The son of the football coach, Dischinger was a 3-year letter winner in basketball and was twice being named the Purple Eagles' MVP.

[3][4] As a high school freshman, he was a member of Terre Haute's 1955 Babe Ruth League world championship baseball team.

City rival, Terre Haute Gerstmeyer Tech, was the main opposition to Garfield during Dischinger's career.

Dischinger attended Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where he played under Coach Ray Eddy in the Big Ten Conference.

On January 9, 1960, Dischinger pulled down 26 rebounds against Wisconsin, the second most in a game behind Carl McNulty's school record of 27 in 1951.

On February 25, 1961—a number of online stories say "Christmas Day in 1961" but that is a mistake—Dischinger scored a career high 52 points against Michigan State on 19 field goals and 14 free throws.

[9] In his last college game against Michigan on March 12, 1962, Dischinger played with a sprained ankle and scored 30 points.

He was named a second straight First Team All-American while leading the Big Ten Conference in both scoring (30.3 points) and rebounding (13.4).

[citation needed] Overall, Dischinger averaged a double-double of 28.3 points and 13.7 rebounds, shooting 55.3% from the floor and 81.9% from the line in 70 career games at Purdue.

[6][14] "During my rookie year I wanted to obtain my Chemical Engineering degree from Purdue, so Chicago let me attend school and play on weekends and holidays."

"One time after class I left Purdue at 4 PM, taped my ankles in a cab and played that night in San Francisco.

"[13] Dischinger was named rookie of the year over four future Hall of Famers, whom he joined on the 1962–63 NBA All-Rookie Team: Zelmo Beaty, Dave DeBusschere, John Havlicek and Chet Walker.

In his second season, Dischinger averaged 20.8 points and 8.3 rebounds as Baltimore finished 31–49 under Hall of Fame Coach Leonard.

Dischinger played alongside future Hall of Famers Walt Bellamy and Rod Thorn, as well as Kevin Loughery, Gene Shue and Sihugo Green.

In six total seasons in Detroit, Dischinger averaged 12.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 452 games, playing alongside Hall of Famers Bob Lanier, Dave Bing and Walt Bellamy.

[17] He averaged 6.1 points and 3.0 rebounds in 15 minutes per game for the 21–61 Blazers under Coach Jack McCloskey during the 1972–73 season.

Overall, in his NBA career, Dischinger averaged 13.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.8 assists and had a .506 field goal percentage in 652 games.