Basketball On The Internet.

ALAN Dawe, a pioneer and dual-Woollacott Medallist who bestowed the magnificent nickname of "Bearcats" on SA basketball's most successful senior club, West Adelaide, died yesterday, aged 91 and leaving behind an unmatched legacy of commitment to the sport we all love and cherish so much.

Breaking away from the traditional SANFL football names many basketball clubs adopted in the 50s and 60s - such as North Adelaide Roosters, South Adelaide Panthers, West Torrens Eagles etcetera - the man affectionately known as Dawey adapted the Cincinnati Bearcats name which became even better known than the WEST ARE BEST sign which hung prominently in Forestville Stadium.

A hugely influential player, Alan was a reserve on the 1956 Melbourne Olympic team before winning back-to-back Woollacott Medals as the state's fairest and most brilliant player in 1958 and 1959.

In 1960, he was selected on the Boomers team for the Rome Olympics but, as again would be the case in 1968 when our Olympic team stumbled in Monterrey and did not qualify for Mexico, Australia failed to progress through the qualifying tournament in Bologna and did not compete in Rome.

That does not diminish his ability as a player, amid Australia's best 12 in 1960, a senior state player for South Australia for a decade from 1954-1963 and SA captain in 1962 and 1963.

When he turned his hand to coaching, inheriting the role at West Adelaide from Australia's 1964 Olympic coach Keith Miller, the Bearcats experienced their greatest era with six state championships in 11 years to 1975, and the Grand Final every year.

The historical greats of SA basketball, Werner Linde, Glenn Marsland, Roger King, Alan Hughes, Peter Ali and Ray Wood flourished under his coaching guidance and his 1975 recruit Ken Richardson became the first American to claim a Woollacott Medal.

At Glenelg Tigers as head coach from 1977-1979, he took them to two state championships and was an inaugural coach with that club when the NBL (then the National invitation Basketball League) launched in 1979.

As SA coach from 1969-1976 he won national championships in 1970, 1972 and 1973 and he also heavily was involved in the burgeoning national program as an Australian Olympic selector from 1972-1980 and as Boomers assistant coach to Lindsay Gaze from 1977-1980, including the 1978 FIBA World Championship in the Philippines and the 1980 Moscow Olympics.

With a list of accolades as long as any of the game's great pioneers in this country, Alan Dawe is in both the Basketball SA Hall of Fame and West Adelaide Basketball Club's Hall of Fame.

His absence from the Australan Basketball Hall of Fame is a glaring oversight and reminder of how important it is to fete our greats while we have them, rather than when they are gone.

May the great man rest in peace.

*For further insights into the life and legacy of Alan Dawe, the website basketball.com.au has an excellent eulogy at this link.