Adrian Dantley

American college basketball forward who starred at Notre Dame, earning All-American honors twice and winning Olympic gold in 1976 before NBA stardom

Adrian Dantley was born in Washington DC in 1956. He attended Notre Dame University and averaged 25.8 points and 8.8 rebounds per game across three seasons — the highest scoring averages in Notre Dame basketball history. He was a two-time consensus All-American. He won Olympic gold with the USA at the Montreal 1976 Games — a tournament in which he averaged 19.3 points per game and was the team's leading scorer. He was selected sixth overall by the Buffalo Braves in the 1976 NBA Draft. His Notre Dame career produced an elite scorer who was fundamentally ahead of his time — using the foul line as an offensive weapon, drawing contact, converting at over 80% from the charity stripe. His Notre Dame career was remarkable for producing a level of consistent scoring that the program had never seen before and has not seen since. His combination of Olympic gold, All-American honours and Notre Dame scoring records make him the defining player in the school's basketball history, despite Notre Dame never being a traditional powerhouse.

Dantley was a crafty, physical forward who excelled at getting to the free-throw line and finishing around the basket despite his relatively modest 6'5" frame. He possessed excellent footwork, a soft shooting touch, and an uncanny ability to draw fouls while scoring in traffic. His patient, methodical approach made him extremely difficult to defend in the post.

Dantley helped establish Notre Dame as a national basketball power during the mid-1970s and paved the way for future Irish stars to make early jumps to professional basketball.

• All-American 2x
• Olympic Gold Medal (1976)
• ACC scoring records
• National Player of Year consideration
• 2× Consensus All-American (1975, 1976)
• UPI College Player of the Year (1976)