Ernie Digregorio-Providence College Legend
The Most Exciting College Player Ever?
About a month ago someone mentioned to me that they knew Ernie D. No need to say the last name. That was all it took to get my full attention. If you were a sports fan in the early seventies then Ernie DiGregorio was your idol. A starting guard for the Providence College Friars, Ernie DiGregorio was, in my opinion, the most exciting player I have seen in the college game. This was at a time long before the University of Connecticut had risen to national prominence and New England domination; a time when Providence College ruled the hard courts in this region. When I was told I could get an autographed picture of Ernie D, now working for Foxwoods Casino as a celebrity host, my mind drifted back to those earlier years.
Back in 1972 we would be sitting around the television watching channel ten with play by play man Chris Clark calling the action. How we loved to see the diminutive Providence College guard who could shoot the lights out and make passes that were hard pressed to describe, never mind duplicate. If there were three point field goals back then, Ernie DiGregorio would have owned every record associated with them. As deadly a shooter as he was {he averaged over 20 points for his college career}, it was his passing that I remember most of all. He threw a pass in the 1973 Final Four against Memphis State that is still the most splendid assist I have ever seen. Ernie D threaded a three quarter court bullet pass between three defenders to teammate Fran Costello for a lay up. What's the big deal? He threw it behind his back between three disbelieving defenders! When March rolls around and they show the Final Four highlights of years past, watch for this and you will see what I mean.
Ernie DiGregorio made my friends and I, along with a plethora of other kids, so gung ho to play basketball that we would watch Providence College play and then go out to where we had installed a floodlight at a neighbor's house and play until the wee hours of the morning. If it snowed we would shovel the court, much like a young Ernie D used to do at the playground. Out in the cold we would go at it until we could no longer feel our fingers.
Ernie led Providence College to that Final Four in 1973 where they lost in the semifinals to the Memphis State Tigers. With the game a seesaw affair in the first half, Providence College lost star center Marvin Barnes to a leg injury. The Friars eventually succumbed to the Tigers but not before Ernie DiGregorio did his best Davy Crockett imitation, single handedly trying to hold the fort with his 32 points and numerous assists, including the aforementioned behind the back pass. Despite his effort the Friars lost by a score of 98-85, a result that is still one of the biggest disappointments of our lives.
Ernie DiGregorio went on to a solid pro career with the Buffalo Braves, earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1974 and teaming with ultra quick guard Randy Smith to form a dynamic backcourt tandem. His autographed picture now sits in my office and the fact that the person who obtained it for me said that Ernie is one of the nicest people you could ever meet made it more special. How good was Ernie DiGregorio? In one game he shook loose along the base line under the basket for a reverse lay up, an incredible display of body control negated by the referee, who had mistakenly called him for traveling. After the game, this referee got Ernie off to the side and apologized for blowing the call. He couldn't believe anybody could do what Ernie had done without traveling, but replaying it in his head he realized that he hadn't. He should have asked the legions of Ernie DiGregorio fans throughout the area. They knew there was nothing he couldn't do on a basketball court.
Published by Carl Kolchak
I am a freelance article writer married for 15 years to my fabulous wife, Dianne. I live in Connecticut with Dianne and two dogs, along with our cat. I love to write about landscaping,greyhound racing, baseb... View profile
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10 Comments
Post a CommentI still have the vinyl record album "Here Come The Friars". Ernie D. was the best from the top of the key. In that Memphis State game, he fouled out with 32 points and 5 offensive fouls--a couple of them questionable. Then in an exhibition game at Boston Garden against the USSR team later that summer, he put on a passing show that I've never seen before or since.
I forgot about this posting and only stumbled over it today. Regarding Pete, there is no doubt re his gift. One day I'll tell you the story Billy Walsh( All-City Archbishop Malloy NYC '67) told me about Pete's appearance at Press's summercamp Walshie claimed to have attended.... Billy, too, could shoot....better than Colucci or Laaranga or Junior. We can go on and on but the reality is let us not overlook the fact that we share something. The love of the Game and an eye for genius when blessed to witness it. I remember standing upstairs by the AD Office in Alumni Hall peering out over the b-ball court on many, and I mean many, mornings observing Ernie do what some people might consider "goofey stuff". I knew Ernie would be there most weekdays so it became a semi-ritual for me to go, free of charge, and watch whatever it is that a genius does to get high on it all. Let me give the run-down on one episode. At 9:30am after an 8:30am class.....hold on, Go Friars, no way Ernie, or I, as an
Re: Memphis.. totally agree w/ good doc Canter.... with a healthy Marvin in synch w/ Ernie, along w/ Nehru, Kevin, Charlie-Mac, Franny C. et al, the outcome should have set the table for what might have been PC's greatest moment........a chance to see Marvin v. Walton (Walton may/ may not have won the battle, but he would not have the night that he had running over Larry K .....W/ Marvin in his face, NO WAY) and Ernie v. Ucla's defense........you have to remember coach Gavitt too, maybe the best in the biz that season. It's still so clear in my mind's eye...... around the middle of Jan. those guys started on a roll and the momentum just seemed to build.They were ALL on the same page w/coach, they were in a ZONE, they were having FUN, they RAN like the wind, SMILING all the way to what should have been their ultimate test......The Walton Gang. You know where my heart was, but I loved their chances. They were that good, firing on all cylinders, 1 twisted knee and lives changed, good time
Ernie D. illustrated a mental aspect of athleticism better than anybody. If you know and respect your teammates' (and opponents') capabilities, you can trust your own vision, and work by instinct. Ernie D. walked that thin line between fantasy and reality by always staying on the same page with his team. You'd run the court find your spot and the ball would find you in tempo. He took that as his mission it seemed, and always accomplished it with the deception necessary to give his target a beat up on the defense; he managed this with incredibly strong wrist action at the snapping-off end of his seemingly casual passing motion, so that the pass was harder and truer than it seemed leaving his hand. On fast breaks it was as if his passes authored that shot that followed them. D. was consistently in the zone; the daily grind of NBA schedules was I think too rough for him to maintain both his vision and an injury-free fitness.
even growing up in the 70's in Nebraska i loved Ernie D, never had seen a guard make the passes he did.
BTW, Maravich, the greatest NBA showman ever, averaged over 44/pts per game for four years in a row while in college (LSU). Again, BIG PROPS to Ernie D, but please don't rank him over Pistol Pete.
Love Ernie D too, but you lost me when you said, "the most exciting player... in the college game."
PLEASE LOOK UP PISTOL PETE MARAVICH.
Pete was the most exciting and the best college player ever!
Look here...
http://youtube.com/watch?v=xgy7wXKjwQs
a very pleasnt tour down memory lane...growing up in buffalo, i saw him play live vs canisius and was captivated all through his career up to that heartbreaking loss to memphis in the tourney. we had him here in buffalo for pro career and he was a real gentleman, practicing here at our buffalo jewish cneter with the team...the dondi-like looks, the brilliant passing and socring, the exciting run and gun tempo and the diminutive size made him an endearing sports hero...also, a couple of things- you are right about the lingering feeling of disappointment in that final 4 loss when barnes got hurt..a rematch with mighty ucla would have been the fitting finale for this hoops legends career rahter than the abrupt loss of barnes and the cinderewlla title quest...but also providence was obliterating memphis before barnes went down..they lead by 20 in the 1st half and were up 48-37 at the half..thanks for rekindling some sweet memories of indeed arguably the most entertaining college player
a very pleasnt tour down memory lane...growing up in buffalo, i saw him play live vs canisius and was captivated all through his career up to that heartbreaking loss to memphis in the tourney. we had him here in buffalo for pro career and he was a real gentleman, practicing here at our buffalo jewish cneter with the team...the dondi-like looks, the brilliant passing and socring, the exciting run and gun tempo and the diminutive size made him an endearing sports hero...also, a couple of things- you are right about the lingering feeling of disappointment in that final 4 loss when barnes got hurt..a rematch with mighty ucla would have been the fitting finale for this hoops legends career rahter than the abrupt loss of barnes and the cinderewlla title quest...but also providence was obliterating memphis before barnes went down..they lead by 20 in the 1st half and were up 48-37 at the half..thanks for rekindling some sweet memories of indeed arguably the most entertaining college player
a very pleasnt tour down memory lane...growing up in buffalo, i saw him play live vs canisius and was captivated all through his career up to that heartbreaking loss to memphis in the tourney. we had him here in buffalo for pro career and he was a real gentleman, practicing here at our buffalo jewish cneter with the team...the dondi-like looks, the brilliant passing and socring, the exciting run and gun tempo and the diminutive size made him an endearing sports hero...also, a couple of things- you are right about the lingering feeling of disappointment in that final 4 loss when barnes got hurt..a rematch with mighty ucla would have been the fitting finale for this hoops legends career rahter than the abrupt loss of barnes and the cinderewlla title quest...but also providence was obliterating memphis before barnes went down..they lead by 20 in the 1st half and were up 48-37 at the half..thanks for rekindling some sweet memories of indeed arguably the most entertaining college player