Young to Receive Legends Award
Dec 01 | Men's Basketball
DANBURY, Conn. – Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Board of Directors Chair Gene Doris and ECAC President and CEO Dr. Kevin T. McGinniss announced that for the third consecutive year, the ECAC will partner with the Madison Square Garden Holiday Festival presented by Advanced Auto Parts, and will honor five legendary figures in intercollegiate athletics. The 2014 Holiday Festival will be held on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2014.
This year’s event will once again showcase four ECAC institutions, as Rutgers University and Manhattan College (2014 NCAA Tournament 2nd Round) will tip-off at 12:00 p.m. in the opener, while St. John’s University and Fordham University will take the court at 2:00 p.m.
During halftime of the second game, the ECAC will present a Coaching Excellence Award to Tom Young (Rutgers), while John “Jack” Powers (Manhattan College/NIT Executive Director) and Donald “Dee” Rowe (Connecticut) will receive Lifetime Achievement Awards. Additionally, the ECAC will recognize Darryl Brown (Fordham) and Bill Schaeffer (St. John’s) with Special Achievement Awards. This year’s ECAC Legends Awards will be presented by Webster Bank.
Young is the winningest coach in Rutgers men's basketball history (.671), and presided over the greatest era in Scarlet Knight basketball history. His teams won 239 games from 1973-1985, losing just 117. In 1975-76, he reached the pinnacle of his career, guiding the Scarlet Knights to a perfect 26-0 regular season, and a 31-0 start with a trip to the Final Four. Young was named 1975-76 UPI National Coach of the Year and would go on to lead Rutgers to four NCAA Tournament appearances and five NIT’s. The Scarlet Knights reached the round of 16 in the 1978-79 NCAA Tournament and the Final Four of the 1977-78 NIT at Madison Square Garden. He coached a total of eight All-Americans, and 12 of his players went on to be selected in the NBA draft. Young was well known for his ability to teach the center position, helping to groom fellow Rutgers Hall of Famers James Bailey and Roy Hinson.
Powers served as executive director of the National Invitation Tournament from 1988 until August 2005, after spending the previous nine years as the athletics director at his alma mater, Manhattan College. During his tenure, Powers also served on the Executive Council of the Eastern College Athletic Conference and the Intercollegiate Association of Amateur Athletes of America (IC4A), while serving as president of the Metropolitan Basketball Association, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and the Tri-State Soccer League. Additionally, Powers was Manhattan's representative to the Metropolitan Intercollegiate Basketball Association, the sponsoring body of the NIT. He began his career as a high school basketball coach, but returned to Manhattan as the head men's basketball coach in 1968. He led the team for 10 seasons, posting a record of 142-114. His Jaspers won the ECAC Holiday Festival in 1973, and made four appearances in the NIT.
Rowe was the men’s basketball head coach at Connecticut from 1969-77 where he led the Huskies to a NCAA Sweet 16 berth in 1976, three ECAC Tournaments with one championship, and a pair of NIT bids. He earned New England Collegiate Coach of the Year twice during his tenure and served as an assistant coach with the 1980 USA Olympic Men’s Basketball team. He would later be selected for the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. During his tenure, Rowe coached a number of standouts, including New England Player of the Year Tony Hanson, and players such as Jim Abromaitis, John Thomas, Bob Staak, and Jimmy Foster, who were selected in the NBA draft. One of the most respected individuals in UConn athletics history, Rowe is retired, but continues to serve as Special Advisor for Athletics.
Schaeffer was selected as Most Valuable Player of the 1972 ECAC Holiday Festival, leading St. John’s to its third title at the time with wins over Grambling (112-86), Tennessee (56-55), Michigan (85-83), and South Carolina (86-79). All totaled, he poured in 104 points during the tournament. As a senior in 1972-73, he netted 643 points in 26 games for a 24.7 per game average, a school record that still stands today. He set a single season record for field goal percentage that year, shooting .594 from the field and breaking his own previous mark of .581. Schaeffer would earn one of the most prestigious awards in college basketball that year, as he was presented with the Haggerty Award, given to the Most Valuable Player in the Metropolitan area, and was a third team All-America selection by the Associated Press and United Press International. He still ranks 12th on the St. John’s all-time scoring list with 1,484 career points, and ranks 28th all-time with 622 career rebounds. Today, Schaeffer continues to serve his alma mater as Director-University Relations.
Brown was named Most Valuable Player of the 1974 ECAC Holiday Festival, after leading Fordham to an upset of fifth-ranked University of Southern California. Not only did the Rams knock off the powerful Trojans for the title, but they also posted a 17-point decision (83-66) and arguably one of the biggest wins in program history. Brown and his squad, which included All-Tournament Team selection Kevin Fallon, used their speed, pin-point shooting, and a stifling zone defense to ignite a crowd of over 11,000 fans at The Garden. Today, Brown serves as President of Brownboys3, Inc., and is a member of the Fordham University Board of Trustees.
Tickets are on sale now. For ticket information visit the Madison Square Garden Box Office or go to www.thegarden.com.
About the ECAC: In the 76 years since its inception, the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) has emerged as the nation's largest Conference. The ECAC has grown considerably from its charter membership of 58, currently boasting over 300 member schools in Divisions I, II and III, ranging in location from Maine to South Carolina, and westerly to Missouri. In the 2014-15 academic year, the ECAC will host nearly 100 championships in 32 men's and women's sports as the sponsors of over 5,800 varsity teams and 111,000 male and female athletes. For more information, visit www.ecacsports.com.
