career, Dischinger earned all-state honors in basketball, while being coached by Willard Kehrt, and in football and track, being coached by his father, Donas Dischinger.
As a high school freshman, he was a member of Terre Haute's 1955 Babe Ruth League world championship baseball team.
He was also a member of Garfield High's 1955 IHSAA Sectional Championship team; this was the deepest run Garfield would make during his high school career. City rival, Terre Haute Gerstmeyer Tech, was the main opposition to Garfield during Dischinger's career.
Dischinger attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where he played under Coach Ray Eddy in the Big Ten Conference.
Sophomore and Junior (1959–1961)
In his first varsity season as a sophomore (freshmen were not allowed to play varsity by the NCAA in his era), the 6'7", 190 lb guard/forward was named a Second Team All-American, leading the 11–12 Boilermakers, averaging 26.3 points and 14.3 rebounds. On January 9, 1960, Dischinger pulled down 26 rebounds against Wisconsin, the second most in a game behind Carl McNulty's school record of 27 in 1951. Dishinger made the 1960 Olympic Team after his sophomore season.
During his junior season (1960–1961), Purdue finished 16–7. Dischinger was named a First Team All-American and led the conference in scoring with 28.2 points and 13.4 rebounds a game. On February 25, 1961—a number of online stories say "Christmas Day in 1961" but that is a mistake—Dischinger scored a career high 52 points against Michigan State on 19 field goals and 14 free throws. The 52 points broke Jerry Lucas's prior Big Ten Conference record of 48. In his next game, he made a single-game school record 21 free throws against Iowa on February 27, 1961.
Purdue finished 17–7 in Dischinger's senior season.
In his last college game against Michigan on March 12, 1962, Dischinger played with a sprained ankle and scored 30 points.
His 459 total points in his senior season led the conference in scoring for a third consecutive season. He was named a second straight First Team All-American while leading the Big Ten Conference in both scoring (30.3 points) and rebounding (13.4). He attempted a single-season Purdue record 350 free throws in his senior season.
College career summary (1959–1962)
When he left Purdue, Dischinger held almost every Purdue scoring record. Many would be broken by Dave Schellhase and Rick Mount within the next decade. Dischinger was named All-Big Ten three consecutive seasons and selected as the Purdue MVP for each season. He currently holds school records for nine 40-plus-point games, 713 made free throws with 871 attempted, 14.3 rebounds a game and the second most in a career with 958 behind Joe Barry Carroll's 1,148 mark.
Dischinger averaged 28.3 points a game in his three varsity seasons, in which he led the conference in scoring each season. He's currently the sixth-highest scorer in Boilermaker history with a total of 1,979 points.
Overall, Dischinger averaged a double-double of 28.3 points and 13.7 rebounds, shooting 55.3% from the floor and 81.9% from the line in 70 career games at Purdue.
Dischinger was selected to the USA men's basketball team that won the gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics under head coach Pete Newell; at age 19, and just finishing his sophomore year of college, he was the youngest member of the team. As a starting guard/forward, he was teamed with future Basketball Hall of Famers Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, and Jerry Lucas. The team was named to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.