Dwane Casey sees Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame induction as coming ‘full circle’
On Tuesday, Dwane Casey will be inducted into the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame. That members of this exalted group are known as “homegrown sports legends” made him take pause.
“I don’t know about that,” he said in mild protest.
But, yes, Casey — who grew up in Morganfield, Ky., and later was a UK player and then assistant coach and then became an award-winning NBA coach — will join such luminaries as Muhammad Ali and Secretariat in this Hall of Fame.
“Well, that makes me laugh,” he said. “Putting Dwane Casey in the same conversation as Muhammad Ali and Secretariat, something isn’t right in that group.”
But the induction ceremony in Louisville makes it right.
On Tuesday night, during a banquet at the Galt House Hotel, Casey will join the late John Asher plus Romeo Crennel, Rachel Komisarz Baugh, Keith Madison and Elmore Smith in receiving our state’s highest sports honor.
Casey, a contributor on UK’s 1978 national championship team, put his induction in the context of a startling redemption. He resigned from UK’s coaching staff in 1989 in the wake of an NCAA investigation into reports of a package containing $1,000 sent to the father of star freshman Chris Mills. Casey’s name was on the return address.
Thirty-two years later, Casey is the Detroit Pistons coach and is being inducted into the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame.
“When I left the University of Kentucky, I never thought I’d come back to status in this form,” he said. “It is special.”
Casey referred to his journey as coming “full circle”: from being at the center of a UK basketball scandal to being inducted into the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame.
“I still go to my grave knowing I didn’t do anything,” he said.
The NCAA originally slapped Casey with a five-year probation from coaching in college basketball. The NCAA later rescinded the penalty when it was shown that Casey was not involved in sending the package.
Casey sued Emery Worldwide, a packaging company that sparked the NCAA investigation when its employees said that the package popped open and the $1,000 was discovered. Casey’s $6.9 million suit was settled out of court.
Casey wanted to continue his coaching career, “but I knew coaching in college was tough because of the perception.”
What happened at Kentucky was a non-issue in the NBA. After first coaching in Japan, he joined the Seattle SuperSonics as an assistant in 1983-94. Later he became head coach of the Dallas Mavericks and led the team to the 2011 NBA championship.
In 2018 as head coach of the Toronto Raptors, Casey was named NBA Coach of the Year. His 320 victories remain the most by any Raptors coach.
All the while, he has tried to represent Kentucky, Casey said.
“I am thankful for where the NBA has taken me,” Casey wrote in a follow-up text message. “I am thankful to so many people.”
When asked about his induction to the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame, Casey credited the impact his coaches made in his life. He became ever more aware of this impact with the passage of time, he said.
Ernie Simpson, his coach at Union County High School, taught him basketball fundamentals, he said.
His coach at UK, Joe B. Hall, taught him about discipline and the importance of drills.
“We have ‘vitamins,’ we call them, that we do each and every day, that are fundamentals,” he said. “Even in the NBA. I got that all from my time at Kentucky.”
From Clem Haskins, whom he worked for as an assistant coach at Western Kentucky, Casey said he learned how to relate to players.
“How to motivate high-level players from a coaching standpoint,” Casey said. “ Being stern, yet still getting close to guys and motivating them that way.”
From Eddie Sutton, whom he worked for on UK’s staff, Casey said he learned about defense.
“I hear their voices when I’m facing situations,” he said of his coaching mentors. “That’s how they impacted my life and motivated me to be a coach and being in the NBA and representing the state of Kentucky for all these years.”
Casey said he expected Simpson and Haskins to sit at his table for Tuesday’s induction ceremony in Louisville. The Pistons also have bought a table.
Two important people will not be attending: Casey’s grandparents.
“They were around when all the stuff at Kentucky happened,” he said, “but weren’t around to see the return.”
This story was originally published September 6, 2021 at 10:42 AM.
