Thanks in large part to a generous gift from alumnus Jeff Van Gundy ’85, Nazareth’s men’s and women’s basketball locker rooms got a facelift this summer.
The old metal lockers were replaced by more modern wooden ones, and the men’s locker room was named in honor of Van Gundy’s coaches when he played at Nazareth: Bill Nelson, Jim Emery, and Bob Ward. The women’s locker room was named in honor of Van Gundy’s roommate at Nazareth, Farrell Lynch, who was among the thousands who perished in the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001.
The locker rooms were dedicated during a ceremony in September, prior to Nazareth’s annual Sports Hall of Fame dinner.
“This is obviously a great thing for us,” says Nazareth Athletic Director Pete Bothner. “It’s nice that someone with the profile Jeff has is able to remember his roots by supporting a cause that is near and dear to him.”
Van Gundy played basketball at Nazareth from 1983 through 1985 and was inducted into the Golden Flyers’ Sports Hall of Fame in 1996. He has coached the New York Knicks and Houston Rockets in the NBA and currently serves as a television analyst for the NBA on ABC and ESPN.