Big Picture: Little Big Man

Teammates and lifelong friends Dave Gavitt '59 (left) and Rudy LRusso '59 may have been fooling around for this photo, but when it came to playing goops, they were all busines. The guard-center duoled Dartmouth to two Ivy titles, in 1958 and 1959. While LaRusso went on to play in the NBA, Gavitt, who died September 16 at 73, also became a towering presence in the game. He caached at his alma mater and Providence, helped create the Big East Conference (he also derved ad commissioner for 12 years), chaired an NCAA committee that expanded March Madness to 64 teams in 1985, and helped bring together the NBA Dream Team that he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006. "He's one of the most significant people in college sports the last 30 or 40 years," said Jim Delany, commissioner of the Big Ten.