Monday, September 19, 2011

UConn basketball coaches mourn the passing of Dave Gavitt

John Nash 18 September 2011 BIG EAST Conference , Men's Basketball , Women's Basketball 84 views No Comment   Print This Post   Email This Post

UConn basketball coaches Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma both released statements on Saturday, regarding the death of BIG EAST founding father Dave Gavitt, who passed away in Rhode Island at the age of 73 on Friday night.

Coach Calhoun: “Dave will be missed incredibly by me as a mentor and friend. He was always such a big picture guy and he has done more for the sport of basketball than anyone in my lifetime. His impact on athletics in the Eastern part of the country is immeasurable and the BIG EAST Conference, created through his vision and foresight, has taken all of us to a place that we never could have imagined. It is especially sad, considering today is certainly one of those days, with everything in the news about our league, I would love nothing more than to call him and ask him simply, “what do you think and what should we do”. Sadly, we cannot do that.”

Coach Auriemma: Dave was a great man; a renaissance man who was at the forefront of all that was good in college basketball.  One reason I wanted to coach at UConn was so that I could be in Dave Gavitt’s league.  27 years later I’m still not in his league and never will be.  Without Dave there is no BIG EAST and without the BIG EAST there would never have been a UConn as we have come to know it.   This is a sad, sad day.

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Source: http://blogs.thehour.com

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