idea: Dick Vitale for Rutgers BBALL HoF

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

outside the box.. but he was an assistant forcsome of our bes teams… make it a cancer fundraiser event… with no Prez and no AD it could make some positive news off a negative season

 

[PiscatawayMike]

Nice thought, but no. He was only at RU for two seasons (but did some significant recruiting in those couple years).

If you put Vitale in the RU hoops HOF, you might as well put in Jeff Van Gundy (another assistant who accomplished a lot after a short stay on the banks).

 

[Kbee3]

Vitale is an annoying self-promoter who wasn't here very long.
Also, there were rumors back in the day that his #1 recruit Phil the Thrill came to Rutgers only after he couldn't get in to Notre Dame.
Thank you, Livingston College.

 

[ru66]

Vitale is an annoying self-promoter who wasn't here very long.
Also, there were rumors back in the day that his #1 recruit Phil the Thrill came to Rutgers only after he couldn't get in to Notre Dame.
Thank you, Livingston College.

Vitale doesn't even like Ru. He resents it

 

[DHajekRC84]

No thank you. Glad he's better but he's done nothing for Rutgers after getting screwed in his mind..and maybe he did. But no.
His work for the Valvano Foundation has zero to do with Rutgers.

 

[Hondo77]

Vitale is an annoying self-promoter who wasn't here very long.
Also, there were rumors back in the day that his #1 recruit Phil the Thrill came to Rutgers only after he couldn't get in to Notre Dame.
Thank you, Livingston College.

I wwas at Rutgers back then and what I heard was that Phil found out Notre Dame had recruited Adrian Dantley.

 

[shields]

Never did a game at the RAC which really got me pissed at him.

 

[Loyal_2RU]

I wwas at Rutgers back then and what I heard was that Phil found out Notre Dame had recruited Adrian Dantley.

Vitale word his mother with a home billed Italian dinner. That's my memory

 

[bac2therac]

The time for this was 20-25 years ago not now

 

[PiscatawayMike]

Also, there were rumors back in the day that his #1 recruit Phil the Thrill came to Rutgers only after he couldn't get in to Notre Dame.
Thank you, Livingston College.

In an old NY Times article, it stated Sellers chose to attend ND, but after signing the NLI he began sensing that his shortcomings as a student could jeopardize his eligibility, so he switched to RU, where he could enroll in a program at LC that accepted students of his academic ability. Also, he liked the idea of living far enough from his Brownsville home, but close enough so that his family could see him play.

 

[Mr. Magoo1]

Vitale is an annoying self-promoter who wasn't here very long.
Also, there were rumors back in the day that his #1 recruit Phil the Thrill came to Rutgers only after he couldn't get in to Notre Dame.
Thank you, Livingston College.

Pretty sure that was more than a rumor.

 

[Frabjous_rivals]

Dick Vitale’s act is old and stale, baybee.

 

[RUSCFORMERLYRULOU]

Dick vitale did a big court club commercial during the Wenzel era.

 

[lion1983]

Argh ... no. Awful idea.

Vitale was a high school head coach at East Rutherford High for a few years. He was an assistant coach at RU for, what, 2 years, or was it 3 years - I think it was 2 years, under Dick Lloyd? He DID recruit Sellers and Dabney to RU - especially Sellers ... to his credit. When RU fired Lloyd, Vitale wanted the head coaching job badly, lobbied for it, but was deemed WAY too inexperienced (which he was) .. He was 33 or 34 years old with 7 years as a High School head coach and 2 years as an assistant - and not even the top assistant (though the recruiting assistant).

RU went with Tom Young, a veteran HEAD coach in his early 40's, who had been a head coach for 4 years, and had developed at least 1 college player into an All American ... and had played at Maryland - including being on Maryland's 2 best teams from the inception of its program (in 1922), until Lefty Driesell's 1971-72 team. His credentials were very strong, especially for a program like RU.

Vitale then left RU (I do not know or remember if Young tried to retain him) in a pique - and for decades was pretty vocal about how RU disrespected him by not giving him the head coaching position - he always insisted he deserved it and was screwed. He WAS hired immediately as Detroit's (now Detroit Mercy) head coach - and did very well. He was always a great salesman, FYI - hence a great recruiter. His last season as head coach of Detroit was a terrific one - and had 5 NBA players on it (though HE drafted 4 of them onto the Detroit Pistons as the Piston's head coach, LOL!). In all fairness, John Long and Terry Tyler were both long term and excellent NBA players - to Vitale's credit to find them, recruit them to Detroit Mercy, develop them and then draft them.

Vitale was fired by Detroit 12 games into his 2nd season, and his main claim to NBA fame was being central to the Boston Celtics' rise in the early 1980's. When his star Piston player was signed by Boston (ML Carr), the Pistons got compensation - and Vitale engineered giving up its 2 1st round draft picks to Boston in order to acquire Bob McAdoo from Boston as compensation for Boston signing Carr. Since Detroit was AWFUL, and why Vitale was fired early in his 2nd season, Detorit's pick became the #1 pick, and the other pick was the 13th pick ... Boston traded those 2 picks to Golden St for Golden State's pick (the #3 pick), PLUS Robert Parrish ... and drafted Kevin McHale (a Hall of Famer). Since Boston had drafted Larry Bird2 years prior - but when Bird stayed in college, under the rules then Boston retained his rights as long as they signed him before the NEXT draft - which they did ... so, thanks to Vitale, Boston added the core of their championship teams in a span of 2 drafts: Bird (in the 1978 draft, but signed days before the 1979 draft), then Parrish (through a trade using the draft picks acquired from Vitale) and McHale (drafted in the 1980 draft in the same deal as they got Parrish).

Vitale then accrued his true fame through his continual self-aggrandisment and relentless self-promotion - with the help of the new, and soon dominant in college sports broadcasting, ESPN.

Under no circumstances does he belong in ANY RU Hall of Fame. Jeez.

 

[ancienthooper]

I don’t see the connection to the RU HOF. And no doubt he’s got a schtick and if you want to call it self-aggrandizement or self-promotion, so be it.

All I know is the guy has been a relentless, tireless worker on behalf of pediatric cancer. He’s dedicated a huge part of his life to the fundraising effort, even during his own personal struggles. For that I think he deserves universal admiration.

 

[Kbee3]

Argh ... no. Awful idea.

Vitale was a high school head coach at East Rutherford High for a few years. He was an assistant coach at RU for, what, 2 years, or was it 3 years - I think it was 2 years, under Dick Lloyd? He DID recruit Sellers and Dabney to RU - especially Sellers ... to his credit. When RU fired Lloyd, Vitale wanted the head coaching job badly, lobbied for it, but was deemed WAY too inexperienced (which he was) .. He was 33 or 34 years old with 7 years as a High School head coach and 2 years as an assistant - and not even the top assistant (though the recruiting assistant).

RU went with Tom Young, a veteran HEAD coach in his early 40's, who had been a head coach for 4 years, and had developed at least 1 college player into an All American ... and had played at Maryland - including being on Maryland's 2 best teams from the inception of its program (in 1922), until Lefty Driesell's 1971-72 team. His credentials were very strong, especially for a program like RU.

Vitale then left RU (I do not know or remember if Young tried to retain him) in a pique - and for decades was pretty vocal about how RU disrespected him by not giving him the head coaching position - he always insisted he deserved it and was screwed. He WAS hired immediately as Detroit's (now Detroit Mercy) head coach - and did very well. He was always a great salesman, FYI - hence a great recruiter. His last season as head coach of Detroit was a terrific one - and had 5 NBA players on it (though HE drafted 4 of them onto the Detroit Pistons as the Piston's head coach, LOL!). In all fairness, John Long and Terry Tyler were both long term and excellent NBA players - to Vitale's credit to find them, recruit them to Detroit Mercy, develop them and then draft them.

Vitale was fired by Detroit 12 games into his 2nd season, and his main claim to NBA fame was being central to the Boston Celtics' rise in the early 1980's. When his star Piston player was signed by Boston (ML Carr), the Pistons got compensation - and Vitale engineered giving up its 2 1st round draft picks to Boston in order to acquire Bob McAdoo from Boston as compensation for Boston signing Carr. Since Detroit was AWFUL, and why Vitale was fired early in his 2nd season, Detorit's pick became the #1 pick, and the other pick was the 13th pick ... Boston traded those 2 picks to Golden St for Golden State's pick (the #3 pick), PLUS Robert Parrish ... and drafted Kevin McHale (a Hall of Famer). Since Boston had drafted Larry Bird2 years prior - but when Bird stayed in college, under the rules then Boston retained his rights as long as they signed him before the NEXT draft - which they did ... so, thanks to Vitale, Boston added the core of their championship teams in a span of 2 drafts: Bird (in the 1978 draft, but signed days before the 1979 draft), then Parrish (through a trade using the draft picks acquired from Vitale) and McHale (drafted in the 1980 draft in the same deal as they got Parrish).

Vitale then accrued his true fame through his continual self-aggrandisment and relentless self-promotion - with the help of the new, and soon dominant in college sports broadcasting, ESPN.

Under no circumstances does he belong in ANY RU Hall of Fame. Jeez.

Excellent recap.
I would just add that Vitale's East Rutherford teams did not exactly play at a high level in NJ basketball and he was fortunate enough to have a 6'10 center who some regarded at the time as the second coming of Lew Alcindor.

 

[lion1983]

Excellent recap.
I would just add that Vitale's East Rutherford teams did not exactly play at a high level in NJ basketball and he was fortunate enough to have a 6'10 center who some regarded at the time as the second coming of Lew Alcindor.

That was Les Cason, right? An oops ... as often happens.

Yes, Vitale deserves admiration for his efforts to fund-raise for pediatric cancer. Fine, I admire him for that. FYI, is he the only iwell-known (or even not well-known) person to be a fierce advocate for an awful disease? Should we put him in the RU Hall of Fame (basketball or otherwise) for this? This was the premise of the original post in the thread. Since when does being an assistant coach for 2 years merit even the remotest consideration for ANY Hall of Fame? Its just ridiculous the ideas people come up with.

 

[lion1983]

That was Les Cason, right? An oops ... as often happens.

Yes, Vitale deserves admiration for his efforts to fund-raise for pediatric cancer. Fine, I admire him for that. FYI, is he the only iwell-known (or even not well-known) person to be a fierce advocate for an awful disease? Should we put him in the RU Hall of Fame (basketball or otherwise) for this? This was the premise of the original post in the thread. Since when does being an assistant coach for 2 years merit even the remotest consideration for ANY Hall of Fame? Its just ridiculous the ideas people come up with.

Hey, I have an idea! Jonas Salk was born in NYC, his FATHER was born in New Jersey ... surely Salk drove through NJ many times ... lets put HIM in some RU Hall of Fame! He, after all, discovered the polio vaccine. Maybe he was also a basketball fan.

 

[Kbee3]

That was Les Cason, right? An oops ... as often happens.

Yes, Vitale deserves admiration for his efforts to fund-raise for pediatric cancer. Fine, I admire him for that. FYI, is he the only iwell-known (or even not well-known) person to be a fierce advocate for an awful disease? Should we put him in the RU Hall of Fame (basketball or otherwise) for this? This was the premise of the original post in the thread. Since when does being an assistant coach for 2 years merit even the remotest consideration for ANY Hall of Fame? Its just ridiculous the ideas people come up with.

Yeah...Les Cason.
Les was highly regarded as a high schooler back then, but I always wondered how many teams on East Rutherford's schedule had a player anywhere near his size. And if his coach ever stressed academics to him.

 

[Letitrip]

No. I would rather see Lumby Allen installed in the HOF.

 

[Hondo77]

Yeah...Les Cason.
Les was highly regarded as a high schooler back then, but I always wondered how many teams on East Rutherford's schedule had a player anywhere near his size. And if his coach ever stressed academics to him.

Vitale overhyped him and he could never live up to the expectations. When I watched him play for RU he looked lost on the court.