Sports Poets Society

DALY, Charles Joseph Chuck (b. July 20, 1930, Kane, PA), college and professional player, coach, and sportscaster, has enjoyed a basketball career characterized by his hard drive and skillful use of people. Daly, born to traveling salesman Earl Daly and Geraldine Daly in a western Pennsylvania coal mining town during the Great Depression, captured the sports fever of that region. He soon developed an aggressive defensive style, the eventual hallmark of all his teams. Daly's scrappy high school hoop performance won a basketball scholarship to St. Bonaventure University in New York. The six-foot two-inch, 180-pounder, however, left that powerhouse program after one year, realizing that he stood little chance of playing regularly. In 1949, Daly transferred to Bloomsburg StateCollege in Pennsylvania. During his two collegiate basketball seasons as a forward, he scored 418 points in 32 games for a 13.1-point average in the 1950-1951 and 1951-1952 campaigns. Despite his undistinguished ...

Cydney Daly with her hero and inspiration -- her dad, Chuck Daly. https://pancan.org/stories/caregivers-families/daughter-late-nba-coach-chuck-daly-champions-progress-honor-memory/ BY PANCAN STAFF — AUG 18, 2016 Chuck Daly was an accomplished basketball coach, mentor and an inspiration in the professional sports arena. But to his daughter, Cydney, he was more than that. “My dad was my rock,” Cydney said. “He was the person that I would turn to in times of joy and sorrow. He was my voice of reason. In my eyes, he was magical and he could do anything.” Her dad coached at the high school and college level, but he was best known for his NBA coaching, where he won back to back titles with the Detroit Pistons. He also brought home a gold medal as the head coach of the original Olympic “Dream Team” in 1992, coaching legends like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. “Chuck Daly was a great friend and mentor to me and countless others. There could not have been a better competitor, ...