I miss Pete Gillen ...

[chi]

On cameron:

“It’s easy to get caught up in the avalanche if things aren’t going right,” said Gillen, who is now a college basketball analyst for CBS and still lives in Charlottesville. “If you’re not careful, it can become a tsunami.”

how to counter the crazies:

“I used to tell our guys, don’t worry about that, they’re just students who have been in the library reading all day,” Gillen said. “Just try to make it fun.”

However, nothing seems to deter the Crazies. Gillen almost stole an idea from former Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps once in order to handle the Duke crowd.

“What Digger did against UCLA, which was a tough crowd but not as tough as Duke, is he went over there and blessed the student section before the game,” said Gillen, who was Phelps’ assistant coach. “He blessed them a couple of times, gave them the big cross.”

“I was thinking about doing that at Duke a couple of times, but I didn’t ever get around to it,” Gillen chuckled.


A UVA felt the same way ...

"I never thought I’d miss Pete Gillen, but I sure do. If we’re going to be mediocre (and the powers that be seem to be cool with that), it would be nice to at least have a coach who is a nice guy and a quote machine. I mean, who can forget “Duke is on TV more frequently than ‘Leave It To Beaver’ reruns?“"

[Oriole Way]

Gillen's UVA teams were victims of some of the most severe beatdowns I've ever seen Duke unleash on any one team. I got a kick out of how he would burn two or three timeouts within the first 4 minutes of the game, tapping both his shoulders with a look of resigned helplessness. He was a really funny and honest guy, even though he wasn't the best coach. As such, he has always been one of my favorite all-time ACC coaches.

Gillen had some memorable quotes. His quote about UVA building a monument of Taymon Domzalski had he gone there was classic.

[chi]

Gillen's UVA teams were victims of some of the most severe beatdowns I've ever seen Duke unleash on any one team. I got a kick out of how he would burn two or three timeouts within the first 4 minutes of the game, tapping both his shoulders with a look of resigned helplessness. He was a really funny and honest guy, even though he wasn't the best coach. As such, he has always been one of my favorite all-time ACC coaches.

Gillen had some memorable quotes. His quote about UVA building a monument of Taymon Domzalski had he gone there was classic.

That's true. I remember how he liked to kneel on a folded towel coaching his team. He also reminded me of Beavis ... Come to think of it, he is probably one of my favorite all-time ACC coaches as well.

Yes, the Taymon quote was classic ...

[OldPhiKap]

Whenever Pete Gillen called a time out, an angel got its wings.

[allenmurray]

And he had a heart as big as his head. Well, actually there are few tings in nature as big as head, but he is a nice guy.

[OldPhiKap]

And he had a heart as big as his head. Well, actually there are few tings in nature as big as head, but he is a nice guy.

I'm not sure Majestic Mapp would agree. But I always liked seeing him when we played UVa.

[Lord Ash]

I miss Pete and his wee pot'o'gold too!

[VAGentleman05]

Pete was a walking sound byte! He did deliver a couple nice wins over you guys in U Hall, though, so I'll always love him for that! He's definitely a good guy...he still lives in Cville and has done a lot for the community there.

[Tom B.]

Gillen's UVA teams were victims of some of the most severe beatdowns I've ever seen Duke unleash on any one team. I got a kick out of how he would burn two or three timeouts within the first 4 minutes of the game, tapping both his shoulders with a look of resigned helplessness. He was a really funny and honest guy, even though he wasn't the best coach. As such, he has always been one of my favorite all-time ACC coaches.

Gillen and Duke have a history that goes back to well before his days at UVa. In 1987, Duke knocked Gillen's Xavier team out in the second round of the NCAA Tournament (you can see a brief shot of Gillen in the 1987 "One Shining Moment" montage here*). Gillen returned the favor ten years later, when his Providence team upset Duke in the second round of the 1997 NCAA Tournament (that was when he made his famous quote about Duke being on TV more than reruns of Leave it to Beaver).

In an interesting parallel, both the 1987 Duke team and Gillen's 1997 Providence team ultimately were eliminated by the eventual National Champion -- Duke lost to Indiana in the regional semifinal, while Providence lost to Arizona in the regional final.

In between those 1987 and 1997 games, Duke beat a pretty good Gillen-coached Xavier team 82-60 in Cameron in December of 1993.

And while Duke administered a number of one-sided defeats to Gillen's UVa teams, he did have at least one memorable win over Duke -- the Valentine's Day win in Charlottesville in 2001 that broke Duke's record 24-game ACC road winning streak.


* Also in the 1987 "One Shining Moment" video, keep an eye out for notables like J.R. Reid, Steve Alford, Keith Smart, Derrick Coleman, Bobby Cremins, Jerry Tarkanian, and a shot of Rick Pitino (then the head coach of Providence) hugging one of his players, a kid named Billy Donovan.

[Oriole Way]

And while Duke administered a number of one-sided defeats to Gillen's UVa teams, he did have at least one memorable win over Duke -- the Valentine's Day win in Charlottesville in 2001 that broke Duke's record 24-game ACC road winning streak.

I was actually there to see it happen. It was a great game, even though most of Duke's players couldn't hit their shots. Chris Duhon had one of the best games of his entire Duke career that night to keep us in the game.

[sagegrouse]

Pete Gillen on his lack of mechanical aptitude:

"If I can get the toaster to work, we have a parade."

sagegrouse

[OldPhiKap]

Gillen, on the disparity in McDonald's all-americans between Duke and UVa:


"If we had Taymon Domzalski, we'd put up a statue of him."

[summerwind03]

What is Pete Gillen doing now? I was surprised to hear he is still in Charlottesville.

[Tom B.]

I was actually there to see it happen. It was a great game, even though most of Duke's players couldn't hit their shots. Chris Duhon had one of the best games of his entire Duke career that night to keep us in the game.

UVa actually beat Duke in Charlottesville again the next year (2002). I was there for that game -- Duke had a late lead (I think it was seven points with around two minutes left), but missed some free throws and couldn't hold on. I think that was the last time a Gillen-coached team beat Duke.

[FreezingDevil]

I grew up in Cville and, whenever I go back home, I always seem to run into Pete. Back when he was still coaching, the joke was that he would go to Hardees almost every day. I honestly don't think its a coincidence that he was fired shortly after the placed closed down. He just lost his biscuit-fuelled mojo after that

[chi]

What is Pete Gillen doing now? I was surprised to hear he is still in Charlottesville.

The article that I found the quotes from was published on February 1. So I assume he is still with CBS ...

[doctorhook]

I miss his hair and his cuffllinks

[summerwind03]

He's with CBS?!? (Can you tell I don't watch much TV?)