Dick O'Keefe


Richard Thomas O'Keefe was an American professional basketball player. After serving as captain of the St. James High School basketball team in his hometown of San [Francisco, California], O'Keefe began his college basketball career with Santa Clara Broncos in 1941. He played for the Pacific Tigers during the 1943–44 season. He missed the 1944–45 and 1945–46 seasons to serve in World War II, but returned to play his senior year with the Broncos in 1946–47. O'Keefe was selected with the ninth overall pick in the 1947 BAA draft by the Washington Capitols and played with the team for four years until it folded from the NBA in 1951 before rejoining them in the smaller American Basketball League for the 1951–52 season before that team folded for good in January 1952 due to law concerns with the NBA holding the legal copyright to the Washington Capitols team and their history.
After his basketball career, O'Keefe worked as a security chief. He served as a charter member of Santa Clara's Athletic Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the San Francisco Prep Hall of Fame in 2002.