Dick Triptow
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- Hometown:
- Chicago, Illl.
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- High School:
- Lane Technical
Dick Triptow was born and raised on the north side of Chicago,
attended Lane Technical High School, and graduated from DePaul
University with a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and
a Master's Degree in Education.
While at DePaul, Triptow played on legendary college basketball coach Ray Meyer's first team in 1943 and was co-captain with future NBA star George Mikan on the 1944 team. He was named to numerous All-American teams and played a prominent role in DePaul's second place finish in the National Invitational Tournament in Madison Square Garden in 1944, where he was named to the All-Tournament team.
Triptow played six years of professional basketball, three with the American Gear Team of Chicago, the National Basketball League champions in 1947 (forerunner of the National Basketball Association), and three years of minor league baseball in the Chicago Cubs farm system from 1944-47. He was the head basketball coach and business teacher at St. Patrick High School in Chicago from 1950-59. The next 14 years (1959-73) were spent at Lake Forest College, where he headed the basketball (1959-72), soccer (1964-72), baseball (1959-72), and golf (1967-70) programs. He was selected Soccer Coach of the Year for the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (District 20) in 1965. From 1973 to 1988 he was a counselor and coordinator of Occupational Education at Lake Forest High School.
Triptow was named to the DePaul University Basketball Hall of Fame in 1977, the Chicago Catholic League Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1986, the Illinois Basketball Coaches association Hall of Fame in 1989, and the Chicagoland Sports Hall of Fame in 1996.