Rutgers-Camden Athletics

A prolific rebounder, Fran Dickson was a four-year basketball letterman who led the Pioneers to their first two conference titles in program history, winning the 1959-60 and 1960-61 Delaware Valley Conference championships.

In an era where many of the rebounding records have been lost to time, Dickson’s senior year has been recorded and stands as a testimony to his stellar work off the boards. During the 1960-61 campaign he set the all-time Rutgers College of South Jersey record by averaging an amazing 19.8 rebounds per game. Nobody else has averaged more than 13.1 rebounds in a season.

While only playing a 16-game schedule, Dickson recorded 317 rebounds which would translate to nearly 500 rebounds in the current era of 25-game schedules. Along the way, Dickson set the single-game rebounding record of 31 against Juniata on March 4, 1961. That total broke his own program mark of 30 rebounds set against Eastern Baptist on Jan. 9 of that season.

A basketball force from his freshman season, Dickson notched his career high of 29 points against Susquehanna in 1958. He finished his Rutgers-Camden career with 838 points. He played 71 career basketball games, never missed a game for injury or illness, and served as basketball co-captain during a senior season which featured 14 double-doubles. He averaged 14.4 points and 19.8 rebounds as a senior, never scoring less than nine points or grabbing less than 14 rebounds. He had eight games of 20 or more rebounds, giving him eight spots out of the top 20 all-time for Rutgers-Camden.

In addition to ranking among the national rebounding leaders as a senior, Dickson earned First Team All-Delaware Valley Conference and Second Team All-Philadelphia Area honors. He was named the Philadelphia Sports Writers Player of the Week after collecting 28 points and 50 rebounds in two games. He capped his collegiate career by earning team Most Valuable Player honors and was named Rutgers-Camden’s Outstanding Athlete of the Year in 1961.

On the baseball diamond, his fondest memory was of a come-from-behind victory against Philadelphia Pharmacy College when he had three hits, three runs, a home run and four RBIs late in the game during Rutgers-Camden's Delaware Valley Conference Championship season in 1960. In 1961, he was literally recruited off the baseball field to play on the golf team one day and found himself teeing up against Temple on the next day.

Dickson graduated from Pitman High School, earned a BA from Rutgers-Camden in 1961, and received his MA from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 1983. Now retired, he served as a Financial Services Managing Director in the New York City and Washington, D.C. areas. He now resides in Kennett Square, Penn. with his wife Aurora and has three married children, Debi, Fran, Pamela, and eight grandchildren.