KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The NABC is saddened by the passing of former executive director Joe Vancisin on Tuesday morning in Atlanta, Ga. He was 98 years old.
Vancisin, who served from 1975-1992, was the third executive director in the history of the NABC, preceded by Cliff Wells and Bill Wall. He was the NABC president in 1974.
“I was saddened to learn of Joe’s passing and speak on behalf of all NABC members in offering my condolences to his loved ones. Joe’s 17 years of stewarding the NABC and serving coaches helped our association become what it is today,” said NABC Executive Director Craig Robinson. “I’m extremely grateful for his impact on the coaching profession and the game of basketball. He will be missed.”
He led the NABC for 17 years almost singlehandedly, working closely with the NABC Board of Directors.
A native of Bridgeport, Conn., Vancisin was a high school standout and earned All-New England honors with his Bassick High School teammates in 1940. It was a special moment as Dr. James Naismith threw up the ball for the opening tipoff.
Moving on to Dartmouth College, Vancisin was a starting guard and played in the 1944 NCAA championship game, losing by two points in overtime to the University of Utah.
He served as a U.S. Air Force corporal after graduation and was a player/coach for the Air Force Services Basketball Team, which won the All-Services championship in 1945.
After stops as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan and at the University of Minnesota, he was the head basketball coach at Yale University from 1955-75, winning three Ivy League titles.
“Joe was a wonderful, giving person. He was a great, great coach and great for the game of basketball,” said current Yale coach James Jones. “We used to get together to talk Xs & Os all the time. He even showed me the film of him playing for Dartmouth in the 1944 Final Four against Utah.”
Vancisin, inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011, received the John Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award for contributions to Basketball from the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in 1993.
He was a member of two U.S. Olympic men’s basketball staffs with head coaches Dean Smith (1976) and Dave Gavitt (1980).
He attended 60 consecutive NCAA Final Fours (1948-2008) and 63 overall, playing in the 1944 event and attending the 2013 Final Four in Atlanta at age 90.
