1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team


The 1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in the Games of the XVII Olympiad, representing the United States of America. The USA team, coached by California Golden Bears head coach Pete Newell, dominated the competition, winning its games by an average of 42.4 points per game. The team is considered by many to be the best amateur level basketball team of all time, and was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a unit, in 2010.

Roster

NamePositionHeightWeightAgeHome TownTeam/School
Jay ArnetteGuard6'2"17521Austin, TXTexas
Walt BellamyCenter6'11"21721Baltimore, MDIndiana
Bob BoozerForward6'8"22023Omaha, NEPeoria Caterpillars
Terry DischingerForward6'6"19019Terre Haute, INPurdue
Burdette HaldorsonForward6'7"20726Austin, MNPhillips 66ers
Darrall ImhoffCenter6'11"22021Berkeley, CACalifornia
Allen KelleyGuard5'11"16427McCune, KSPeoria Caterpillars
Lester LaneGuard5'11"16528Purcell, OKWichita Vickers
Jerry LucasForward6'8"22020Middletown, OHOhio State
Oscar RobertsonForward6'5"22021Indianapolis, INCincinnati
Adrian SmithGuard6'0"17523Farmington, KYU.S. Armed Forces
Jerry WestGuard6'2"18522Chelyan, WVWest Virginia

Olympic trials

Trials for the team were held in March and April 1960, in Denver, at the Denver Coliseum. The trials were conducted in the form of an eight team tournament, including teams from the reigning NCAA National Champions, the Ohio State Buckeyes, a team of NCAA All-Stars featuring stars such as Jerry West and Oscar Robertson, an NAIA All-Star team, and the AAU Champions, the Peoria Caterpillar Cats. The NCAA All-Stars won the competition convincingly, and so Pete Newell was named the team's head coach, with Warren Womble as his assistant.
The trials came at a time when the AAU and NCAA were wrestling for control of USA Basketball, and the make-up of the team represented that uneasy truce, as the team was made up of seven collegiate stars, four AAU players, and one representative of the US Armed Forces. This compromise meant that many top college players were left off the team, including Ohio State's John Havlicek and Providence guard Lenny Wilkens.

Olympic tournament

The team went 8–0 in the Olympic basketball tournament, held in Rome, averaging 101.9 points per game and holding their opponents to 59.5. Five Americans averaged double-figures in scoring - Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas, Jerry West, Terry Dischinger and Adrian Smith. Lucas was the star of the medal round, as he scored 21 points in the gold medal game against Brazil, after having scored 26 points in the previous game against host Italy.

Results

The 1960 team is thought to be one of the best amateur sports teams in basketball history. Ten members of the squad went on to play in the NBA and four players from the team - Robertson, Lucas, West and Walt Bellamy, have individually been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as have head coach Pete Newell and Dutch Lonborg, who was on Newell's staff as team manager. Other career distinctions by team members include Dischinger's NBA Rookie of the Year Award and Adrian Smith's NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1966. The team was elected to the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 1984.
In 2010, along with the "Dream Team," the 1960 US Olympic men's basketball team was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a unit. The election marks only the seventh and eighth teams so honored.