Editor’s Note: This article originally came from The Indy Star. https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/indiana/2024/12/17/dick-van-arsdale-jon-mcglocklin-indiana-basketball-mr-basketball-death-obit/77053935007/
By: Dustin Dopirak
Indianapolis Star
When Jon McGlocklin played with Tom and Dick Van Arsdale at Indiana in the 1960s, he was called their third twin. He roomed with them at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity in their last three years together and he was the third-leading scorer behind them in his last two seasons, while also setting them up, along with Steve Redenbaugh, as one of the team’s guards.
So for McGlocklin, the death of Dick Van Arsdale this week has been almost as difficult as losing a brother of his own. The former Milwaukee Bucks All-Star and long-time color commentator was also close with former Oakland Athletics and Milwaukee Brewers third baseman Sal Bando, and Bando died on Jan. 20, 2023.
McGlocklin said Dick’s health had been deteriorating over the past year, so the news this week didn’t come as much of a shock. Dick suffered a significant stroke in 2005, and had to learn how to talk again, but McGlocklin said he’s gone through more recent complications. He said the nature of that has helped he and Tom — who was running an art studio and store with Dick in Scottsdale, Ariz. — cope with his passing in a way as they understood he was in a lot of pain.
“It’s been a slow process,” McGlocklin said. “Tom saw how unhealthy he was and how in medical stress he was. That part of it is a relief. We all three believe in Jesus Christ as our savior and we believe that he’s there with Dick. Tom’s doing pretty good, but he has moments. We laugh some and we cry some. It’s been hard but it’s been a slow process and we saw it coming.”
McGlocklin grew up in Franklin, not far away from the Van Arsdales in Greenwood. The first time he remembers crossing paths with them was in Boys Club baseball when they were 10 of 11. They were aware of each other because they both had reputations of being good athletes, but they didn’t get to know each other until the summer after their senior year in high school. They had all signed to play at Indiana, and they played together in outdoor tournaments around the state that year with Tom Bolyard and Dave Porter, who were already on the team at Indiana. Since they lived close to each other, they drove to the events together and became friends in that period.
Dick Van Arsdale:Mr. Basketball, All-American and All-Star dies at age 81
“That’s when we really united as friends,” McGlocklin said.
Bolyard and Porter were SAE brothers as well, so they convinced McGlocklin and the Van Arsdales to pledge and, after their freshman year they got a room together in the fraternity house, which made them closer.
“They were great roommates to me,” McGlocklin said. “This is the truth, with the three of us, I never had an argument or a dispute in anger with either one of them in all those years. To this day I haven’t. Now, they’d get at each other. … But they didn’t argue much. They were very compatible and loved each other.”
McGlocklin said he didn’t have a hard time telling them apart but almost everyone around them did. Most of his fraternity brothers just called them both “Van” and often didn’t bother to guess which was which. Their approaches to basketball and life were so similar that they were almost interchangeable anyway. Tom finished his IU career with 1,252 points and 723 rebounds and Dick was right behind him with 1,240 and 719. Both were named All-Americans in 1965 when they helped the Hoosiers to a 19-5 record but couldn’t earn an NCAA Tournament berth with the Big Ten being as loaded as it was. Dick, McGlocklin said, was the more physical driver and Tom was a bit of a better jump shooter but even those differences weren’t that noticeable at the time.
“People have always asked me all through the college years and pro years, ‘Well which one’s better?'” McGlocklin said. “Impossible. I honestly, if Jesus asked me that, I could not give him an answer. They’re equal. … Tom and Dick stood their ground with any 6-8 forward in the Big Ten and rebounded. They were outstanding rebounders and they controlled the boards.”
The Van Arsdales and McGlocklin were all taken in the 1965 draft and they were all together in their fraternity house at the time, each taking the calls on the landline phone. Dick was taken by the Knicks in the second round with the No. 13 overall pick, Tom by the Pistons at No. 14 and McGlocklin in the third round by the Cincinnati Royals at No. 27 overall. As pros, the Van Arsdales took different paths and Dick’s and McGlocklin’s actually mirrored each other much more closely than Dick’s and Tom’s.
Tom was a three-time All-Star just as Dick was, but Tom played for five different franchises and didn’t play for more than six years with any of them. McGlocklin was taken in back-to-back expansion drafts, first by the San Diego Rockets in 1967 and then by the Milwaukee Bucks in 1968. Dick was taken by the Phoenix Suns with the first pick of the 1968 expansion draft. Van Arsdale was considered the Original Sun and McGlocklin the Original Buck. They each scored the first points for their respective franchises, stayed with those franchises until they retired as players and then went to work with them afterward. Van Arsdale worked in the Suns front office, did color commentary work on TV and on the radio and served as an interim coach in 1987. McGlocklin did color commentary work for the Bucks for over 40 years. McGlocklin helped the Bucks win their first NBA title in 1971 with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Dick helped the Suns reach their first NBA Finals in 1976.
“It meant a lot to Dick, and we would talk about that,” McGlocklin said of him being the Original Sun. “The Phoenix Suns lucked out that it was Dick Van Arsdale. They had the best in every way.”
McGlocklin and his wife kept a house in the Phoenix area for about 20 years and they stayed very close throughout that time and would frequently go over to hang out with the Van Arsdales and their wives at their studio. He remembers many nights there when the Van Arsdales would go outside and smoke cigars while he drank iced tea.
“Them and Sal were my heart brothers,” McGlocklin said. “And we’ve just lived that way.”
