Rollie Massimino

American basketball coach (1934-2017)

Roland Vincent "Rollie" Massimino (November 13, 1934 – August 30, 2017) was an American basketball coach and player. He was born in Hillside, New Jersey.

Massimino in March 2009

Massimino was the head men's basketball coach at Keiser University in West Palm Beach, Florida,[1] a position he had held since 2014, and at Northwood University from 2004 to 2014. Massimino previously served as the head men's basketball coach at Stony Brook University (1969–1971), Villanova University (1973–1992), the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (1992–1994), and Cleveland State University (1996–2003).

At Villanova, he led his 1984–85 team to the NCAA Championship. Entering the 1985 NCAA Tournament as an eighth seed, Villanova defeated their heavily favored Big East Conference foe, the Georgetown Hoyas, who had Patrick Ewing, in the National Championship Game. The upset is widely regarded as one of the greatest in North American sports history.[2]

Massimino died on August 30, 2017 of lung cancer in West Palm Beach, Florida at the age of 82.

References change

  1. "Rollie Massimino". KEISER UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS. Keiser University. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  2. Carey, Jack (March 15, 2010). "Efficient '85 Villanova team mounted tourney's greatest upset". USA Today. Retrieved October 16, 2011.

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