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Sculpture Brings Tears, Cheer to
Legendary Coach
With tears welling in his eyes and
his wife
On May 20, 2005 The Dominic Roselli statue was unveiled
holding
his arm, Dominic Rosselli stared up
at the newly unveiled 12-foot tall,
1,500-pound bronze sculpture and
shook his head.
"Wow," he said. "It's beautiful."
The sculpture, commissioned in honor of Rosselli's 43-year
coaching career at YSU, was unveiled
to a chorus of oohs and aahs during
a ceremony outside the Beeghly
Center on May 20, 2005.
"It's the greatest thing that ever happened to me," Rosselli
told nearly 200 people gathered for
the unveiling. "They final made a
stiff of me."
Tony Lariccia, YSU graduate and a vice president at Merrill
Lynch in Youngstown, gave Youngstown
State $100,000 to commission the
statue of Rosselli, who was head
basketball, head baseball and
assistant football coach at YSU from
1939 through 1982.
"He's been my hero since I was 15 years old," said Lariccia,
who first started watching Rosselli
coach basketball in the late 1950s.
"He's been a big inspiration."
The statue, installed on the south patio of the Beeghly
Center, was designed by
award-winning sculptor Edward E.
Hlavka of St. George, Utah, who was
selected after a national search.
The sculpture depicts Rosselli, complete with Converse tennis
shoes and thick-rimmed eyeglasses,
standing in front of the trunk of
three athletes -- a baseball,
football and basketball player.
"Something like this isn't earned by just one person,"
Rosselli said. "I owe a lot to a lot
of people, to many players, the fans
and the families who made so many
sacrifices."
