Former USC captain, Army veteran Riach dies

LOS ANGELES -- Tom Riach, captain of the 1951 Southern California basketball team, has died, the school said Wednesday. He was 77.

Riach died last Friday in nearby Newport Beach. No cause of death was given.

Riach, who grew up in nearby Glendale, averaged 8.3 points per game in the 1950-51 season and led the Trojans to the Pacific Coast Conference Southern Division championship. He lettered in three seasons in basketball and baseball at USC, and was a seventh-round selection by Baltimore in the 1951 NBA Draft.

After college, Riach played briefly in the Chicago White Sox organization and served two years in the U.S. Army. He then began a career as a developer of residential and commercial properties.

Riach is survived by his wife, Joan, two sons, Tom Jr., and Steve, and eight grandchildren.