Basketball NCAA Championships

Watching the NCAA basketball championships this past week brings me back to part of my life that I will always treasure. When I was in my early 20’s I was a CYO basketball coach and I will never forget coaching St. Leo’s  to the Brooklyn Dioceses Championship .Many great athletes and coaches came out of my home town Corona….One such coach who became one of my all time favorites   was Jimmy Valvano. Jimmy learned his basketball in the playgrounds of Corona, he attended St. Leo’s Catholic School. I am so proud to come from the same town as him and to have attended the same school. He has and always will be part of what made me a successful coach.

Jimmy’s North Carolina State Wolfpack  Team won the NCAA Championship. He was a New York City street-smart coach who rose to the ranks of being one of the best college coaches in the business. Jimmy died at a very young age of cancer. When he was awarded the Arthur Ash Courage and Humanitarian Award he announced the creation of the “V-Foundation”. and organization dedicated to find the cure for cancer.At the awards dinner, Jimmy gave a fantastic speech. One particular poignant section of Valvano’s speech is as follows:

To me, there are three things we all should do every day. We should do this every day of our lives. Number one is laugh. You should laugh every day. Number two is think. You should spend some time in thought. And Number three is, you should have your emotions moved to tears, could be happiness or joy. But think about it. If you laugh, you think, and you cry, that’s a full day. That’s a heck of a day. You do that seven days a week, you’re going to have something special. He ended his speech saying ” Don’t ever give up”….Don’t ever give up !

                            

Jimmy Valvano at the ESPN Awards                Winning the NCAA Championship