Richard C. "Dick" Ives was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 basketball player for the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

 from 1943–44 to 1946–47. A native of Diagonal

Diagonal, Iowa

Diagonal is a city in Ringgold County, Iowa, United States. The population was 312 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Diagonal is located at along the Grand River....

, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, Ives passed up the opportunity to play college basketball at Drake University

Drake University

Drake University is a private, co-educational university located in Des Moines, Iowa, USA. The institution offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and pharmacy. Today, Drake is one of the twenty-five oldest law schools in the country....

 on a full athletic scholarship so that he could play at Iowa

Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball

The Iowa Hawkeyes men's basketball team represents the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa, as a member of the Big Ten Conference and the National Collegiate Athletic Association. They currently play in 15,500-seat Carver-Hawkeye Arena, along with the school's women's basketball, wrestling, and...

 under coach "Pops" Harrison. Ives had been a stand-out basketball player at Diagonal High School and led the team to the state championship.

Ives entered the University of Iowa in the fall of 1943 as a 17-year old freshman

Freshman

A freshman or fresher is a first-year student in secondary school, high school, or college. The term first year can also be used as a noun, to describe the students themselves A freshman (US) or fresher (UK, India) (or sometimes fish, freshie, fresher; slang plural frosh or freshmeat) is a...

. Due to World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and the lack of able-bodied male student athletes across the nation, the NCAA allowed freshmen to play varsity sports in college, which until that time had been disallowed. With this rare opportunity, Ives went on to have a highly successful four-year letter-winning career as a Hawkeye. He led the team in scoring for his first three seasons, and as a freshman he scored a then-unheard of school- and Big Ten Conference

Big Ten Conference

The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

-record 43 points in a single game. It is still the third highest scoring game in Iowa history and it earned him the nickname "Diagonal Dagger." Ives was a three-time All-American

NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

The NCAA Men's Basketball All-American teams are honorary teams made up of those NCAA basketball players voted the best in the country by a variety of organizations.-History:...

, and in 1944–45 he was voted as a consensus Second Team All-American

1945 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans

The Consensus 1945 College Basketball All-American team, as determined by aggregating the results of four major All-American teams. To earn "consensus" status, a player must win honors from a majority of the following teams: the Helms Athletic Foundation, Converse, The Sporting News, and Argosy...

 (coincidentally, fellow sophomore teammate Herb Wilkinson

Herb Wilkinson

Herbert Leroy "Herb" Wilkinson was an American college basketball player who won the 1944 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament as a freshman while playing for Utah, then transferred to Iowa as a sophomore and became a three-time All-American.-Early life:Wilkinson was born in Salt Lake City,...

 was also a consensus All-American). That season, the Hawkeyes also won the Big Ten Conference championship.

After his senior

Senior (education)

Senior is a term used in the United States to describe a student in the 4th year of study .-High school:...

 year in 1946–47, Ives was drafted by the Pittsburgh Ironmen

Pittsburgh Ironmen

The Pittsburgh Ironmen were a charter member of the Basketball Association of America . The team was based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They ended their only season in the BAA in 1946-47 with a record of 15-45, finishing in fifth and last place in the Western Division and worst overall in the league...

 of the Basketball Association of America

Basketball Association of America

The Basketball Association of America was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. The league merged with the National Basketball League in 1949, forming the National Basketball Association ...

 (which would become the National Basketball Association

National Basketball Association

The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

) but never played a game for them. He instead coached basketball and baseball at Parsons College

Parsons College

Parsons College was a private liberal arts college in Fairfield, Iowa. The school, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, was founded in 1875 and closed in 1973....

, married Joan Newton and lived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Cedar Rapids is the second largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, north of Iowa City and east of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city...

 where Ives had a hardware business. In 1954 they moved to Miami, Florida

Miami, Florida

Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...

, and resided there for the rest of their lives. Ives died on May 5, 1997 in Miami.