Tom Meschery was born on October 26, 1938 as Tomislav Nikolayevich Meshcheryakov in Harbin, China to Russian emigrants who had fled their homeland during the 1917 Revolution. Though his father came to America in 1939, the war kept the family from reuniting until 1946. The family settled in San Francisco and Meschery attended Lowell High School. While there, he developed a passion for basketball, which was further developed at St. Mary’s College in Moraga and at The Olympic Club.
As a mid-term graduate from Lowell, Meschery began playing for the Club in January 1957 and in that first season he helped the Club through a thrilling tournament to the finals of the National AAU Championship, held every year in Denver. The Club ultimately lost to the Air Force All-Stars, whose team included fellow OC Hall of Fame member Ron Tomsic. However, Meschery still made the AAU All-Star team and was named the tournament MVP.
Throughout his college career, he played for the Club after the college season ended, usually joining the team for the Denver tournament. In 1961, he helped the Club to the semi-finals of the AAU Nationals. Meschery credits The Olympic Club with helping him discover his true position on the court. “I played center in college and it’s clear to me that had it not been for those years playing with The Olympic Club in Denver, where I was able to play my natural power forward position, I would not have been selected in the NBA’s First Round.”
In 1961, the Philadelphia Warriors drafted Meschery as the 7th pick overall in the NBA Draft. In his rookie season, he played in the historic game where Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points. He stayed with the Warriors through 1967, helping them to the NBA Finals in 1964 and 1967. He left the Warriors to join NBA’s expansion franchise Seattle Supersonics where he played for another four seasons before retiring in 1971.
After retiring, Meschery coached for a few years before returning to school to get his Masters of Fine Arts degree in 1974. After receiving his teaching credentials, Meschery taught high school English in Reno, Nevada until his retirement in 2005. He is a poet, whose works often relate to basketball, teaching, and being a Russian immigrant; he was inducted into the Nevada Writers Hall of Fame in 2002.
Other honors bestowed to Meschery included inductions into the St. Mary’s College Hall of Fame in 1973, the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame in 2003, and the San Francisco Prep Hall of Fame. His jersey number has been retired by both St. Mary’s and the Golden State Warriors.
