# Tom Van Arsdale

Thomas Arthur Van Arsdale (born February 22, 1943) is an American former professional basketball player. A graduate of Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis, the 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) guard played collegiately at Indiana University under longtime head coach Branch McCracken.

## Early life

Van Arsdale was born on February 22, 1943, in Indianapolis, along with his identical twin brother Dick Van Arsdale. They attended Emmerich Manual High School in Indianapolis. In 1961, the brothers were jointly awarded the Indiana Mr. Basketball award, and the Trester Award for Mental Attitude.
Van Arsdale idolized future hall of fame player Oscar Robertson when Robertson was an Indianapolis high school player, and later became Robertson's teammate in the NBA.
Kentucky's College Basketball Hall of Fame and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Adolph Rupp tried to get the brothers to attend Kentucky, but they chose Indiana University, playing on the school's basketball team from 1962 to 1965 under head coach Branch McCracken. At 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m), Van Arsdale played guard and small forward. He was an All-American in 1965, and also an Academic All-American. In three years, he scored 1,252 points with 723 rebounds (while his brother scored 1,240 points with 719 rebounds). He averaged a double-double for the Hoosiers over his career, with 17.4 points per game and 10.0 rebounds per game.
Van Arsdale was a member of the U.S. team that won the gold medal in the 1965 Summer Universiade. He was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 1988. In February 2019, the Van Arsdale brothers were honored by Indiana at halftime of a game between Indiana and Purdue.

## Professional career

Van Arsdale was selected 11th overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 1965 NBA draft. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team for the 1965–66 season, together with Dick. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for 12 seasons; with the Pistons, Cincinnati Royals/Kansas City–Omaha Kings, Philadelphia 76ers, Atlanta Hawks, and Phoenix Suns. A consecutive three-time NBA All-Star starting in 1970, Van Arsdale's play peaked as the Royals lost star Oscar Robertson to the Milwaukee Bucks. In 1970 and 1971, he averaged scoring totals of 22.8 and 22.9 points per game, the latter of which was a career high. On February 13, 1972, Van Arsdale scored a career-high 44 points in a 112–111 loss to the Houston Rockets. He retired as player in 1977.
Despite Robertson’s departure from Cincinnati in 1970 being somewhat countered by the arrival of another All-Star guard in Tiny Archibald in the 1970 NBA draft, the Royals continued to finish below .500. Even after being traded himself, Van Arsdale never was on a team that made the postseason. He still holds the NBA record for most career games played (929) and most career points scored (14,232) without a playoff appearance.
The Van Arsdale twins played together through college and again in Phoenix during the 1976–77 season, the final for both. The original lockers of both Tom and Dick remain in the display case in the lobby of the Emmerich Manual High School gymnasium.
Van Arsdale served on the NBA Players Association and Retired Players Association.

## Personal life

After retirement, Van Arsdale authored the book, JOURNEY MAN: Celebrating an Unlucky, Unpredictable, and Undeniably Successful NBA Career. He and Dick shared a post-retirement art studio in Scottsdale, Arizona, which they opened in May 2018. Their art focuses on promoting racial tolerance and harmony.

## NBA career statistics
### Regular season

| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| 1965–66 | Detroit | 79 | – | 25.8 | .374 | – | .721 | 3.9 | 2.6 | – | – | 10.5 |
| 1966–67 | Detroit | 79 | – | 27.0 | .391 | – | .784 | 4.3 | 2.4 | – | – | 12.2 |
| 1967–68 | Detroit | 50 | – | 16.6 | .371 | – | .743 | 2.6 | 1.6 | – | – | 6.6 |
| 1967–68 | Cincinnati | 27 | – | 25.3 | .408 | – | .750 | 3.4 | 2.8 | – | – | 10.4 |
| 1968–69 | Cincinnati | 77 | – | 39.7 | .444 | – | .747 | 4.6 | 2.7 | – | – | 19.4 |
| 1969–70 | Cincinnati | 71 | – | 35.8 | .451 | – | .774 | 6.5 | 2.2 | – | – | 22.8 |
| 1970–71 | Cincinnati | 82 | – | 38.4 | .456 | – | .721 | 6.1 | 2.2 | – | – | 22.9 |
| 1971–72 | Cincinnati | 73 | – | 35.6 | .456 | – | .755 | 4.8 | 2.7 | – | – | 19.2 |
| 1972–73 | Kansas City–Omaha | 49 | – | 26.2 | .457 | – | .786 | 3.5 | 1.8 | – | – | 12.4 |
| 1972–73 | Philadelphia | 30 | – | 34.3 | .393 | – | .833 | 6.2 | 2.1 | – | – | 17.7 |
| 1973–74 | Philadelphia | 78 | – | 39.0 | .428 | – | .851 | 5.0 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 19.6 |
| 1974–75 | Philadelphia | 9 | – | 30.3 | .422 | – | .683 | 3.2 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 14.0 |
| 1974–75 | Atlanta | 73 | – | 35.2 | .429 | – | .768 | 3.4 | 2.8 | 1.1 | 0.0 | 18.9 |
| 1975–76 | Atlanta | 75 | – | 27.0 | .441 | – | .759 | 2.5 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 10.9 |
| 1976–77 | Phoenix | 77 | – | 18.5 | .433 | – | .703 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 5.8 |
| Career | Career | 929 | – | 30.9 | .431 | – | .762 | 4.5 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 15.3 |
| All-Star | All-Star | 3 | 0 | 7.7 | .375 | – | .333 | 1.0 | 0.7 | – | – | 4.3 |