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Dick Linthicum

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Dick Linthicum
Linthicum c. 1931
Personal information
Born1908 or 1909
Died1979 (aged 70)
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 1+1⁄2 in (1.87 m)
Listed weight170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High schoolHollywood (Hollywood, California)
CollegeUCLA (1928–1932)
PositionForward
Career highlights and awards

Richard Linthicum[1] (1908 or 1909[2]–1979) was an American college basketball player for the UCLA Bruins. He was the school's first All-American in any sport. Linthicum was then a UCLA assistant coach and scout for five seasons. He was inducted posthumously into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 1987.

Outside of basketball, Linthicum was a business manager with Columbia Pictures for eight years before serving 10 years in the U.S. Navy and 16 years in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Basketball career

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Linthicum attended Hollywood High School in Hollywood, California, where he earned all-city honors playing forward. His teammates included Carl Shy, who also later played at the University of California, Los Angeles.[3]

Linthicum enrolled at UCLA in 1927, and became a key player on the Bruins' freshman squad as one of their best shooters.[3] His first-year teammates included future Olympic gold medalist Frank Lubin.[3][4] Standing 6 feet 1+1⁄2 inches (1.87 m) and weighing 170 pounds (77 kg),[5] Linthicum played as a forward and became UCLA's first accomplished basketball player.[6] As a sophomore in 1928–29, he garnered mention as one of the best players on the West Coast.[7] He dropped out of school for a year to get married, returning for the 1930–31 season.[8] On December 29, 1930, he made a field goal with under 30 seconds remaining for a 29–28 win over Montana.[5] That season, Linthicum was named a first-team All-American by the Helms Athletic Foundation.[9] He was named team captain as a senior in 1931–32,[2] when he was voted second-team All-American by College Humor.[9] Also named as an All-American with Linthicum in both seasons was Purdue's John Wooden,[9][10] who later coached UCLA to 10 national championships.[5]

UCLA's first All-American in any sport,[11] Linthicum was also an all-conference selection in the Pacific Coast Conference (PCC) in 1931,[5][12] and was voted twice to the conference's All-Southern Division.[5] He finished his career widely considered by PCC coaches to be the conference's best all-around player in the past decade.[13] Linthicum was named to the PCC's Southern Division all-time team as a third-team member in 1948.[14] He was inducted posthumously into the UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame in 1987.[11]

After his playing career ended, Linthicum was a UCLA assistant coach and scout for five seasons. In 1935, he was a player-coach for a U.S. all-star team that toured the Far East at the request of the government of Japan. The team went undefeated, and its core later played on the 1936 Olympic team and won the gold medal; Linthicum was not on the Olympic team.[5]

Outside basketball

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Linthicum spent eight years with Columbia Pictures as a business manager. He was then in the Navy for 10 years, as an intelligence officer. He was initially in the South Pacific during World War II, and later served in Asia, Europe, and the Mediterranean. Afterwards, Linthicum worked in the CIA for 16 years, supervising various activities, with executive-level assignments in Washington, D.C., Europe, and the Middle East. He retired in 1968, when he received the CIA Certificate of Merit.[5][15]

Personal life

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Linthicum married his wife in 1930,[1] but they divorced in 1938.[16] They had one son.[16]

Linthicum died of cancer in 1979 at age 70.[5][15]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Elopement of Athlete Announced". Los Angeles Times. February 12, 1930. Part II, p. 1. Retrieved June 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b Meanwell, Walter E. (March 20, 1932). "Bruin Forward Honored by Basketball Board". Los Angeles Times. Part V1-a, p. 1. Retrieved June 30, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c "Bruin Casaba Stars Return". Los Angeles Times. March 4, 1928. Part 1a, p. 2. Retrieved June 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "An Olympian's oral history : Frank J. Lubin, 1936 Olympic Games, basketball". LA84 Foundation. 1988. pp. 3–4. Retrieved June 20, 2023. I played alongside the first All-American selected from UCLA on the national All-American team, Dick Linthicum.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Bolch, Ben (2018). 100 Things UCLA Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. Triumph Books. pp. 240–242. ISBN 9781629374741.
  6. ^ Bortstein, Larry (1972). UCLA's Fabulous Bruins: The Story of a Basketball Dynasty. St. Martin's Press. p. 30. LCCN 72089419. Retrieved June 20, 2023 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ Cronin, Ned (January 17, 1931). "Bruins Battle Bears Tonight". Daily News. pp. 11, 13. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  8. ^ "Host of Prep Stars Register As Bruins". Los Angeles Times. September 14, 1930. Part VI-a, p. 6. Retrieved June 22, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ a b c Johnson, Gary K. (2005). "NCAA Men's Basketball's Finest" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. pp. 176–177. ISSN 1521-2955. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  10. ^ Hersch, Hank (April 15, 1995). "IN THE BEGINNING FOR THE FIRST 44 SEASONS, THE STORY OF BASKETBALL AT UCLA WAS ONE OF CHANGE, NOT CHAMPIONSHIPS". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  11. ^ a b Bonk, Thomas (February 22, 1987). "Barksdale, One of a Kind, Is One of Eight Being Inducted Into UCLA Hall of Fame". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 30, 2023.
  12. ^ "Pac-12 Conference 2011–12 Men's Basketball Media Guide". Pac-12 Conference. 2011. p. 118. Retrieved February 9, 2012.
  13. ^ Lowry, Paul (March 20, 1932). "The Low Down". Los Angeles Times. Part IV-a, p. 1. Retrieved June 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Finch, Frank (January 30, 1948). "All-Time Coast Basketball Teams Chosen". Los Angeles Times. Part II, p. 9. Retrieved June 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b "Dick Linthicum". UCLA Athletics. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  16. ^ a b "Wife of UCLA Coach Wins Uncontested Divorce". Los Angeles Times. February 17, 1938. Part II, p. 3. Retrieved June 21, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
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