| Head coach | Pete Newell |
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| 1960 Summer Olympics |  |
| Scoring leader |  Oscar Robertson(17.3) |
The1960 United States men's Olympic basketball team competed in theGames of the XVII Olympiad inRome, Italy, representing theUnited States of America.
TheUSA team, coached byCalifornia Golden Bears head coachPete 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 bestamateur levelbasketball team of all time, and was elected to theNaismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as a unit, in 2010.
| United States men's national basketball team – 1960 Summer Olympics roster | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Pete Newell
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Trials for the team were held in March and April 1960, inDenver, at theDenver Coliseum. The trials were conducted in the form of an eight team tournament, including teams from the reigningNCAA National Champions, theOhio State Buckeyes, a team ofNCAA All-Stars featuring stars such asJerry West andOscar Robertson, anNAIA All-Star team, and theAAU Champions, thePeoria Caterpillar Cats. The NCAA All-Stars won the competition convincingly, and soPete Newell was named the team's head coach, withWarren Womble as his assistant.
The trials came at a time when the AAU and NCAA were wrestling for control ofUSA Basketball, and the make-up of the team represented that uneasy truce, as the team was made up of sevencollegiate stars, four AAU players, and one representative of theUS Armed Forces (guardAdrian Smith). This compromise meant that many top college players were left off the team, including Ohio State'sJohn Havlicek andProvidence guardLenny Wilkens.[2]
The team went 8–0 in the Olympic basketball tournament,[3] held inRome, averaging 101.9 points per game and holding their opponents to 59.5. Five Americans averaged double-figures in scoring - Oscar Robertson (17.3),Jerry Lucas (16.8), Jerry West (14.1),Terry Dischinger (11.3) and Adrian Smith (10.9).[4] Lucas was the star of the medal round, as he scored 21 points in the gold medal game againstBrazil,[5] after having scored 26 points in the previous game against hostItaly.[6]
The 1960 team is thought to be one of the bestamateur sports teams in basketball history. Nine members of the squad went on to play in theNBA and four players from the team – Robertson, Lucas, West andWalt Bellamy – have individually been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, as have head coach Pete Newell andDutch Lonborg, who was on Newell's staff as team manager. Other career distinctions by team members include Robertson's League MVP Award in 1963–64. Dischinger's 1963NBA Rookie of the Year Award (an award also received by Robertson (1961), Bellamy (1962), and Lucas(1964), Adrian Smith'sNBA All-Star Game MVP in 1966, and West's NBA Finals MVP in 1969. Eight members were later selected to at least one NBA All-Star Game (Bob Boozer,Darrall Imhoff and Adrian Smith were NBA All-Star Game participants during their careers. In total, there were 43 future All-Star berths amongst the teammates. The team was elected to theU.S. 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.[7]
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