Dee Rowe has been selected to receive the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame's coveted John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. Here's the release sent out by the Hall: 

Announced today in the birthplace of basketball, Springfield, Massachusetts, Michael H. Goldberg, the long-time Executive Director of the National Basketball Coaches Association, and New England coaching legend Donald “Dee” Rowe have been selected by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame to each receive the coveted John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.

The Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award was instituted by the Board of Trustees of the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1973 and is the most prestigious award presented by the Hall of Fame outside of Enshrinement. Named in honor of Hall of Famer John W. Bunn (Class of 1964), the first chairman of the Basketball Hall of Fame Committee who served from 1949-1964, the award honors coaches, players and contributors whose outstanding accomplishments have impacted the high school, college, professional or International game.

“For the first time in the history of the Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award, we will be recognizing two outstanding individuals in the same year who have so very positively impacted the game of basketball throughout their lives,” said Jerry Colangelo, Chairman of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. “There are so many admirable individuals in the basketball community that deserve to be recognized for their incredible influence on the game and we have decided from time to time that we will not be restricted to just one award winner. The contributions these gentlemen have made to the game speak volumes and deserve to be recognized.”

A graduate of New York University and St. John’s University School of Law, Michael H. Goldberg has served as the Exectutive Director of the National Basketball Coaches Association since 1980. He assisted in gaining vastly increased retirement funds and disability insurance for the National Basketball Association Coaches, and in partnership with the NBA, many unique marketing opportunities for NBCA members.

Prior to joining the NBCA, Mr. Goldberg was a Branch Chief for U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission, as well as General Counsel for the American Basketball Association where he guided the League, along with its late Commissioner Dave DeBusschere, until its merger with the NBA in 1976.

Through National Media Group Inc., the agency he founded, Mr. Goldberg has become one of the most well-respected figures in the business of sports marketing, working over the years with a wide variety of prominent corporate sponsors and licensees to promote their products and services through sports and entertainment partnerships. His agency also played a key role in the growth of the sport of basketball, including the international game, by organizing the Gatorade World Coaches Clinic program for the NBA, as well as launching the highly successful NBA/FIBA McDonalds Basketball Championship.

Throughout his long career, Mr. Goldberg has been a respected leader, mentor and friend to the members of the NBA community and championed the coaches of the NBCA with heart and humor.

Donald “Dee” Rowe, a native of Worcester, Mass., played scholastically at Worcester Academy and during his collegiate days at Middlebury College (1952). He also earned a M.Ed. at Boston University in 1953. Mr. Rowe returned to his high school alma mater, where for 13 years he served as Director of Athletics and Head Coach of Men’s Basketball and Baseball at Worcester Academy, winning nine New England Prep School Basketball Championships.

In 1969, he was named head coach of at the University of Connecticut and was awarded New England Coach of the Year twice (1970, 1976) during his eight years at the helm. Coach Rowe was part of numerous coaching and clinician activities including the U.S. State Department
Partners of Americas Exchange Program throughout Brazil, the 1976 U.S. Olympic Basketball Trials, and serving as Assistant Coach of the 1980 U.S. Olympic Team that ultimately boycotted the games in Russia.

In 1978, after stepping down as head coach, Mr. Rowe launched the fund-raising arm for UConn Athletics and for the next 13 years became a national leader in collegiate athletic fund-raising, generating millions of dollars. In 1979, he played a pivotal role in UConn’s joining of the Big East Conference and he served on the search committees that brought Hall of Fame Coaches Geno Auriemma and Jim Calhoun to Connecticut.

Since his official UConn “retirement” at the end of calendar year 1991, Dee Rowe has remained actively involved at the school in his emeritus role as Special Adviser for Athletics. Over the past 60 years, Dee Rowe has had a tremendous impact on the game he “fell in love with” as a third grader.

Goldberg and Rowe will be presented the John W. Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award during the 2017 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ceremonies, to be held at the “Hall of Fame Family Reunion Dinner” in September 2017. For more information, please visit www.hoophall.com.

St. Joseph's may have played better in regulation, but UConn got it to overtime and hit 15 of 16 free throws in the extra session to survive and advance with a "second-round" NCAA tourney win on Thursday.

Shabazz Napier had a game-high 24 points and a crucial seven straight UConn points in OT to keep his career alive. DeAndre Daniels had 18 points and Ryan Boatright was probably the Huskies' best player, with 17 points, four 3-pointers and one of the better assists we've seen all season for an Amida Brimah dunk.

But Brimah made the play of the game: A 3-point play with 39 seconds left in regulation to tie the game.



*** Best postgame exchange came during Kevin Ollie's presser. A reporter asked him how it felt to be the "first coach at UConn to win a tournament game since Dom Perno in '79."

Ollie's looked befuddled and responded: "Coach Calhoun won three national championships, so I think he won a couple of games in the tournament."

Reporter: "You're the first one other than Jim."

Ollie: "That sounds better. You were scaring me at first. Don't let Coach Calhoun hear that, either. It'll be hard."

(Incidentally, it was actually the first non-Calhoun-coached UConn tourney win since Dee Rowe over Hofstra on March 13, 1976. George Blaney's tourney wins count towards Calhoun's record).

*** In a touching story, Shabazz Napier put a heartfelt video message on YouTube last week for Wallingford's Connor Reed, a Sheehan High senior who was recently stricken by a rare, auto-immune disease.

Shabazz's message helps inspire Reed as he rehabs.

"I watch that video every day," he said.

Meanwhile, Reed's story of overcoming a debilitating disease (he's almost walking again) has inspired many -- including Napier himself.

Here's the video:



And here's the story.

Daniel Hamilton will be playing about an hour away from UConn on Saturday evening. But it will be tough for Husky diehards who want to watch the much-ballyhooed UConn commit play in person and get to UConn's 9 p.m. bout with Louisville to do both.

Hamilton's St. John Bosco High from California will face Maryland's St. Frances Academy (led by UNLV-bound Dwayne Morgan) on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Springfield College's Blake Arena. The game will be broadcast on The Basketball Channel.

Obviously, fans could get to the game, then make the drive to Storrs and get to Gampel by tip-off for Louisville. UConn's coaching staff, which has continued to recruit Hamilton as if he hadn't committed to the school, won't be able to do the same. But UConn will make sure to get to one of Hamilton's practices this weekend.

Hamilton, of course, hasn't signed a national letter-of-intent to attend UConn but has signed a financial-aid agreement form, which doesn't bind him to the university.

Hamilton's teammate, point guard Tyler Dorsey, committed to Arizona a few days ago.

*** Nice column today by the ProJo's Bill Reynolds on Dee Rowe, who coached Reynolds at Worcester Academy back in 1963-64. Couple of interesting anecdotes on Rowe in this one.

*** Also, here's a piece from today's Memphis Commercial-Appeal on Shabazz Napier. Nothing really new here, but at least the local paper acknowledges that there is a game tonight, which is more than can be said for the Houston Chronicle a couple of weeks ago.

*** A little disappointed in Beale Street. While there appears to be plenty of lively bars, restaurants and blues clubs, it only appears to occupy about a block or two. Then, you're right back in a rather dreary, lifeless downtown Memphis.

Of course, it was about 35 degrees last night, so that probably accounts for the lack of vitality in the city. I've got to believe it's a lot more fun in the summertime around here -- or, for that matter, in March, when the American Athletic Conference championship tournament will be held.

Of all the head coaching jobs Larry Brown has had over the years – and there have been 13 of them, between college basketball, the NBA and the ABA – his first one very nearly was at UConn.

Brown was Dean Smith’s assistant coach at North Carolina in 1967 when Jim Hickey, the former UNC football coach who had just taken the athletic director’s job at UConn, offered him the Husky job that had been just vacated by Fred Shabel, who had left for Penn.

Brown, 26 at the time, politely declined.

“I was just a little bit nervous about me being that young,” he recalled on Friday morning, prior to leading his newest team, SMU, in practice. “It was my second year as a coach. Even though, playing for Coach (Frank) Maguire and Coach Smith and Mr. (Henry) Iba (in the 1964 Olympics), having an opportunity to coach your own team – coach let me coach the freshman team, even though I was involved with the varsity – I just thought maybe I was too young. So, I passed it up.”

Instead, UConn hired Burr Carlson, who was subsequently fired after two poor – (11-13, 5-19) seasons.

“I wouldn’t have been 5-19,” Brown promised.

In 1969, Dee Rowe was hired and helped lead the program back to respectability. And, of course, when Jim Calhoun took over in 1986, UConn went on to unprecedented success – three national titles, four Final Fours, etc.

For all his success – induction into Naismith Hall of Fame, only coach to win NBA and NCAA titles – Brown doesn’t look back on what could have been had he taken the UConn job.

“Nobody could’ve done what Jim (Calhoun) did, what Dee did,” Brown noted. “Except Dee played that damn 2-3 zone.”

In fact, Brown has few regrets at all when it comes to his coaching career. Still, the one thing he might have done differently is stay in the college game a bit longer.

“I’ve been so lucky,” he said. “Coach Maguire and Coach Smith and Coach (John) McLendon were really mentors for me. Coach Smith spent 36 years at North Carolina. If you go over his first five years – the scandal when he got the job, there were a lot of issues – they were not smooth for him. I would’ve liked to have been able to stay at one place. Even though I love the pros, I wouldn’t change one of those jobs for anything, I just think I’m more of a college coach. But I think as a pro coach now, you’re coaching college kids.

“I would’ve liked to have had the opportunity to have families come back, ex-players come back. That’s why I love being here now. (Saturday), we’re going to have a lot of ex-players coming back. I used to take a lot of pride in Coach Smith remembering everybody’s name, every family member’s name. There was some continuity to being a Carolina player.”

There will be a family atmosphere on Saturday against UConn. Some of Brown’s former NBA players – including Allen Iverson and Dikembe Mutombo – are expected to be at the game. And, of course, so will UConn coach Kevin Ollie, who played with Iverson and Mutombo under Brown with the 76ers in 2000-01.

"I’m proud of Kevin, I admire what he’s done and what he’s going to continue to do,” said Brown. “But, it’s like playing against Danny (Manning), there’s no fun in that. But, the one nice thing is, when you play Connecticut, you know you’re in a big-time conference, playing against the type of team that I was hopeful we’d have the opportunity to play when we came here.”

Some notes, quotes (and later, some video) from UConn's practice today, in preparation for Saturday night's bout with Washington at 7:30 p.m. at the XL Center:

The Huskies visited the Newtown Youth Academy on Thursday, and it was a rewarding experience for all involved.

Said Omar Calhoun: “It was definitely a good experience. The kids started smiling, it’s good to see smiles on their faces. It reminded me as a kid. It was definitely a good time.”

Added Ryan Boatright: "It was a good experience, something to bring happiness to that town and bring smiles to those kids' faces. I know they've been through a lot. To be able to go down there as a team and help them have a good time and take their minds away from the tragedy was a good experience."

*** Ollie said his team needs to improve in several areas (besides the obvious: rebounding), including keeping opponents' shooting percentages down and other things that may not be readily apparent to the naked eye. But most of all, the team must play with toughness and energy, he said.

“We don’t have the Rudy Gays, we don’t have those guys. And that’s alright. We’ll do it collectively together, and we’ll try to fight through different things, we’ll be fine. But we can’t lack on the energy, the effort, the ball pressure, the steals. Everybody knows the Big East is going to be tough, so we’re going to have do some of the things that we haven’t been doing well. We’re going to have to do better to win games. And I’m sure we’ll do that.”

Tyler Olander essentially echoed those thoughts:

“Mental toughness, focus, really just putting a body on someone, getting back to the fundamentals of hitting your man and keeping him out," he said regarding areas that need improvement. "When the shot goes up, we just turn and try to find the ball instead of going to hit someone. Then, we end up underneath the rim. It’s really a matter of keeping your man out.”

Olander had five points and six rebounds in 17 minutes against Fordham last week, which could be viewed as a step in the right direction from what's been a very disappointing junior season thus far.

"Yes, he’s turned the corner," Ollie said, with a smile. "Let’s keep believing. Write it."

Olander said his move from the starting lineup to the bench behind Enosch Wolf a few games ago gave him a kick in the pants.

“It definitely did, right away in practice, when coach put Enosch in with the first five. I knew I wasn’t producing or playing well, so that kind of woke me up a little more and made me say, ‘I’ve got to pick it up a little more for this team. I know they’re going to need me down the road.’ And it was good for Enosch, as well, to get his confidence up, because we’re going to need him, as well.”

But he said retrurning to the starting lineup isn't the most important thing in the world to him.
"I'm going to work to get back in, but if I don’t, I’m still going to work harder and harder and harder every time, so it doesn’t really impact me like that.”

*** Ryan Boatright said the chemistry on this year's team is miles ahead of what it was a year ago.

"Everybody’s playing well, me and Shabazz are clicking, we have a great thing going. The chemistry’s good. We just need to rebound, man. The more possessions we can get for ourselves, it’s better for us.”

He continued: “We’re all getting along, joking around. But when it’s time to get serious, we do. The chemistry here is extremely good."

*** Former UConn head coach Dee Rowe was at Gampel with a bandage covering his nose, a result of a skin cancer operation he recently had. Rowe had to get a skin graft from around his ear (which was also bandaged).

*** With all due respect to Jim Calhoun, I don't recall him ever being this, shall we say, participatory in practice:

UConn coach Kevin Ollie and various players met with the media Sunday to talk about Tuesday night's Jimmy V Classic bout with NC State at Madison Square Garden (start time is listed as 9 p.m., but don't expect it to start any time before 9:30 p.m. The Georgetown-Texas tilt tips off at 7 p.m.)

We had some notes, quotes and video on a few items on yesterday's blog, and here's some more specific, NC State-oriented stuff in advance of the game:

*** The Wolfpack are well-balanced, with six players averaging in double figures. T.J. Warren, a 6-8 freshman forward, leads the way at 15.3 per game, followed by Richard Howell at 14.1 ppg and a team-leading 7.8 rebounds per contest. Howell, a bruising 6-8, 257-pound junior, is shooting a whopping 74 percent from the floor.

C.J. Leslie, the ACC preseason player of the year, checks in at 11.7 and 7.5. Highly-touted freshman Rodney Purvis, a one-time heavy UConn recruit, averages 10 points per game. He had started NC State's first five games until the Wolfpack's last game, a Nov. 27 loss at Michigan.

*** Ollie on NC State (and a little Omar Calhoun on the New York native's first-ever chance to play on the Madison Square Garden floor):




*** Obviously, the Jimmy V Classic is near and dear to NC State, though this is only its second time participating in the event (2002). Jim Valvano coached the Wolfpack for 10 seasons, winning the national championship in 1983. He died of cancer in 1993, two weeks after giving his inspirational "Don't Ever Give Up" speech at the ESPYs.

NC State will pay tribute to Valvano on Tuesday by wearing specially-designed jerseys. The red road jersey features a net design around the collar and shoulders, reminiscent of Valvano wearing the nets following the '83 title. On the back of each jersey is the famous line, "Don't Ever Give Up" (which was first heard during a pregame speech on Feb. 21, 1993, prior to NC State's bout with Duke). The V Foundation's "V" logo will also be on the jersey.

Besides his obvious strong ties to NC State (he was the schools athletic director for three years, as well), Valvano does share a connection with UConn, as we also noted in yesterday's blog.

Ollie never got a chance to meet Valvano, but still was able to garner a tremendous amount of respect for the man.

"I just knew him through Coach (Dee) Rowe," Ollie said. "He told me different things that made a difference in his life, just the wonderful people that he touched. Just to be around all his family members back in New York (in October) was a great thing, to understand who he was, what he'd done. His legacy lives a long time. That shows a great, successful man, when he can die and his legacy of him helping people beyond basketball ... it's just a great situation for us to play and honor a great man."

*** Here's what NC State coach Mark Gottfried had to say about UConn in his weekly press conference, courtesy of gopack.com. He spends about the first 3:13 on the Huskies.

*** Playing at MSG is old hat for some UConn players like Shabazz Napier. It never gets old, though.

"It's big, man," Napier noted. "It's like playing at the Apollo. The light's are on, the atmosphere is crazy. that's the basketball Mecca, right there."

Omar Calhoun said he's expecting a "packed house, the crowd screaming, yelling, and everybody going out there and going hard."

Why didn't the Brooklyn native ever get a chance to play at the Garden before? For one, he went to a Catholic school (Christ the King), and they play their championships at Fordham. The public schools play their championships at MSG.

As UConn prepares to face No. 18 NC State in the Jimmy V Classic on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, it's worth noting that Jim Valvano shares connections with both schools.

That's right: Valvano's first full-time, Division I job was as Dee Rowe's assistant coach at UConn from 1970-72. After graduating from Rutgers, Valvano spent one season at Division III Johns Hopkins before joining Rowe's staff. Ironically, they were the only two losing seasons of Rowe's head coaching career.

(Here's Jimmy V and fellow UConn assistant Billy Kilbaugh (left), circa 1970-71, courtesy of UConn sports info department) ----->>>>

"I uswed to speak at dinners honoring Jim," Rowe told UConn men's basketball SID Phil Chardis, "and all these people would get up and say what a great coach he was. And I would say, 'He isn't that great. Those were two of the worst years I ever had in coaching.' He was great at keeping me from jumping into the Connecticut RIver."

Valvano let UConn in 1972 to become head coach at Bucknell, and later moved on to Iona and, of course, NC State, where he won the national title in 1983.

Jim Calhoun was at the Aqua Turf Club in Southington this evening to present Dee Rowe with the Community Service Award at the 2012 Franciscan Sports Banquet and Silent Auction.

New York Giants Chris Snee, David Diehl and Kevin Boothe were also there to receive the Saint Francis Award.

Calhoun had plenty to say about the status of both himself and the UConn program right now. Here's some of what he had to say:

(What will UConn be playing for next year?)

“There’s a lot to play for … Every game that we’ve ever played, in it’s own way, has had some special importance.

(Warde Manuel said he had no doubt you'll coach team next year. Is it even worth us asking you that question anymore?)

“It’s really not worth asking … right now, everything we’re doing is planning on next year. Last year, quite frankly, after the championship, there was time to pause. ‘OK, you’re at this particular pinnacle, what do you do from here?’ But right now … I really donm’t start thinking about the road trips, etc., until August or September ... The important thing is how I feel as a coach, and am I able to give my kids everything I possibly can. The fact that I have two years on my contract doesn’t mean anything … there’s really nothing to talk about, in my mind. If I decide it’s not the year, it’s not the year.  I love the staff, love the kids coming in, love the guys coming back.”

“The first thing Warde Manuel told me was, 'I played for Bo Schembechler, who made all his decisions on how he wanted to do it.' Dean Smith did it the exact same way. He retired on Oct. 1 … My point being, I never feel rushed. I knew we had to get through the semester, we did exceptionally well, I know we had to get a few more players to add to the roster, and I know I’m talking on the phone to a lot of recruits.”

(How's recruiting going?)

“Couple kids coming up in June, I would think August would be a very big month for us. Quite a few kids scheduled for unofficial visits.”

(What's the most important thing to incoming recruits?)

“Three letters: N-B-A ... If you say to a kid, ‘I remember going down to Dalzell, S.C., No. 34 – the number (Ray Allen) wore at that time – and now we’ve got two kids in the draft, both probably lotteries, and Rudy Gay, Caron Butler, the whole thing. That seems to be the best advertisement we have going, particularly because not a lot of those kids were McDonald’s All-Americans."