Chuck Darling        

HIGH SCHOOL: Chuck Darling attended South High School and lived in or near Denver, Colorado. He was All-State in both Helena, Montana and Denver, Colorado. In Denver, his team won the state championship, and he was named to the All-Tournament team.

COLLEGE: He averaged only 9.2 points per game as a sophomore on the 1949-50 Hawkeyes team that employed three different head coaches. In 1951, he averaged 16.3 points and 17.6 rebounds per game, earning Second-team All-Big Ten honors.

In 1951-52, he had his huge breakout season as a senior, helping the Hawkeyes to a 19-3 record. He averaged 25.5 points per game as a senior, and set Big Ten records for points, field goals and free throws in a season. In his final game versus Wisconsin on March 3, 1952, he pulled down a school-record 30 rebounds, a total that also ties for second most in Big Ten history.

He became the first Iowa player to score 1,000 points in a career even though players were then ineligible to play as freshmen. He only played 63 games in his career. He was named consensus first-team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten.

He also competed in track and lettered in 1950 and 1951.

PROFESSIONAL: Although he was drafted in the first round by the Rochester Royals of the ABA, he spurned their offers and instead played AAU ball with the Phillips 66 Oilers, where he was a 3-time AAU All-American from 1954–1956, and twice being named the MVP of the National Industrial Basketball League. He was a member of the American basketball team that won the Olympic gold medal in 1956, averaging 9.3 points per game, and helping them win every game by 30 or more points. He was named to the Des Moines Register's Iowa Sports Hall of Fame, and was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.

Born 3/20/1930 and died on 4/6/2021 at the age of 91.