One of the most
respected members ever of the Youngstown State University Athletic
Department, Bill Dailey, a native of Lake Geneva, Wis., earned the
admiration from his peers for his loyalty and fundamental knowledge. He
touched so many lives before dying of cancer at the age of 33 in
Toronto, Canada.
A graduate from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
where he earned his Bachelors of Science Degree in Business
Administration. Dailey also earned his
Master’s Degree in Sports Administration from Western Illinois University.
A former three-year letterman and basketball co-captain for the Warhawks, he
began his coaching career at his alma mater. He moved to Western
Illinois as a
graduate assistant coach and was then hired as a full-time assistant by
head basketball coach Joe Gottfried at Southern Illinois University.
While at Western Illinois, he was selected to serve an administrative
internship with the Detroit Pistons in 1979.
Prior to the start of the 1986-87 basketball season, he
was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches Public
Relations and Promotions District IV Committee.
Dailey was hired by head coach Dom Rosselli as an
assistant men’s basketball coach in September 1980. Soon after Dailey’s
hiring, Rosselli suffered a heart attack, and Dailey was named the
acting head coach in October.
Dailey led the Penguins to a 13-13 record in 1980-81,
winning six of the last eight contests to pull even at .500 on the year.
The team’s 3-3 mark in the Mid-Continent Conference was the squad’s best
ever in their three years of competition in the league.
Rosselli resumed his duties the next season with Dailey
as his assistant. When he retired at the end of the 1981-82 season,
Dailey was retained by new head coach Mike Rice.
Rice was relieved of his duties in March 1987 and
Dailey was selected by Penguin Director of Athletics Joseph F. Malmisur
as the eighth head basketball coach in the 57-year history of the cage
sport. Dailey had served as an assistant with the Penguins for six
seasons before becoming the head coach.
However, Dailey died on August 10, 1987, before ever
getting the opportunity to coach his first game, but his memory keeps
living on.
Currently, the Youngstown State men’s basketball
program has changed the name of the team’s leadership award to the Bill
Dailey Leadership Award to keep Dailey’s name close to the basketball
program. |
