Gavitt sure gave it his all

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Hall of Fame plaque will say ''Contributor," but the appellation he will always cherish is ''Coach."

''If I'm in a hotel lobby, and I hear someone say, 'Hey, Coach,' I always turn my head," says Dave Gavitt.

He's not flattering himself, either.

''I think if Dave had stayed coaching, he'd be in the Hall of Fame as a coach today," maintains Hall of Famer C.M. Newton. ''He was that good."

''He was a brilliant coach, not just a good coach," says his old friend Dee Rowe, the former Worcester Academy and University of Connecticut coach who is as close to the conscience of New England basketball as anyone alive. ''He had as good a feel, a sense, an understanding of the game and the people who played it as anyone who has ever been in the game, and he was able to transmit that to all around him. It was almost a tragedy he gave up coaching at age 43."

''I gave up coaching too soon," Gavitt concedes, ''but I did it for two reasons. I had children who were 13 and 14 at the time, and between coaching and being the [Providence College] athletic director, I was not able to be there for them enough of the time."

The second reason? Well, that's where this ''Contributor" path to the Naismith Hall of Fame probably begins.

There had been an idea rummaging around Gavitt's head for some time, and he knew that as long as he was coaching he would not be able to implement it. The idea was the Big East Conference.

''I thought I could do it," he says, ''but I knew I couldn't do it if I were still actively coaching."

Gavitt always had vision. He had already realized the potential of the international game, and so had injected himself into the forefront of America's participation back in the mid-'70s. That path led to him being named coach of the 1980 Olympic basketball team, the one denied participation in Moscow by virtue of President Carter's boycott.

Now he was incorporating the parochial concerns of Providence College with the concerns of the general Eastern basketball community. He took a bunch of isolated Eastern schools trying to figure out where they fit in the college basketball world, and forged them into a powerful unit based on urban population centers and television markets.

With the Big East established as a major force in college basketball, Gavitt was now positioned as a significant power broker. Who else had proven that he possessed coaching, administrative, and business sense to the degree of a Dave Gavitt? The answer, of course, is ''nobody."

Soon, the obvious answer to all questions basketball was ''Dave Gavitt."

Who should be chairman of the NCAA Tournament committee? Dave Gavitt.

Who should be head of the 1984 Olympic team selection committee? Dave Gavitt.

Who is the obvious consultant/adviser/confidant/mentor in any matter concerning the welfare of college basketball? Dave Gavitt.

Who is needed to take charge of the Boston Celtics as they negotiate the move from the Big Three Era to the Reggie Lewis Era? Dave Gavitt.

Who should be the administrative leader of the original Dream Team? Dave Gavitt.

All this leads to an obvious question: Why did it take this long for the Hall of Fame to honor Gavitt?

He is New England, through and through. He is a native of Peterborough, N.H. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College. He was an assistant to Rowe at Worcester Academy. He was an assistant and head coach at Providence. He still lives near Providence and he has a house on the Cape. His friends, his frames of reference, his experiences all have to do with New England basketball. And he has forgotten none of them.

''He has never forgotten those who have touched him along the way," declares Rowe, who cites himself as Exhibit A. ''The greatest honors I've ever had in my career have been provided by Dave Gavitt."

His roots speak to New England, but his influence has been felt nationwide and he is a true man of the basketball world. During his tenure as chairman of the NCAA selection committee, for example, the decision was made to expand to 64 teams, and with one annoying exception (the reprehensible play-in game that never would have taken place on his watch, I am sure), that is where it thrives today.

It was also during his chairmanship that the tournament was broadened geographically, with brackets constructed to diversify and equalize the field. You can almost say there was a Before and After, with regard to the Gavitt stewardship.

How did he do this? He did it because he is smart, charming, persuasive, and, ultimately, reasonable. ''He is also the greatest listener I've ever known in sports," Rowe points out.

''If you look at his contributions," says Newton, ''Dave Gavitt is the Hall of Fame. To me, the ultimate success story is someone who has been a great success himself and who then makes contributions to make sure that other people have success. That is what Dave Gavitt has done. He's given back much more than he's taken."

The amazing accomplishments are all on the record. What the public doesn't know is the Dave Gavitt many of us have been privileged to know. I am thinking of a day back in the '70s, a time when Providence was the epicenter of New England college basketball, Gavitt was the coach, and Mike Tranghese was the sports information director. Gavitt was chatting with some writers when he said, ''Will you guys find Tranghese a job so he can get paid what he's worth?"

We never could. But Gavitt did. Mike Tranghese succeeded Dave Gavitt as commissioner of the Big East. Dave Gavitt did what he needed to do. It just took a little time.