Former Withrow High School, University of Cincinnati basketball star Dave Plunkett dies
David Plunkett, a former basketball star at Withrow High School and the University of Cincinnati, died July 1 at the age of 87.
The 1952 Withrow graduate played for the University of Cincinnati men’s basketball team from 1953-56 under George Smith.
Plunkett played his first two seasons with Jack Twyman, one of UC’s top all-time players. Twyman had his number (27) retired and spent 11 seasons in the NBA. Twyman is a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
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After averaging 3.7 points off the bench in his sophomore season, Plunkett had a bigger role in the 1954-55 season, his junior year. Plunkett averaged 10.6 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, helping the Bearcats go 21-8 for the season and earn a berth in the National Invitation Tournament. Twyman averaged 25 points and 17 rebounds that season.
After Twyman's graduation, Plunkett led the Bearcats in his senior season, the 1955-56 campaign, with 17.8 points and 13.4 rebounds per game. He led UC to a 17-7 record, two years before Oscar Robertson’s arrival in Clifton.
Plunkett finished with 785 career points and 644 rebounds in his three seasons.
At Withrow, he was an all-city and first team all-state player. His senior year, he helped the Tigers defeat the Hamilton “Big Blue”, the state’s top-ranked team, in the district tournament before advancing to the Final Four, where they lost in the semifinals to Middletown. He was voted to the all-tournament first team as well as to the Ohio All-Star Team, and he was voted first team all-league for basketball by the Cincinnati Times-Star in 1951 and 1952.
Plunkett was selected seventh on the list of Hamilton County’s Top 20 Players as a junior and third among the Top 20 as a senior.
He was inducted into the Cincinnati Public Schools Athletic Hall of Fame in 2011.
He played on the varsity football team that won the PHSL Championship in 1951. He was voted to the Cincinnati Post and Cincinnati Times-Star All Star Second Team as an end his senior year. He was honorable mention All-American for the 1951 season. He also lettered two years in track and field.
He was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks in 1956 as the 42nd pick in the NBA draft. He didn’t play for the Hawks, ending his playing career on the national AAU champion Peoria Caterpillars in 1960, which earned him induction into the Peoria Hall of Fame. He was an alternate for the 1960 U.S. Olympic Team.
Plunkett is survived by his wife of 50 years, Elizabeth K. Plunkett, and his children, Michael (Pam), David (Vicki) , Laurie, and Woody (Katie). He was preceded in death by his first wife, Betty, and his children, Melissa, Cindy, and Scott.
He was also a Sharonville councilman, a Science and PE teacher for Cincinnati Public Schools, and a hospice volunteer.
He leaves grandchildren, Hank, Lila, Gus, Scott, Alexis, Mandy, David, Sarah, Matt, Rhiannon, Veronica, Jamie, Joey, Lindsey, and many great grandchildren.
A memorial service will be 11 a.m. Friday, July 8 at Brookwood Retirement Community, 12100 Reed Hartman Hwy. Memorials in his name may be sent to Withrow Alumni Inc. P.O. Box 8186 Cincinnati, Ohio 45208.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Former Withrow, UC basketball star Dave Plunkett dies at 87
