On this day: ex-Boston big man Dickie Hemric born, wing John Janisch passes
On this day in Boston Celtics history, former Celtics power forward Ned Dixon “Dick” Hemric was born in Jonesville, North Carolina, in 1933. The Jonesville native played his college ball with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, with whom he would was named an All-American in 1954 and 1955.
The 6-foot-6 forward set a scoring record (2,587 career points) in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) that stood until 2009 and a rebounding record (1,802 career rebounds) that still stands. It was not even equaled by the mighty Tim Duncan during his tenure with the Demon Deacons many years later.
Evidently, he played well enough to persuade the Celtics to draft him with the 10th pick of the 1955 NBA draft.
Happy birthday in heaven Dickie Hemric. Ur ACC career scoring record went untouched from 1956 until it was broken by J. J. Redick. Ur ACC record of 1,802 career rebounds may never be touched. 2nd is Tim Duncan with 1,570. But most importantly, ur a champion with the good guys! pic.twitter.com/o8JFsLSFJe
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) August 29, 2020
Hemric played 138 games over two seasons for the Celtics.
The North Carolin native averaged 6.3 points and 5.1 rebounds per game over 17.3 minutes per game before walking away from the game as a player in 1957.
Happy birthday in heaven John Janisch #Celtics pic.twitter.com/39cOMrJBwX
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) March 15, 2021
It is also the anniversary of the passing of former Boston guard and forward John Albert Janisch, who died at age 72 in West Branch, Michigan on this day in 1992.
Born in Indiana on March 15, 1920, Janisch played collegiately for Valparaiso from 1943 to 1946 before he made the leap to the pro ranks with the now-defunct Detroit Falcons of the Basketball Association of America (BAA — a precursor league of the NBA).
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
He was drafted by the Celtics in the dispersal draft of the Falcons in 1947, but he played just three games total with Boston.
He would play another 7 contests with the also-defunct BAA team the Providence Steamrollers before leaving the league to play in the National Basketball League (NBL, another precursor league of the NBA to later merge with the BAA, not to be confused with the Australian league of the same name of today).
He logged a point per game in his brief stint as a Celtic.
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