Nov. 7, 2023
Former UConn basketball coach Dee Rowe
UConn athletics / Contributed photo
UConn unveiled a statue to honor legendary men’s basketball coach Dee Rowe at Gampel Pavilion. The statue was unveiled Monday night, when the Huskies opened the season with a victory over Northern Arizona.
Rowe, who was 91 years old when he passed away in January 2021, was an ambassador for the UConn athletic program for over 50 years and helped bring basketball coaching greats Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma to Storrs.
Thrilled to unveil a new statue honoring UConn legend Dee Rowe 💙 pic.twitter.com/vxatSUsYcF
— UConn Huskies (@UConnHuskies) November 6, 2023
He was the UConn head coach for eight seasons, from 1969-77, when he won 120 games and earned New England Coach of the Year twice (1970, 1976). Rowe also led UConn to a pair of NIT berths (1974, 1975) and advanced the 1975-76 squad to Sweet 16 berth in the NCAA Tournament.
In 1980, Rowe was named one of the assistant coaches of the U.S. Olympic men’s basketball team. However, the team did not compete due to America’s boycott of the 1980 Olympics in Moscow.
After his retirement in 1991, Rowe remained involved at the UConn as a special advisor for athletics and served on the search committees that hired Auriemma and Calhoun.
Christine Butterfield is a sports reporter with Hearst Connecticut Media Group. She fell in love with sports at a young age and looks to bring that competitive spirit to each of her stories. She is originally from Houston, Texas and spent the past two years covering the Oklahoma City Thunder. In her spare time, she enjoys working out, exploring and watching basketball.