Timothy Gallagher

Today's Treasure from my collection: Remembering University of Dayton guard Carmen Riazzi, who recently passed away at age 90. Carmen was one of the favorites from the great UD teams of the 1950's that launched the program & city into the national spotlight.

Today's Treasure from my collection: Attending the LSU (with Shaq) @ Arizona game at McKale Center is a fun memory. Tough ticket! I hope the statute of limitations has passed, as I was NOT a ‘student with a valid ID’ that night in Tucson, but somehow got through the turnstile.

Today's Treasure from my collection: The Palestra is one of my favorite gyms. Our former neighbor Eric Osmundson played at Penn & one of my visits to the "Cathedral of College Basketball" was against Villanova. Eric faced future NBA guards Kyle Lowry, Randy Foye & Allen Ray.

Today's Treasure from my collection: Before Michael Jordan came along in the early 1980's, arguably the most athletic player I'd seen play in person other than Julius Erving was Dwight Anderson. Dwight (RIP) had his troubles, but played at Kentucky, USC & for the NBA Nuggets.

Today's Treasure from my collection: Luke Walton got a "homecoming" game to San Diego in 2002 when Coach Lute Olson brought the Arizona Wildcats to town to play the Aztecs. Luke won a California prep state title, got to a Final Four with the Cats & NBA titles with the Lakers.

Today's Treasure from my collection: A couple more thoughts on Oscar Robertson receiving the ESPY’s Arthur Ashe Courage Award. To take on the powerful NBA, the Commissioner & league owners, it took someone with The Big O's rare combination of greatness as a player & life skills.

Today's Treasure from my collection: Growing up north of Cincinnati when I did Oscar Robertson was the gold standard for basketball excellence. Great to see 'The Big O', now 86, honored at the ESPY's with the Arthur Ashe Award for championing player's rights in the 1960's & 70's.

Today's Treasure from my collection: 7'0" Elmore Smith was best known for shot blocking & rebounding skills. He still owns the college record for career rebound average at 22.6 per game at NAIA Kentucky State. He is pictured here as Cleveland Cav in their classic 1970's uniforms.

Today's Treasure from my collection: Remembering 6'5" Bill Chamberlain, who recently passed at age 75. While he grew up in Harlem, he attended Long Island Lutheran for high school. Bill then became the 2nd black player at North Carolina (Charlie Scott was 1st) before the pros.

Today's Treasure from my collection: Crediting his mentor Buddy Hield, who also came from humble beginnings in the Bahamas, VJ Edgecombe looks like an intriguing prospect. VJ played at Baylor & is a Philadelphia 76ers draft pick.

Today's Treasure from my collection: It's common now, but Michigan's "Fab Five" were the first to mainstream basketball players wearing long shorts & short socks (it used to be the other way around!). Ray Jackson is pictured here with Coach Fisher.

Today's Treasure from my collection: Prior to Cooper Flagg the Dallas Mavericks had the #1 overall pick just once, when they selected Mark Aguirre. Mark was a 3X all-star & seemed to score effortlessly. His Mavs got deep in the playoffs a few times, but couldn't get past Lakers.

Today's Treasure from my collection: The 1976 Topps basketball set was a favorite of mine. The larger size was better for autographs plus allowed for more information on the back, college stats. Imagine the Topps research team gathering all that data in a pre-internet world!

Today's Treasure from my collection: Remembering Coach Frank Layden, who recently passed away at age 93. He was a player at Niagara in the early 1950's & teammates were Hubie Brown & Larry Costello. Layden helped build the Jazz franchise in the early years in Salt Lake City.

Today's Treasure from my collection: Backcourt ace Henry Bibby was the common thread starter for the Wicks-Rowe & Walton-Wilkes UCLA title teams. Somehow Coach Wooden envisioned a 6'1" guard from Franklinton, North Carolina would be a great fit in Westwood.

Today's Treasure from my collection: The TV series "The Bear" just completed season 4. The Chicago-based series is fast paced, but I have noticed occasional references to the leadership of Coach Mike Krzyzewski on the show. Coach K is a Chicago native, born there in 1947.

Today's Treasure from my collection: Summertime is basketball camp time. Here Kyle Macy, one of the most fundamentally sound players I ever watched, teaches skills to some youngsters. Macy was the floor general for Kentucky's 1978 NCAA champions.

Today's Treasure from my collection: As a rookie in the San Antonio Spurs backcourt in 1983-84 all John Paxson had to do was edge out George Gervin, Johnny Moore, John Lucas & Ron Brewer for playing time. John persevered & established himself later in the NBA as a Chicago Bull.

Today's Treasure from my collection: Dayton (OH) Roth High School had a remarkable backcourt in 1970 with future NBA players Donald Smith & Phil Lumpkin. Unfortunately they were in the same district as '70 Ohio state champions Chaminade, who edged them 64-62 in the tournament.

Today's Treasure from my collection: Wishing everyone an enjoyable 4th of July with friends & family. I'm not sure of the context of this Kobe high school image. My brother-in-law & I were getting signed whatever was available in Kobe's pre-NBA days & came up with this.