Palouse's own Dick Eicher

If you are a basketball fan and have been around the sport for a while, you will know the name.

When the Denver Nuggets won over the Lakers the other day, I recalled how I knew him.

Dick went to school in Palouse and was part of a trio of lads growing up there, including myself and a boy named Jon Skovlin.

Dick had a rich basketball life in Palouse and then four years at Eastern Washington, where he played for Red Reese.  

He then made his way to Denver, where he was instrumental in starting the Denver Rockets, a pro team that later became the Denver Nuggets. Dick was the general manager of the Nuggets for two years.

His family had moved west and had a little farm at the edge of town. It was an easy walk to town.

Dick was a typical boy, not outstanding in any way until he discovered basketball.

I never played basketball, so my connection to Dick was just a casual and fun one.

At the time, he was of average height and lean.

He lived in a large, square farmhouse. You could see “frog pond,” which was across the river from his house.

Dick, Jon and I all had galvanized wash tubs that we closely guarded. They contained our spoils from “frog pond.” We would go down to the pond and catch frogs, turtles, pollywogs and snakes and put them in the tubs.  We put screens on top so our catches wouldn’t get away. 

That’s what we played with.

Dick was one class above Jon and me, but we were all companions.

Dick started growing taller about in the eighth grade and was a dynamo on the basketball court when a freshman.

Dick was 6-5 later, and Palous was a team to deal with.  Only Colfax and St. John were better. That’s in the entire state.

He was a standout in Palouse and for four years at Eastern. While Dick played at Eastern, the club beat most of the Pac-10 clubs that were around. When Dick went to Eastern we didn’t see much of him; kids do go their separate ways eventually.

Eicher passed away just recently. He left behind a basketball legacy that will stand for a very long time. He ended up at 6-6 and with stories to tell. One I hope he told was his experiences with his washtub and frog pond.

Eastern has honored Eicher with about every way you can.

It is said that Dick could have played in the NBA, but chose management instead.

You can take people out of Palouse, but you can’t take Palouse out of them.

Go Denver. Dick would like that.