Saint Mary's celebrates 50th reunion of Huskies 1973 CIAU Men's Basketball Champions
A record-breaking number of fans flocked to the Scotiabank Centre in downtown Halifax to take in this weekend's U SPORTS Men's Final 8 Basketball Championships.
Those fans in attendance included a group of men who brought the city their first ever National Championship, 50 years ago.
From March 10-12, twelve members of the 1973 CIAU National Basketball Champion Saint Mary's Huskies reunited in Halifax to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their National Championship.
Regarded as one of the greatest basketball teams in Saint Mary's history, the 1973 Huskies won the first CIAU Championship in school history, and were inducted into the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame in 1998.
A total of 12 Huskies - nine players, two team managers and head coach Brian Heaney - gathered Friday morning at Saint Mary's Homburg Centre to kick-off the weekend's events. Listed in alphabetical order:
- Brian Burgess
- Mickey Fox
- Taps Gallagher
- John Gallinaugh (Team Captain)
- Peter Halpin
- Brian Heaney (Head Coach)
- John Landry (team manager)
- Terry O'Neil (team manager)
- Greig Redding
- Fred Perry
- Bob Taboski
- Lee Thomas
On Friday morning, the team visited their former home court, now known as the Homburg Centre, for a re-enactment of the 1973 team photo, and a presentation from Dwayne Provo, Assistant Deputy Minister, Communities, Tourism, Culture and Heritage, and a former Huskies football player.
Back Row Left to Right: John Landry (team manager), #3 Brian Burgess, #31 Art Waters (did not attend reunion), #13 Mickey Fox, #11 Fred Perry, #23 Greig Redding, #21 John Gallinaugh, Terry O'Neill (team manager)
Front Row Left to Right: #25 Otha Johnson (did not attend reunion), #43 Taps Gallagher, #51 Lee Thomas, #33 Peter Halpin, #41 Bob Taboski, Brian Heaney (head coach)
CLICK HERE FOR A FULL ALBUM OF PHOTOS FROM THE REUNION
The team then had a special luncheon at the Halifax Convention Centre, hosted by Bruce Rainnie, CEO of the Nova Scotia Sport Hall of Fame.
On Saturday night, the team was honoured on court at the Scotiabank Centre during halftime of the national semifinal game.
The reunion drew the interest of local media, with stories published in Saltwire, CTV Atlantic, CBC Nova Scotia and Global Halifax.
"50 years is a long time, and a lot of things can happen along the way in the journey through life, but this team has not only stayed together spiritually and bonded together as teammates, and for that, we're blessed," coach Brian Heaney said to CBC.
One of the unique elements of the team is that many of the players hailed from the United States, recruited by head coach Brian Heaney, a New York native.
However, many of the players and coaches remained in Nova Scotia well after finishing their time at Saint Mary's, and have made tremendous impacts to the local basketball scene and community in general.
"Coach Heaney just had such a big influence on all of us, telling us we could win and everything, and as we came together, there were nine of us from different parts of the country, the U.S., and two Nova Scotians, we just became great friends through that year, and to this day we keep in touch with everyone so that's something real special." said Mickey Fox, an All-Canadian who scored 39 points in the 1973 championship game and was named tournament Most Valuable Player.
A memorable weekend 50 years in the making, reuniting one of the greatest teams in Huskies history.