From the Editor Some Thoughts On My Road To The Final Four Rick Leddy

Some Thoughts on My Road to the Final Four

It really doesn’t seem that long to me, but the reality is that this year in Atlanta, I will be working at the annual NABC Convention and NCAA Final Four for the 35th-consecutive year. As you might expect, during that time there has been considerable change with the convention, the Final Four and the NABC. I’m hopeful that my recollections bring back memories for our older members and provide some historical perspective for others.

My journey with the NABC began following the 1985 NABC Convention. Joe Vancisin was the executive director of the NABC following a long and distinguished career as Yale’s head basketball coach. I was the sports information director at Southern Connecticut State University, about 14 years into my 36-year tenure there.

The local sports editor called to tell me that Joe was looking for some assistance with the NABC and that he had recommended me. I knew nothing about the NABC at the time, but it was a local opportunity with the NABC office located in Branford, Conn.

Not long after meeting, Joe offered me a part-time position to assist with media at the convention and be the secretary for the board of directors. My first assignment was to attend the board’s summer meeting, accompanied by my wife, in July with the NCAA and CBS in Monterey, Calif. I felt like I won the lottery!

Arriving home that afternoon, I told my wife Nancy that I had accepted the offer and that we would be going to the meeting. “Are they going to pay you too?” she said. I assured her there was some compensation involved. Taking minutes of the long meetings held over three to four days by hand on a yellow legal pad, which later had to be typed for publication in the NABC magazine (no laptops or tablets then), seems archaic in this day and age. For me it was the beginning of a journey that not only opened another career opportunity for me but one that enabled most of my family, extended family and friends to experience the very best in college basketball at the Final Four.

The summer meetings with the NCAA and CBS in the early days of my tenure were special, traveling to magnificent venues including the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, the Homestead in Hot Springs, Va., The Sheraton in Eagle Creek, Colo., and several trips to the Monterey Peninsula. The best part of these gatherings was that it was a time when we got to know not only the coaches but their families as well.

My first two NABC conventions were very impactful. At the 1986 NABC Convention in Dallas, my second meeting with the board of directors, Georgetown coach John Thompson, Jr., was the president and the room was full of legendary coaches including Jud Heathcote, Eddie Sutton, Clarence “Big House” Gaines and Johnny Orr. This Hall of Fame group could not have been more welcoming to the newcomer in the room.

A year later, the storyline was much more personal. Our third child and second daughter, Caitlin, was born on March 11 and two weeks later I was in New Orleans, leaving Nancy behind with our three children under age seven. It was a big sacrifice in many ways, especially for Nancy, but the benefits received over the next 30 years helped to mitigate the situation.

Many may remember the Final Four being played in much smaller arenas and none smaller than McNichols Sports Arena in Denver (seating 17,171) in 1990. It was a time when almost everyone there was up close and personal to the action, nothing like the 70,000-plus seat stadiums the games are played in today.

The most memorable play I’ve ever witnessed came in the 1991 national semifinals in Indianapolis as Duke upset defending NCAA champion UNLV. On a Blue Devil fast break, Bobby Hurley threw a high lob to freshman forward Grant Hill on the right wing who had to reach back to slam it home (video is still available on YouTube). You could hear the crowd’s collective gasp throughout the RCA Dome.

The 1992 NABC Convention and Final Four was memorable in a very different way as it marked the retirement of my great friend and mentor, Joe Vancisin, as executive director. Fortunately, we have remained very close throughout the years and I am happy to report that Joe and his wife, LizAnn, ages 97 and 95 respectively, reside in Atlanta near their daughter, Susan. I have tried for years to keep Joe abreast of Yale’s basketball results (“they don’t know the Ivy League exists down here”) and hope to visit with him in April.

Following the 1992 convention, Jim Haney was appointed as executive director, the NABC offices moved to Overland Park, Kan., and a fulltime staff was hired. I am forever grateful to Jim for retaining me as the board secretary while also assisting with other duties during the convention.

As I mentioned briefly earlier in this column, among the best things about my position with the NABC was the ability to invite friends and family to join Nancy and me for the Final Four. In 1995, Seattle, the site of three previous championships and one of my all-time favorite cities, served as the host, marking the last time a Final Four was held in the western time zone until the 2017 event in Phoenix. Our seats for the game happened to be directly in front of seats occupied by Seattle Mariner players Ken Griffey, Jr., and Jay Buhner. Friends who had joined us, Gene and Marilyn Rosadino, had sons who played baseball and my wife thought they would like an autograph from Griffey. He politely explained that he did not want to sign anything but just enjoy the game. Nancy then planned a different strategy. With a large box of Hot Tamale candies in her hand, she noticed Griffey eyeing the sweet treat. “Would you like some Hot Tamales,” she asked Griffey. After he answered in the affirmative, Nancy gave him the box and followed with “well I would like an autograph.” She even gave him the pen.

Taking a big leap forward to February 2007, I retired from my position at Southern Connecticut and

Jim Haney graciously offered me a full-time position as public relations director for the NABC, replacing staff that was taking over operations of the incredible College Basketball Experience in Kansas City.

This year’s NABC Convention in Atlanta will mark a milestone as another mentor and great friend, Jim Haney, will head to the NABC Convention for the final time before retiring in September after an illustrious 28-year tenure. Just the fourth executive director in the history of the association, he has created a significant legacy for the NABC including the creation of the NABC Foundation, which oversees the College Basketball Experience, the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame and the NABC Benevolent Fund to help members in need due to job loss, critical illness and natural disasters.

I feel privileged to work with an outstanding NABC staff and with all of the coaches in the NABC, in every division and category, and look forward to seeing you at the 2020 NABC Convention in Atlanta.