Chuck Richards, a forward/center for Syracuse for two seasons in the mid-1960s, passed away Sunday at the age of 82. A proficient scorer for the Orange, Rich was a dominant big after coming over as a transfer from West Point, where he played one season and was also on the varsity baseball and soccer teams. He played high school ball at nearby Manlius Military Academy.
At SU though, Richards would hone in on hoops for his junior and senior varsity seasons. The 60s were an important time for Syracuse basketball. Entering the 1963-64 season, the team had had three straight sub-ten win seasons. For the 1963-64 team, under second-year head coach Fred Lewis, there were multiple newcomers who would go on to become Syracuse legends: Dave Bing and Jim Boeheim. Richards joined them as a transfer.
On the court, Richards was a pure athlete which, combined with his 6-9 height, led to elite scoring. In his first season with the Orange, the center/forward nearly averaged a double-double, going for 22 points per game and 9.5 points per game. According to orangehoops.org, Richards and Bing combined for over 44 points per game in the 1963-64 season.
“As we became sophomores and could play varsity, we knew we had a legitimate big man who would be with us,” Bing told syracuse.com of Richards. “We knew we were going to turn the program around.”
That first season, the program took a big step to a program turnaround as Syracuse made the NIT tournament and finished 17-8, the team’s most wins since 1956-57. The next season would come as a bit of a disappointment, as the team took a slight drop off, going just 13-10. Richards still averaged 14.7 points and 8.5 rebounds a game though in his final season of collegiate ball.
Across two seasons, Richards shot 57.6% while averaging 18.4 points and 9.1 rebounds, cementing himself as one of the best shooting bigs in Syracuse history. He even shot 75.9% from free throw, with one of his strategies being underhand shooting.
After a brief NBA career, Richards returned to his military roots and became a special agent in the FBI, a role he held for nearly 30 years.
“In the FBI, one day I did bank robberies, the next day I did civil rights violations and stolen cars,” Richards told The Daily Orange in 2019.
This past January Richards came to the Dome for Dave Bing’s Ring of Honor Day, returning to the campus where he once dominated on the court. He’ll be remembered as one of the cornerstone pieces of an integral time for Syracuse basketball’s resurgence.
