It's Dave Winfield's birthday, born in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1951. Winfield, a tremendous all around athlete, starred in basketball and baseball for the University of Minnesota. Bill Musselman called him the best rebounder he's ever coached. Winfield helped the Gophers win the 1972 Big Ten Title, their first in 53 years.
He would be drafted into four professional leagues: the NBA, the ABA, MLB and the NFL. He chose baseball, and though he was drafted as a pitcher, he immediately became the Padres right fielder. He remained a position player for the rest of his career.
Born to Coach, was published on this day in 1989. The book is an account of Rick Pitino's rookie head-coaching season with the New York Knicks, a position he held when he was 35-years old.
John Heisman died on this day in 1936. Known as a football coach (or a football trophy, more likely), Heisman coached the Georgia Tech basketball team in 1908-09, and again from 1912-1914. With a 9-14 career record, it's unlikely any basketball awards will be given in his honor.
Other birthdays include: John Mandic 1919 (Oregon State), Bill Davis 1921 (Notre Dame), Marques Haynes 1926 (Langston), Eddie Mast 1948 (Temple), John Vallely 1948 (UCLA), Rich Yonakor 1958 (UNC), Peter Thibeaux 1961 (St. Mary's), Michael Phelps 1961 (Alcorn State), Cedric Henderson 1965 (Georgia), Greg Foster 1968 (UTEP), Carl and Charles Thomas 1969 (Eastern Michigan), Theron Smith 1980 (Ball State), Gary Neal 1984 (Towson), and Courtney Lee 1985 (Western Kentucky)
Musician of the day: Stevie Ray Vaughan, born on this day in 1954.
