| Wins against Kentucky - 0 | Losses against Kentucky - 1 |
Alma Mater: Dartmouth [1959]
Hometown: Rumford, RI
Date Born: October 26, 1937
Date Died: September 16, 2011
Overall Record: 227-117 [12 Seasons]
| Date | Matchup | UK Result | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3/18/1976 | Kentucky vs. Providence | W | 79 - 78 | NIT (at New York, NY) |
Obituary - SI.com (September 17, 2011)
Dave Gavitt, one of basketball's most influential leaders the last three decades, has died. He was 73.
His death Friday night after a long illness was confirmed by his family Saturday. He died in a hospital near his hometown of Rumford, R.I.
Gavitt was a member of the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame and the first commissioner of the Big East Conference. He led Providence to the Final Four in 1973 and started the Big East offices there in 1979.
He was selected to coach the U.S. Olympic team in 1980, but the United States boycotted the Moscow Games. Gavitt was president of USA Basketball and oversaw the introduction of NBA players onto the U.S. Olympic roster, including the Dream Team at the 1992 Games.
Gavitt was the key force in the forming of the Big East Conference, and he served as its first commissioner from 1979 until 1990. He served on the NCAA's Division I Basketball Committee from 1980-84 and was its chairman from 1982-84 when the tournament expanded to 64 teams and the first of its contracts with CBS was negotiated.
When he left the Big East, Gavitt joined the Boston Celtics front office as a vice president, succeeding Red Auerbach in running the franchise. He was fired in 1994.
Gavitt served as chairman of the Basketball Hall of Fame, to which he was inducted in 2006. He was president of the NCAA Foundation and worked as tournament director of the Maui Invitational from 2005 until 2009.
Born Oct. 26, 1937 in Westerly, R.I., Gavitt played basketball and baseball at Dartmouth, graduating from the Ivy League school in 1959. He was an assistant coach to Joe Mullaney at Providence for two years before starting his head coaching career in 1967 at Dartmouth, where he was 18-33 in two seasons.
He succeeded Mullaney at Providence in 1969 and led the Friars to a 209-84 record over 10 seasons with a .713 winning percentage that is still the best in school history. The Friars reached the NCAA tournament five times under Gavitt, including 1973 when Ernie DiGregorio and Marvin Barnes led the team to the Final Four. He became athletic director in 1971.
The Big East formed in 1979, with Providence, Georgetown, Syracuse, St. John's, Seton Hall, Boston College and Connecticut the original members. Villanova joined the next year. One of Gavitt's biggest moves was to have the new league become working partners right away with another new entity, ESPN.
"That ESPN came along as we did was very fortunate for us, and how we worked together benefited both tremendously,'' Gavitt said.
He also moved the conference postseason tournament to New York's Madison Square Garden, where it has played before sellout crowds since 1983. The conference's high point came in 1985 when it became the only league to have three teams in the Final Four.
"We were so fortunate in so many ways at the outset,'' Gavitt said. "We put together a solid foundation with a good plan, but we were fortunate to have four coaches who were going to be at their schools for a long time in John Thompson, Louie Carnesecca, Jimmy Boeheim and Rollie Massimino, and having them stay in place was very significant.''
Gavitt led USA Basketball from its days of a strictly amateur organization to one that would bring the NBA and its players to a worldwide stage every four years starting with the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Gavitt knew he needed the NBA to be a partner with USA Basketball.
"I wanted USA Basketball to be the 28th NBA team, outside the family,'' Gavitt said. "I wanted NBA Properties, who are so good at what they do, to take our mark and represent us as our licensee and to help us get sponsorship.''
Gavitt's business acumen drew as much praise as his coaching.
"The rest of the world has learned much from Dave Gavitt about basketball and he has taught us much more than just on the court,'' said Alexander Gomelsky, coach of the Soviet Union's 1988 gold medal team. "He understands basketball as a business and has shown many countries the right way to do things. Everybody studies this because it is a fantastic business.''
Gavitt is survived by his wife, Julie, and three sons, including Dan, an assistant commissioner with the Big East.
