Former KU standout Riney Lochmann played for the love of the game

I recently profiled Delvy Lewis. Now, I’m featuring his former KU teammate Riney Lochmann, who was a co-captain with Lewis on that great 1965-66 team. A Parade High School All-American from Wichita, this 6-6 forward was one of the greatest team and unselfish players in KU annals. A high scorer in high school, Lochmann sacrificed his game for the betterment of the team at Kansas. He only averaged a career-high 6.7 points per game his junior season in 1964-65, yet was good enough to play three years in the ABA.

When Jo Jo White became eligible during the second semester in 1966, Lochmann happily agreed to give up his starter’s role and come off the bench.

“He (head coach Ted Owens) talked to me ahead of time and said, ‘We got a chance to go all the way,’” Lochmann told me in a 2003 interview. “He told me that with Jo Jo coming in, that he was going to play...and I would end up coming off the bench, which I had no problem at all. I said, ‘If it’s going to make us a better team, I’m all for it.’ I knew that it would, because I knew how good Jo Jo was. He was a phenomenal, phenomenal, college player. I realized how much it was going to help us.”

Like Lewis, Lochmann loved playing for Owens.

“Ted Owens, just his honesty. He was fun to play for,” Lochmann said. “Just enjoyed that relationship.”

Lochmann endeared himself to Owens and all Jayhawk fans with his fierce hustle, great work ethic, and true love of the game. "I think Riney and I were (Owens') favorites on that team (1965-66), because he just appreciated the 'roll up your sleeves and work,' and that's pretty much what Riney and I did," Lewis told me years ago.

Lochmann talked to me about his childhood heroes during our interview 16 years ago.

“Micky Mantle was (a hero) in baseball, Johnny Unitas, those were people I looked up to because I enjoyed all sports. I might have been a better football player, but I enjoyed basketball more. I thought it was more fun, so I probably had to work harder to improve my game in basketball. Bob Pettit was (a hero), I always liked watching the old Boston Celtic teams; I didn’t have any particular one, just the fact how they played together with Bill Russell and all those other guys. I was in Boston the same years that Larry Bird was there. I became a real real fan of Larry Bird’s, just what he brought to the game. He brought really an enthusiasm and love to the game, it just kind of carried over to his teammates. I got to see him play his whole career, which was a real thrill.”

In 2012, Wichita Eagle columnist Bob Lutz ranked Lochmann the No. 20 best Wichita City League player he’s seen since the early 1960s.

“I saw Lochmann play for the (Wichita North) Redskins during a Saturday afternoon game in Derby way, way, way back. It was the first high school game I saw, I believe. And it was televised by KAKE. My recollection is that Derby won the game. Anyway, Lochmann was a 6-6 forward who could really score, one of the finest players of his era."

Here is the Where Are They Now? article I wrote on Lochmann in 2003 for Jayhawk Insider. Thanks so much for your time you gave me Riney and for sharing all your fond KU memories and stories. I will forever be grateful! 

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For Riney Lochmann, sports has always been about the love of the game. From first picking up a basketball as a child in Wichita, to playing college hoops for Kansas and professionally in the ABA, to now, at 58, playing roundball in the national senior Olympics.

His love affair with basketball was first nurtured growing up in Wichita and idolizing the likes of Bob Pettit, Wilt Chamberlain, and the great Boston Celtics teams. While he admits football was his best sport, it was not his passion.  His true love was basketball, which he practiced religiously.  

Lochmann’s work ethic paid off, becoming a Parade All-American at Wichita North High School. Major colleges throughout the country beckoned at his doorstep, including Duke and Cincinnati. But those schools never really had a chance.

“I was always a great fan of Kansas University and their whole tradition,” said Lochmann, who fondly remembers listening to the radio as an eighth grader and hearing about Chamberlain’s wondrous exploits. “I was maybe a little old fashioned, but (I thought)  a Kansas boy should go to a Kansas school. Even though I showed interest in some of these other places, I knew I was always going to go to Kansas.”

And what a ride he had. Life at Mount Oread, however, didn’t begin so rosy for Lochmann his sophomore year. The rugged forward (6-6, 215) started the first five games before injuring his right knee, which would require surgery. While he came back to play the final seven games, Lochmann’s season was basically lost.

“It was discouraging just from the standpoint I really loved the game so much and the fact I worked real hard and was able to start as a sophomore,” Lochmann said recently from his home in Dublin, Ohio. “But it did give me more resolve to get the knee in shape and to be ready to go the next season.”

Both Lochmann and KU, which finished at just 13-12 in 1962-63, were looking to rebound the following year. Head coach Dick Harp had resigned, as assistant Ted Owens took over the post.  Owens brought a new sense of discipline to the program, leading KU to a 17-8 record. Lochmann flourished his junior season, averaging 6.7 points and 6.8 boards. A team player and tenacious hustler, Lochmann said he fully accepted being a role player after averaging 20-plus points per game in high school.

“I prided myself in playing defense and also rebounding, and being able to shut down or defend at least the toughest offensive player on the other team,” he said. “I would say I was unselfish. I put team first and then any individual accolades secondary because I’ve always felt that basketball is a team sport, and if there were certain things I  could do to help the team, that’s what I was going to do. ...I just enjoyed the game and felt like, ‘Hey, that’s what it’s all about.’”

With “Wonderful” Walt Wesley, Lochmann, Al Lopes, Del Lewis, and Ron Franz returning for the 1965-66 campaign, KU was picked as one of the top teams in the country. The Jayhawks rolled out to a 15-3 start before semester break. That’s when Owens had to make a decision whether or not to play Jo Jo White, the heralded freshman from St. Louis, Mo., who had just become eligible. Lochmann, a senior co-captain and starter, recalls what transpired.

“He (Owens) talked to me ahead of time and said, ‘We got a chance to go all the way,’” Lochmann said.  “He told me that with Jo Jo coming in, that he was going to play...and I would end up coming off the bench, which I had no problem at all. I said, ‘If it’s going to make us a better team, I’m all for it.’  I knew that it would, because I knew how good Jo Jo was.  He was a phenomenal, phenomenal, college player.  I realized how much it was going to help us.”

As White made an immediate impact and Lochmann injected fire and punch off the bench, KU easily won its next eight games and advanced to the Midwest Regional finals before losing to Texas Western (81-80) in double overtime. KU had appeared to win the game in the first overtime when White hit a 30-foot jumper at the buzzer. However, the referee ruled that White’s foot was on the line, and disallowed the bucket. It was a heartbreaking loss for Lochmann, the KU players, and all Jayhawk fans.

“We felt like if we had won against Texas Western (eventual NCAA champs), we would have gone on and won the national championship,” Lochmann said. “It took me about a week to get out of shock. I was really down in the dumps afterwards, from the standpoint to being totally depressed knowing that was your last college game. You don’t dwell on those things after a while, but that was a hurtful game. We kind of left our heart and soul out on on the court.”

Lochmann believes a strong case can be made that the 1965-66 squad was KU’s best team ever. A whopping five players from that club went on to play professional basketball.

“I do know that was a team that had probably all the ingredients you could want in a basketball team, because it had size, quickness, and strength,” Lochmann said. “We were deep from the bench. There weren’t many things that you didn’t have as a team that could win games.”

Lochmann, of course, moved on with his life. After graduating in 1966, he spent the next season as a graduate assistant coach at Kansas. Then, he defied great odds and made the ABA’s Dallas Chaparrals the next season, which was the inaugural year for the league. Nicknamed “The Bull,” Lochmann played three years in Dallas, and made it to the playoffs each season. Lochmann relished his opportunity, saying it was a childhood dream to play professional basketball. 

 

“To a kid out of college who loves to play the game and getting paid to play, you couldn’t be (more happier),” he said. “You got to see the country.  We played in some of the finest and nicest cities in the country.” 

Shortly upon getting married, Lochmann quit the ABA in 1970 and accepted a sales and promotion job with Converse. He spent the next 20 years working in Kansas City and Boston before leaving Converse in 1990 as senior vice president of sales and promotions. After opening a footwear company for a year, Lochmann worked with Puma before moving to Ohio in 1995, where he was employed with United Rotary Brush, which manufacturers street and airport sweepers. Lochmann, who spent five years with the organization, then switched careers to become the project manager for a consulting company (Martin Consultants). 

“We come in and try to turn the (bankrupt) companies around and get them reorganized,” Lochmann said. “It’s interesting. It’s certainly a change from what I’ve had done anyway. There’s a lot of diverse companies that you get involved with.  As yo  know, every conceivable business under the sun can go bankrupt.”

When he’s not working, Lochmann finds time to stay close to his lifetime passion. He helps volunteer coach the local high school girls basketball team in Dublin, and also assists with basketball camps in the area. And yes, he plays basketball twice a week in a 50-over league. Lochmann, who has played for teams in two national senior Olympics, has a squad already qualified for the 2003 senior Olympic games in Virginia.

The former Jayhawk standout is currently looking forward to attending the 105th reunion of Kansas basketball in February. Although he never made All-Big Eight or All-American, Lochmann said he relished his days on the Hill.

“I probably could have gone other places and maybe had scored more points or whatever, but at Kansas, it was part of the team,” he said. “That’s what I enjoyed the best. I don’t have any regrets at all. One of the things I’ve always told my wife, is when I pass away, I want my remains spread over Allen Fieldhouse.”

All for the love of the game.

A Closer Look at Riney Lochmann

Years at KU: 1962-66

Career Notables: Member of 1965-66 Big Eight championship team, which advanced to the Midwest Regional finals...Career-high 6.7 ppg and 6.8 rpg in 1964-65 (finished 14th in the conference in rebounding)...Co-MVP of Big 8 Holiday Tournament in 1964.

Family: Wife, Cheryl and children —Craig, 18, Sarah, 20 (plays basketball for University of South Florida), Hunter, 30, and Megan, 31.

Education:  B.S. Education, 1966.

Since Leaving KU: Lochmann spent one year as graduate assistant basketball coach at KU before playing three years in the ABA. He then spent 20 years working for Converse. In 1991, he started an active footwear business. After the company dissolved, he worked for Puma before moving to Ohio in 1995 and being employed by United Rotary Brush for five years. He's spent the last couple of years working as project manager for Martin Consultants.

Currently: Lochmann serves as project manager for Martin Consultants in Ohio.

Hobbies: Basketball, spending time with family, working out, golf.

Favorite Memories: “My fondest memories were just being able to play basketball there those four years with all the fun times we had and the tremendous friends and teammates that I met while I was there. Those were times when you can’t erase how fun they were, but they certainly went by much too fast. As you get older, the faster the years go by.”...Whipping Top 10 Nebraska at home, 110-73, on Feb. 26, 1966.  “We really put it to them. I think that kind of put our stamp from the standpoint of then winning the Big 8 championship and being one of the better teams in the country...The fact that there was such a deafening noise — you  know how they stamp their feet — you could hardly hear yourself. It was so loud in there as we were pretty much putting them away in the second half.”

On the Jayhawks today: “I think they’ve gotten off to a little bit of a shaky start. ...They play a real difficult and competitive schedule. I think it will help them now once the conference starts, because the conference is so tough and competitive.”