Legendary Villanova Basketball Coach Rollie Massimino Dies at 82

God damnit this sucks. Reports started to surface the last day or two that Rollie was in hospice care down in Florida and news just broke that he died at 82 years old. He was one of the legendary coaches in the game, but also one of the best personalities. He had an absolutely insane career, highlighted by the 1985 National Championship in which Villanova upset a heavily-favored Georgetown team in Rupp Arena.

What’s really insane is looking at his career though. Rollie was coaching THIS YEAR. He spent the last 11 years at Northwood/Keiser College in Florida. Northwood, which became Keiser in 2014 is an NAIA Division II school and Massimino turned them into a pretty dominant program. He won at least 23 games there 10 of the 11 years and lost in the title game in the 2011-12 season. To think the dude was still coaching at 81, 82 years old is absolutely insane. It’s those things that just make you think he’s going to coach and live forever and then this news hits.

For those that are college basketball junkies and/or grew up on the East coast, Rollie was one of the key people to get the Big East off the ground. Obviously you know about Dave Gavitt and how he started the Big East, but it was personalities like Massimino that turned it into what it was at its peak. I thought the last couple of years was really cool to see Massimino be around Jay Wright and the Villanova program, especially when they won the title 2 years ago. Also was really cool to see him coach in Rupp Arena back in 2012 for the first time since he won the title there in 1985.

It’s been a bad week for college basketball fans as Jud Heathcote, the legendary Michigan State head coach died earlier in the week. Heathcote was Magic Johnson’s head coach, winner of the 1979 NCAA Tournament and despite never coaching there an integral part in Gonzaga’s success and fame. Either way, this news sucks.