University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Celebrates 50th Anniversary Of YanCon Champs On Jan. 26
1/20/2020 12:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
STORRS --- Fifty years ago, the University of Connecticut was trying to find a way to revive its men's basketball program. Consecutive losing seasons had knocked UConn off its pedestal as one of the top hoop programs in the Yankee Conference and New England.
UConn took a gamble by entrusting the rebuilding job to a head coach who had been successful at the prep school level, but who had never coached a college game. Not only did UConn hit the jackpot by taking a chance on Coach Donald "Dee" Rowe, but the move has been paying dividends for the last 50 years.
Rowe came to UConn in 1969-70 from Worcester Academy and had an immediate impact, completely turning the program around and leading his very first team to the Yankee Conference championship.
UConn will honor the 50th anniversary of that remarkable season on Sunday, Jan. 26, when the current edition of the Huskies play host to Tulsa at the XL Center in Hartford, with game time set for noon. Coach Rowe and many of his players from that team, including career 1,000-point scorers Bob Staak and Bob Boyd, are expected to be on hand.
Rowe took a team that had struggled under .500 the previous season to a 14-9 mark and a Yankee Conference title with an 8-2 league mark. UConn was voted the Most Improved Team in New England and Rowe, in his first year at the helm, was honored as the NABC District I (New England) Coach of the Year.
Rowe went on to lead the Huskies to many more wins, two trips to the National Invitation Tournament, and a magical ride to the ECAC Tournament Championship and the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 in 1975-76.
Since his retirement from coaching, Rowe has continued to serve UConn Athletics, the university, and the state as a global ambassador, touching the lives of thousands in his role as Special Adviser to Athletics, a position he holds to this day.
But it all began 50 years ago with Rowe's first UConn team in 1969-70, a team worth celebrating.
