Dickie Hemric, the ACC’s first basketball Player of the Year and still Wake Forest’s all-time leader in both scoring and rebounding, died Thursday at the age of 83.
A 6-foot-6, 220-pound forward, Hemric amassed 2,587 points during his standout career with the Deacons — a total that took more than 50 years to be surpassed, first by Duke’s J.J. Redick, then by North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough.
His career total of 1,802 rebounds is still the most ever by an ACC player.
Hemric, a native of Jonesville in Western N.C., was a junior when the ACC was formed in 1953. He won the league’s Player of the Year that season, then repeated the honor as a senior the following year while concluding a career in which he averaged 24.9 points and 17. 3 rebounds per game.
His performance at Wake was so dominant that he still holds 10 school records. His 1,359 free throw attempts is also still on the books as NCAA marks.
After graduation, Hemrick was picked by the Boston Celtics with the 10th overall pick in the 1955 NBA draft. He was a member of the Celtics’ 1957 championship team before retiring to work for Goodyear in Akron, Ohio.
His No. 24 jersey has been retired.
Hemric is survived by his wife Jan and three children, Ned, Jr., John Robert and Cindy Jolivette, along with seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
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