Rick Hockenos

Richard Hockenos is an American former basketball player and coach. After being drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the 1974 NBA draft he went on to play professionally in Europe.

Rick Hockenos
Personal information
Bornc.1951
United States
NationalityAmerican
Listed height196 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Career information
High schoolBishop Duffy (Niagara Falls, New York)
College
NBA draft1974 / Round: 10 / Pick: 176th overall
Selected by the Chicago Bulls
Playing career1974–1978
PositionGuard / Forward
Career history
As player:
1975Israel Sabras
1977–1978Valur
As coach:
1977–1978Valur
1978–1979Buffalo State (assistant)
Career highlights and awards
As player:

Early life

Hockenos attended Bishop Duffy High School in Niagara Falls, New York.[1] Between his sophomore and junior years he had an hip operation as he was growing to fast and the bones in his hip separated. After mediocre senior season, he was not recruited by any colleges and rejected by the schools he applied to due to academic reasons. He finally enrolled at Niagara Community College in 1969. After having a successful second season with NCCC basketball team, he decided to spend his last two seasons with Gannon College. His stay there turned out to be short and after a week, he left the school. A short time later, Hockenos visited St. Francis University at the behest of Pete Lonergan, a former assistant coach at NCCC. After sitting out his first semester, Hockenos played two seasons for St. Francis where he averaged 13.7 points in 41 games.[2]

Professional career

Hockenos was drafted by the Chicago Bulls in the 10th round of the 1974 NBA draft. He played through six weeks of training camp and seven exhibition games before he was released.[3] In 1975, he played for the Israel Sabras of the short lived European Professional Basketball League.[3]

In September 1977, Hockenos signed with Valur of the Icelandic top-tier league[4] as a player-coach.[5] For the season he scored 407 points in 14 games, for an average of 29.1 points per game, good for second in the league in scoring, behind Dirk Dunbar,[6] and was named the Player of the Year.[7]

In April 1978, he re-signed with Valur for the 1978-79 season.[8] 10 days after he arrived back in Iceland, Hockenos unexpectedly left the club in September 1978.[9][10] In his place, Valur signed Tim Dwyer.[11]

After arriving back in the United States, Hockenos became an assistant coach at Buffalo State.[3]

Later life

In 2018, Hockenos was inducted into the Niagara Falls Sports Hall of Fame.[3]

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References
  1. Neil Rudel (31 July 2017). "Hockenos' recent distinction a well-earned accolade". Altoona Mirror. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  2. Jim Lane (30 May 1974). "Rick Hockenos: From Schoolboy nobody to pros". Altoona Mirror. p. 20.
  3. Joe Skura (28 August 2018). "Hockenos to be inducted into Niagara Falls Sports HOF". The Tribune-Democrat. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  4. "Valsmenn fengu sinn í morgun!". Vísir (in Icelandic). 20 September 1977. p. 12. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  5. "Alltaf einhverjir sem skilja mann". Vísir (in Icelandic). 27 November 1977. p. 4. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  6. "Dunbar sá stigahæsti". Þjóðviljinn (in Icelandic). 29 March 1978. p. 11. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  7. "Hockenos leikmaður mótsins". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 4 April 1978. p. 22. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  8. "Lokaorð um Íslandsmót". Þjóðviljinn (in Icelandic). 12 April 1978. p. 10. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  9. "Hockenos farinn heim!". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 23 September 1978. p. 38. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  10. Gylfi Kristjánsson (25 September 1978). "Hann skildi bara eftir bréfsnepil!". Vísir (in Icelandic). p. 11. Retrieved 2 January 2020.
  11. "Eftirmaður Hockenos". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 30 September 1978. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
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