Villanova celebrates basketball legend
Mike Sheridan

In athletics, numbers help define greatness. Long after an athlete's career comes to an end, they offer succeeding generations a glimpse into the past.

The aggregate numbers of those in attendance at the Block V Club's "Legend of Villanova Basketball" gala on Oct. 27 give us a glimpse into the historic nature of the evening.

On hand were 13 of the 14 top scorers in the program's 81-year history, including all-time scoring leader Kerry Kittles '96.

Seven All-Americans were in the house, among them the first (Paul Arizin, '50) and the most recent (Michael Bradley).

Villanova's two NCAA Final Four Most Valuable Players, Howard Porter and Ed Pinckney '85, were there as well.

Former head coaches Jack Kraft (1961-73) and Rollie Massimino (1973-92), the only two men to take the program to the NCAA Final (in 1971 and '85 respectively) were present as well.

In sum there were more than 44,000 Villanova points and 17,000 Villanova rebounds seated at the tables that night, not to mention 595 coaching victories and an NCAA title.

"This is," said University President Rev. Edmund J. Dobbin in his remarks to the audience, "a special evening."

Indeed, statistics weren't the primary topic of conversation among the 30 legends who arrived early for a private reception in the President's lounge prior to the main event in the Villanova Room.

"One of the greatest things for me to see is the advancement in their lives that the people who played for you have made," said Kraft, who owns the school's all-time career winning percentage (.715) record. "To see what they are doing now and how successful a lot of them are, is so rewarding."

Two his successors, Massimino and new head coach Jay Wright echoed those sentiments.

"This is a very, very special evening and it's so wonderful to see so many great student-athletes return after many years and to see how they have grown into mature men," said Massimino. "You see the friendships that are still there and it's really, really wonderful."

Added Wright: "You hear so much about the Dukes, North Carolinas and UCLAs and those are all great programs. But you look at Villanova and see success on the court and beyond that. Just take a look at what some of these players have become.

"Rory Sparrow '80 runs the development program for the entire National Basketball Association. He is the person who works with young players to help them become acclimated to their environment. They entrusted that job to a Villanova guy.

"Bill Melchionni '66 enjoyed a great pro career with the New York Nets. But he didn't stop there. He has spent the last 23 years working on Wall Street.

"George Raveling '60 went on to become a successful coach at Washington State, Iowa and USC. Today he runs the Nike Grassroots Basketball program.

"We all remember Harold Jensen '87 as the man who hit those big shots in the 1985 championship game. Today he has built a very successful company of his own.

"Those stories of what these men have become beyond Villanova is what helps make this program unique and why I am so glad to be a part of it again."

Of course, the evening was full of fond memories too.

Father Dobbin spoke of watching Arizin as a youngster. Kittles and Bradley both made a special effort to meet the man who on Feb. 12, 1949 scored 85 points in a game for the Wildcats. Others in the room smiled at the memories of Larry Hennessy '53, who averaged 23.2 ppg in his three varsity seasons playing for the late head coach Alex Severance. Massimino made note of former player Joe Walters '45, a key figure in the success of the Severance era as an assistant coach to the man who won more games (413) than any other one in the program's history.

One era seemingly melted into the next.

Jim Washington '65, the second leading rebounder in school history, went on to a distinguished professional career with the St. Louis and Atlanta Hawks along with several other stops in the NBA. Currently he serves as the Community Relations Liaison for the Atlanta Hawks. Yet he hasn't forgotten his senior season.

"I can specifically recall a game with Wichita State at the Palestra," said Washington of the contest that was played on Dec. 28, 1964. "There were a lot of expectations for me that year and I don't believe I was handling it that well. I simply wasn't playing the way I knew I could.

"Wichita State was a very good team with two outstanding players, Nate Bowman and Dave Stallworth. Well, as it often does, the competition elevated my play. I had a very good game that night and then things picked up the rest of the way."

Washington, a 6-7 forward from Philadelphia's West Catholic High School went on to post the school's single season rebounding record with 15.8 rebounds per game.

A Washington teammate remembered his introduction to Villanova basketball.

"I grew up in this area in Pennsauken, N.J., and I was always sort of enamored of the Big Five," recalled Melchionni, whose No. 25 jersey was retired by the school in 1995. "I used to go to the Palestra to watch the games there and to have the opportunity to play for a school like Villanova in those games made me very proud. My parents and family would come watch the games. To me that was something very special."

Porter came to Villanova from Sarasota, Fla., in 1967. He averaged 22.8 over the course of his career and led the Wildcats to the 1971 NCAA Final.

"I knew Villanova was a very good academic institution," said Porter, who today makes his home in Minneapolis, Minn., and attended the 'Cats game against the University of Minnesota in the 2001 National Invitation Tournament. "I always wanted to go to an all-boys school as a kid growing up and, at that particular time, Villanova was predominately boys.

"What I liked about it was the beauty of the campus. I loved the campus and it is still beautiful today. The reception I got from the people here was tremendous. As an athlete, I felt we had some of the greatest fans in the country."

Porter loved the action in the Palestra too.

"At that time Philadelphia was the hotbed of college basketball," he said. "We had some great individual matchups and one that stands out to me is the one I had with Kenny Durrett of La Salle. He was from Philadelphia and he was a marvelous player. Playing in the Palestra was unreal and playing in our field house was like an extension of the Palestra."

The Massimino era, of course, generated many fond memories too. The 1978 team reached the NCAA Sweet 16 by upending Indiana 61-60.

"I hit a big shot in that game," recalled Sparrow, known as "Mr. Clutch" due to his propensity for draining important baskets. "I can still remember the look on Bobby Knight's face after we won."

John Pinone '83 emerged as one of the top centers in school history during his four years and helped the Wildcats to three appearances in the Final Eight. Today he is a high school basketball coach in his native Connecticut.

"My players think I yell a lot," he said with a laugh. "But I try to tell them it's only half as much as Coach Mass used to yell at us."

Harold Pressley '86 was an integral part of the 1985 championship team that defeated Georgetown 66-64. The 6-5 forward is the last Wildcat to average a double-double for an entire season in 1985-86.

"I still remember the night we came back to campus after we beat North Carolina in 1983," he said. "People were packed into the Field House and they were so excited."

Master of ceremonies Mike Fratello, a former Massimino assistant (1974-78) and currently an NBA analyst on Turner Sports broadcasts, knows exactly where he was on April 1, 1985, the night Villanova shocked the basketball world with its upset of Georgetown in the NCAA Final.

"I was a young head coach of the Atlanta Hawks," he told the audience. "We were playing the Detroit Pistons at Joe Louis Arena that night. I found a cab driver before the game and paid him on the condition that he be waiting for me outside the arena as soon as our game ended. As soon as we got done with the press conference, I raced back to the hotel to watch the game. It was a magical night."

Recent alums of note returned to their roots as well. Kittles, a two-time consensus All-American and 1995 Big East Player of the Year, took time out from his preparation for the New Jersey Nets season to attend. His former teammate Jonathan Haynes '95 was present as well. Haynes now plays professionally in Europe and spent much of his summer working out with the current contingent of the Wildcats.

Bradley flew in from Toronto, where he is rookie with the NBA's Raptors, to attend.

"Villanova was a great experience for me," said Bradley.

Mark Plansky '88, a standout who along with Doug West '89 helped lead the Wildcats to the Final Eight in 1988, echoed that notion.

"I didn't have the opportunity to play in the NBA but I played professionally overseas and in the CBA with a lot of different players who played in top-tier programs," noted Plansky. "I know that most players I played with from Duke, Carolina, Indiana, Illinois, would not go back and do it all over again. You go into the President's Lounge tonight and ask those people if they would have preferred to go to Duke, Carolina, Indiana or somewhere else and they would all tell you they would do things exactly the same way."

Warm feelings were the order of the night.

"The thing that struck me was the reaction of a lot of the former players," said Block V Director Whitey Rigsby '78, who organized the function along with his staff of Ryan McDonough '96 and Steve Pinone '87. "So many came up to me and thanked us for putting this together. It was a wonderful evening for Villanova."

While this night was full of stories from 81 years of success on the hardwood, it was also about the promise of the future.

"Jay Wright is a personal friend and a class act," said Plansky, who knows well the landscape of college basketball from his 11 years as an analyst on ESPN Regional Television. "He is a very enthusiastic guy and we saw at Midnight Mania the appeal and marketing savvy he has. Tonight is another example of the way he brings people together.

"Jay is a great coach and a great recruiter. What makes him a great recruiter is that he's an honest guy. When he comes into a living room and says 'I'm going to take care of your son', it's not just hype. You believe him."

Melchionni lives on Long Island and kept an eye on Wright as he built Hofstra University into a successful program from 1994-2001.

"I knew Jay from when he was here as an assistant at Villanova and then watched him when he was at Hofstra," said Melchionni. "I think Jay will do a very, very good job. We have an opportunity with him to be a very successful program."

The Legend of Villanova Basketball was both a tribute to the past and a bon voyage for the future.

"It turned out to be everything we all hoped it would be," said Rigsby.