Tribute to my dad (1940 - 2022): Wallace Bruce Whittaker

[DanInAZ]

Moderators - Forgive me if this isn't the right place to submit this. while this is about my dad it also about URI, URI basketball, and our bond with college basketball.

Link in case you miss it down below:

Stevens Athletics Mourns the Passing of Wally Whittaker

Tribute to my dad, Wally Whittaker. I hope some of you take the time to read it.

Dad please forgive me for forgetting so much over the years. The following is what I can recall just thinking over an hour or two as I do this for remembrance and therapy and as a tribute to you. It took me two months to even make an attempt to honor you.

On April 10th of this year my dad’s last breath was taken after succumbing to Alzheimers.

He is the reason I ended up going to Rhode Island, as he was friends with the former URI football coach Bob Griffin. They grew up in the same hometown in Connecticut, born the same year (1940).

My dad was a superior athlete. He was his high school class president in Milford, captain of the basketball team, captain of the baseball team. He has been a head college basketball coach (10 years), a head college baseball coach (14 years), he has also been an assistant coach/advisor in the following sports at the college level - tennis, lacrosse, squash, bowling, badminton. He has coached Olympic athletes, a woman on a men’s team, a hall of fame football player and perhaps the greatest running back/greatest lacrosse player in history – Jim Brown. He has coached all-star teams. He was mentored by one of the biggest advocates for the 45 second shot clock and the 3 point line in college basketball, Ed Steitz, at Springfield College.

He is in the Basketball of Fame (as Captain of Springfield College's men's basketball team).

His nicknames were ‘Wee-wee’ and ‘Silk’ (apologies Carlton but he had it first).

He hit a half court shot on his first date with my mom while at Springfield. He was a member of the coaches association in New Jersey and coached against former Rhode Island assistant coach John Carroll when John was at Bloomfield College.

He became Assistant Athletic Director when in his interview for the role as Athletic Director he recommended one of his peers instead.

He was given an award by a referee’s association when he retired from coaching for the way he treated others – with respect. He never grandstanded or got into unnecessary arguments. He would sit down on the bench, after a huddle or making a signal to his point guard. He didn’t like when coaches stood up, walked in front of their teams. He always believed that one didn’t need to stand up to communicate with their players.

Most of you would not like him as a basketball coach. He didn’t like to recruit. He liked to teach. He didn’t win many games for most seasons he was at the helm of the Steven’s Tech’s men’s team. He would sometimes get boo’ed by his own fans. I know I was there for a few of them. He was never on TV. Our family always knew when he lost. He would come home, hang up his suit jacket, and start cleaning or vacuuming.

He could pick up any sport and excel at it, minus soccer (he would often tell me he would have played in HS if they had a team since he played basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring). He never hit a home run in the Major Leagues. He never scored a TD in the NFL. In the 55 years I was lucky to know him, I never beat him 1v1 in a game of hoops, even when I was in my 30’s and he was in his mid-50s (gave up in my 40s). His weight fluctuated between 153 and 157 pounds for all the years I knew him, minus the last two months.

Perhaps his greatest athletic accomplishment: I can count on one hand the number of times he missed a free throw. That is over 40 years of playing 5v5, 3v3, 1v1, half court, full court, you name it. When he played the game ‘taps’ (some of you may know this as ‘21’), if he shot the ball from the free throw line the game was over sans his partner’s attempts. He would often take a free throw underhand or leftie and still make every shot. Two things drove him crazy - missed free throws and mental mistakes on the court. He would sometimes quip

He was often the steady QB when we played football with our friends growing up. He would teach them how to throw a curveball. He was the steady pitcher when we played baseball. He would often throw the ball for batting practice when he was a college coach because he did it better than anyone. He would throw a perfect pitch virtually every time.

While many of my college friends went to Florida or the Caribbean I went home to watch college basketball with my dad.

He became a huge Rhode Island basketball fan because of me. We bonded annually watching March Madness. We watched Larry vs Magic together. We watched NC State vs Houston together. We watched Villanova vs Georgetown together. We watched when Princeton almost beat Georgetown. We watched the URI 1988 games together. We watched the game when Lamar hit the shot that put URI into the tourney. We watched the 1998 games together. He was there to hug me when we lost to Stanford.

He was a leader of men.
He was the nicest person I have ever known.
He was the most honest, caring, genuine person too.
He had no vices other than wanting to spend as much time with his family.
He was humble. He never displayed his trophies in high school or college. His parent’s didn’t know about them until the day they helped him pack after he moved out and got married. It took my mom to get him to put up some plaques on our home’s walls.
He would get down on one knee when he talked with his children, grandchildren, and his great grandchildren.
He would always tell us why he made a decision.
He was the leader of our family.
He was my dad.

I love you dad. Our dream to see the NY Rangers win a Stanley Cup was fulfilled in June of 1994. Our shared dream to see Rhode Island get to a Final Four will live on until my dying breath.

Link to my dad’s tribute by the college where he coached in the 1960s, 1970’s, 1980s, 1990’s.

Stevens Athletics Mourns the Passing of Wally Whittaker

[PeterRamTime]

Love it Dan!

Long live the impact your father had on you, your family and this world!

Loved this!

[Rhody74]

Certainly appropriate to remember a Rhody fan who molded so many athletes. Thanks for posting!

[Ramulous]

Allah yerhamoo!

[Jdrums#3]

Thanks for posting, Dan. Excellent tribute to a very accomplished, yet humble, man.

[Blue Man]

Sorry for your loss Dan. This is an awesome tribute and the stories are a testament to the life your father lived, and the impact he had on so many.

A life well lived and a family well raised. We should all be so lucky.

[RAM67]

Great tribute to your dad Dan.
May you rest in peace Wally, job well done.

[theblueram]

Sorry for your loss Dan. Terrific tribute to your dad!!!!

[jcru]

Beautifully stated.

[Jersey77]

Nice Dan, glad you shared this with us.

[phipsiGD'11]

I'm not crying, you're crying...

Gotta go call my dad now.

[Rhody83]

I live in WMass. The Steitz family lived in the town my wife grew up in (and we have lived in for 34 years). She was good friends with Ed’s son Bob. I have met their family several times. Bob is Associate AD at Villanova now.

I have been to the Springfield College HoF. I am sure I went by your father’s plaque.

Great tribute.

[DanInAZ]

Thank you for all the comments. It was very nice of each and every one of you.

I wanted to write something because he certainly played a part with me going to Rhody. My dad has been able to go to a few Final Fours on his own because of being a coach and part of the coaching association. I think the last one he was at was in 1981 in Philadelphia.

[reef]

Thank you for all the comments. It was very nice of each and every one of you.

I wanted to write something because he certainly played a part with me going to Rhody. My dad has been able to go to a few Final Fours on his own because of being a coach and part of the coaching association. I think the last one he was at was in 1981 in Philadelphia.

That was Indiana v UNC with a Presidential assassination attempt