July 3 – Park Stevens, 20, Mississippi offensive lineman died in a car accident.
July 6 – Leland Mitchell, 72, former Mississippi State basketball star who played in the renowned MSU-Loyola game in 1963. Mitchell starred at guard on the MSU team that won the Southeastern Conference championship and earned a berth in the NCAA tournament. State law prohibited the all-white Bulldogs from traveling to East Lansing, Mich., to face an integrated Loyola University of Chicago team, but MSU coach Babe McCarthy sneaked the team out of town to play the game. Eventual national champion Loyola won 61-51 with Mitchell scoring 14 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in a losing cause.
July 14 – Matt Batts, 91, former major league baseball player. Batts caught Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige in 1951 during a 10-year major league career. Batts caught Paige, the first black pitcher in the American League, with the St. Louis Browns in 1951. Batts retired after playing for five major league teams.
July 16 – Jon Richardson, 53, oldest son of Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson. Richardson was a two-year starter and three-year letterman at North Carolina. He led the Tar Heels in receptions in 1981.
July 16 – Marv Rotblatt, 85, former major league pitcher. Rotblatt, at 5-foot-6, is considered the shortest pitcher in major league history. The left-hander pitched three seasons with the Chicago white Sox (1948 and 1950-51).
July 19 – Mary Ostrowski, 51, former Tennessee women’s basketball star. Ostrowski helped the Lady Vols advance to NCAA Final Fours in 1981, 1982 and 1984. She was an SEC All-Tournament Team member and an All-SEC selection in 1982 and 1984. The 6-foot-2 forward was also was a member of the United States team from 1981 to 1983. She earned a gold medal at the 1983 World University Games.
July 19 – Bert Trautmann, 89, a former German World War II prisoner of war who became Manchester City’s goalkeeper and helped the team win the FA Cup despite a broken neck for the last 17 minutes of the 1956 final. Trautmann made 545 appearances for City between 1949 and 1964 and was revered for his performance in the team’s 1956 FA Cup final win over Birmingham.
July 19 – Phil Woosnam, 80, former North American Soccer League commissioner. Woosnam led the league from 1968-1982 after finishing his playing career with English teams Aston Villa, West Ham and Leyton Orient. The Welshman won the NASL’s first coach of the year award, for the Atlanta Chiefs in 1968, before taking over as commissioner for the next season. He ran the league until 1982, and the league folded after the 1984 season.
July 21 – Andrea Antonelli, 25, died in a crash at the World Supersport race held in Moscow. The Italian rider lost control of his Kawasaki ZX-6R bike in rainy weather and crashed during the opening lap.
July 23 – Lydell Hartford Jr., 20, a freshman walk-on linebacker for Arkansas-Pine Bluff was shot to death outside his home in Louisiana.
July 23 – Emile Griffith, 75, the elegant world champion whose career was overshadowed by the fatal beating he gave Bennie Paret in a 1962 title bout that darkened all of boxing. He was the first boxer from the U.S. Virgin Islands to become world champion and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990.
July 23 – John “Red” McManus, 88, former men’s basketball coach at Creighton. McManus was an assistant at Iowa when he was selected for Creighton’s top spot. McManus led the Bluejays to national prominence during his tenure, 1959-1969, and coached them in two NCAA tournaments. Among his top players were two future NBA members, Paul Silas and Bob Portman. His career record at Creighton was 138-118.
July 25 – Rick Norton, 69, quarterback in the 1960s for the University of Kentucky and Miami Dolphins. Norton played three seasons at Kentucky and was team co-captain as a senior. He was drafted to the pros in 1966 and played four seasons in Miami. He retired after playing one game for the Green Bay Packers in 1970.
July 26 – Unbridled’s Song, 20, son of 1990 Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled who went on to capture a Breeders’ Cup race and become a prolific sire. Unbridled’s Song sired 730 winners, including 100 stakes winners – 45 graded stakes winners and 15 Grade I – and at least one Grade I winner for 12 consecutive years. As a 2-year-old, Unbridled’s Song won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The next year, he won the Florida Derby and Wood Memorial. He was the 7-2 favorite in the 1996 Kentucky Derby but finished fifth while another Unbridled colt, Grindstone, was first.
July 28 – Pat Harmon, 97, National Football Foundation historian for 20 years from 1986-2005. Prior to that, he served as a sports editor and columnist for the Cincinnati Post for more than 34 years, starting in 1951.
July 28 – Frank Castillo, 44, former major league pitcher. Castillo had an 82-104 record in 13 major-league seasons. He pitched for the Chicago Cubs, Colorado, Detroit, Toronto, Boston and Florida from 1991 to 2005.
July 28 – George “Boomer” Scott, 69, three-time All-Star first baseman who hit 271 homers in a 14-year major-league career. Scott spent most of his career with the Boston Red Sox and Milwaukee Brewers. He had his best year with the Brewers in 1975, when he hit 36 homers and had 109 RBIs. He won eight Gold Gloves.
July 29 – Christian Benitez, 27, soccer star from Ecuador who led the Mexican league in scoring last season died a day after playing in a game for his club in Qatar.
July 29 – Bobby Crespino, 75, former NFL tight end. Crespino played three seasons (1961-63) for the Cleveland Browns before joining the New York Giants for five seasons, starting in 1964. Crespino played in 107 NFL games and caught 58 passes for 741 yards and nine touchdowns.
July 29 – Don Dempsey, 83, former Arkansas Tech All-American and longtime football coach. Dempsey was an All-American in 1954 when he played center and linebacker. He joined the Arkansas Tech staff in 1959 as an assistant football and head baseball coach. He became head football coach in 1967 and continued to coach baseball until 1970. He stepped down as football coach in 1975.
July 30 – Polo Manukainiu, 19, freshman defensive lineman for Texas A&M, and Gaius Vaenuku, 19, an incoming member of the Utah football team died in a rollover crash in New Mexico during a trip home from Utah.
July 30 – Oscar “Ossie” Schectman, 94, former New York Knicks guard who scored the first basket in NBA history. Schectman scored the opening basket of a game in what was then known as the BAA on Nov. 1, 1946 for the Knicks against the Toronto Huskies.
July 30 – Berthold Beitz, 99, member of the International Olympic Committee from 1972 to 1988, the last four years as an IOC vice president. He was also a member of the board of directors of the organizing committee for the 1972 Olympics in Munich.
July 30 – Gene Wettstone, 100, retired Penn State men’s gymnastics coach who holds the NCAA record for most team championships in that sport. He coached at Penn State for 36 seasons, winning nine NCAA team titles. Wettstone’s gymnasts also won 35 individual national titles, and three Nittany Lions won the Nissen-Emery Award as the nation’s top gymnast during his tenure. Wettstone retired from coaching in 1976. Wettstone also coached the U.S. Olympic men’s gymnastics team in 1948 and 1956. He was an Olympic judge in 1952 and 1968.
July 31 – Robert “Judge” Hughes, 68, former Jackson State football coach. Hughes was head coach from 1999-2003 with a career record of 30-15. A former Tiger player, Hughes was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1967 and played for the Atlanta Falcons as well.
Aug. 1 – Dick Kazmaier, 82, the last Ivy Leaguer to win the Heisman Trophy. Kazmaier played halfback for Princeton and in 1951 won the Heisman Trophy in a landslide, receiving 506 first-place votes and 1,777 points, which was a record at the time. In his final two college seasons, the Tigers went 18-0. His No. 42 was retired by the school in 2008.
Aug. 1 – John Jowdy, 93, Professional Bowlers Association Hall of Famer and pioneer bowling coach.
Aug. 1 – Wilford “Whizzer” White, 84, the father of former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Danny White and a member of the Arizona State hall of fame. White was an ASU running back from 1947 to 1950 and finished his career as the school’s all-time leading rusher with 3,173 yards.
Aug. 4 – Art Donovan, 89, Hall of Fame defensive lineman who spent much of his 12-year career with the Baltimore Colts. He helped the Colts win championships in 1958 and 1959. Donovan broke into professional football in 1950 with the Colts, who folded after his rookie season. He played with the New York Yanks in 1951 and the Dallas Texans in 1952 before the Dallas franchise moved to Baltimore and became the second version of the Colts. He spent the remainder of his career with Baltimore before retiring after the 1961 season.
Aug. 4 – Kramer Williamson, 63, veteran Sprint Car driver died from injuries suffered during a qualifying race at Lincoln Speedway in central Pennsylvania. Williamson had suffered serious injuries in a crash that occurred on Aug. 3 during the United Racing Company 358/360 Sprint Car Challenge. Williamson was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2008 and had been racing for more than 40 years. He shared the 1971 rookie of the year title at Williams Grove Speedway in Mechanicsburg.
Aug. 4 – Josie Seebeck, 19, Central Michigan University soccer player. Seebeck, a midfielder on the school’s women’s team, died of injuries from an auto crash. Seebeck and two other students who play for the Mount Pleasant school, were hurt when their vehicle crashed and rolled over Aug. 2 on Interstate 69 near Lansing.
Aug. 5 – Simone Montgomerie, 26, Australian jockey died following a fall near the finish of the sixth race in Darwin, Australia. Montgomerie was a seasoned jockey who had been racing in the Northern Territory since 2010 and had ridden 51 winners in her 373 starts.
Aug. 5 – Shawn Burr, 47, former NHL player. Burr played 16 years in the NHL, mostly with the Detroit Red Wings. He made his NHL debut in 1984-85 and was with the Red Wings until 1995. He also played for Tampa Bay and San Jose.
Aug. 6 – Jerry Wolman, 86, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1963-69. Wolman was the youngest owner in the NFL when he bought the Eagles from James P. Clark at age 36 in December 1963. The Eagles were 28-41-1 during his five seasons as owner.
Aug. 7 – Kirk E. Breed, 73, executive director of the California Horse Racing Board and a former lobbyist in Sacramento specializing in horse racing issues.
Aug. 9 – Johnny Logan, 86, four-time All-Star shortstop who helped the Milwaukee Braves win the 1957 World Series. In 13 seasons with the Boston and Milwaukee Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates, Logan hit .268 with 93 home runs and 547 RBIs.
Aug. 9 – Hezekiah Braxton, 79, three-time All-CIAA football selection from Virginia Union. Braxton played for VUU from 1956-60.
Aug. 12 – Bill Kane, 75, longtime employee in the New York Yankees front office, mostly as traveling secretary in the 1970s and ’80s.
Aug. 16 – Christopher Lane, 22, East Central University baseball player from Australia, was shot to death in Duncan, Okla.
Aug. 17 – John “Tinker” Connelly, 85, former three-sport Northeastern standout who later coached the Huskies baseball team. Connelly played football, hockey and baseball at Northeastern, earning all-New England honors in all three. As quarterback, he led the football team to an undefeated season in 1951. He was named head baseball coach in 1956 and led the Huskies to four NCAA tournaments and the 1966 College World Series before retiring in 1981 with a 288-280-5 record.
Aug. 18 – Dezso Gyarmati, 85, three-time Olympic water polo champion for Hungary. Gyarmati, who had a powerful left-handed shot and played several positions, was Olympic champion in 1948, 1952 and 1956. He also won bronze in 1960 and silver in 1964. He later coached Hungary’s water polo team for several years, winning three more Olympic medals, including gold in 1976.
Aug. 18 – Elaine Sortino, 64, longtime UMass softball coach. Sortino led Massachusetts to 23 conference titles, 21 trips to the NCAA regionals and three trips to the Women’s College World Series in 34 years at the helm. Sortino was one of just five active coaches to have more than 1,100 career victories. She had an overall record of 1,185-508-6.
Aug. 18 – Tom Gadsby, 26, New Zealand equestrian rider died after falling during a competition in England.
Aug. 18 – Bob Curtis, 78, former Franklin & Marshall and Bucknell football coach. Curtis coached Franklin & Marshall for four seasons (1971-74) and compiled a 32-3 record. He coached Bucknell from 1975 to 1985 season and compiled a record of 48-56-3.
Aug. 20 – James A. “Tank” Crawford, 86, member of Mississippi’s first SEC championship football team in 1947. Crawford was a two-time All-SEC performer at guard.
Aug. 20 – Della Durant, 84, former Penn State assistant athletic director. When the Penn State men’s and women’s athletic departments combined in 1973, Durant was named assistant athletic director and senior woman administrator.
Aug. 20 – Costica Stefanescu, 62, a former Romania captain who was one of the national soccer team’s greatest defenders. Stefanescu played 66 matches for the national team in 1970s and 80s.
Aug. 23 – Dean Meminger, 65, former Marquette guard who played a reserve role on the New York Knicks’ 1973 NBA championship team. Meminger led Marquette to a 78-9 mark in three varsity seasons for coach Al McGuire, averaging 18.8 points. He averaged 21.2 points as a senior in 1970-71 and was drafted by the Knicks. Meminger averaged 6.1 points in six seasons with the Knicks and Atlanta Hawks.
Aug. 25 – Gylmar dos Santos Neves, 83, Brazilian goalkeeper who helped the country win World Cup titles in 1958 and 1962. Neves also was on Brazil’s team during the 1966 World Cup.
Aug. 25 – Scott Plate, 43, former Iowa football player. Plate played for the Hawkeyes from 1989-93. He intercepted nine passes in his career, including five during his senior year.
Aug. 27 – Hector Sanabria, 27, Argentine soccer player died of a heart attack during a match. Sanabria, playing for third-division Club Deportivo Laferrere, collapsed in the 29th minute of a game against General Lamadrid.
Aug. 28 – Frank Pulli, 78, former major league umpire. Pulli umpired in the National League from 1972-99 and worked four World Series, six NL championship series and two All-Star games. Pulli was among the 22 umpires who lost their jobs in a failed mass resignation. He was an MLB umpire supervisor from 2000-07 and charted pitches, helping umps improve their ball-strike calls.
Aug. 28 – Ray Grebey, 85, Major League Baseball’s chief labor negotiator during the tumultuous 50-day strike that split the 1981 season. Players struck on June 12, 1981, the first midseason stoppage in the sport’s history, and they didn’t reach an agreement until July 31. A total of 713 games were canceled by the time the season resumed with the All-Star game at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium on Aug. 9.
Aug. 30 – Leo “Minnesota Express” Lewis, Jr., 80, Hall of Fame running back from Lincoln (Mo.). Lewis led the Blue Tigers to an impressive 27-5-3 record during his four years. He broke the existing school records for touchdowns in a season (22), touchdowns in a career (64), rushing yards in a season (1,239) and career rushing yards (4,561) on his way to becoming a three-time Black College All-America selection. In 1954, he was drafted by the Baltimore Colts, but had an outstanding career in the Canadian Football League. In his 11 seasons with Winnipeg, he earned All-Pro honors six times.
Aug. 30 – William Campbell, 90, former U.S. Amateur champion who played on eight Walker Cup teams and served two years as president of the U.S. Golf Association. Campbell was president of the USGA from 1982-83 and served on its executive committee for 10 years. In 1987, he became only the third American to be elected captain of the Royal & Ancient Golf Club in St. Andrews, and the only man to have led both of golf’s governing bodies. He played on eight Walker Cup teams from 1951 to 1975, never losing a singles match and never playing on a losing team. As an amateur, Campbell had 14 appearances in the U.S. Open and 17 appearances in the Masters.
Sept. 1 – Anthony Robinson, 19, West Alabama freshman defensive back. Robinson died in a two-vehicle crash on U.S. Highway 43, two miles south of Linden.
Sept. 1 – Pal Csernai, 80, former coach of Bayern Munich. Csernai coached Bayern Munich between 1978 and 1983, winning a couple of Bundesliga titles.
Sept. 2 – Tommy Morrison, 44, former heavyweight champion who gained fame for his role in the movie “Rocky V.” In 1993, Morrison beat George Foreman to win the World Boxing Organization heavyweight title. His last fight was in 2005, a loss to Lennox Lewis. He finished with a record of 48-3-1 with 42 knockouts.
Sept. 2 – Frank Weedon, 82, longtime North Carolina State administrator who spent more than five decades with the Wolfpack.
Sept. 3 – Alexis Urbina, 17, national champion boxer. Urbina won the 141-pound Youth Men’s Division at the USA Boxing National Championships in April at Spokane, Wash.
Sept. 3 – Don Meineke, 82, former Dayton basketball star and NBA player. Nicknamed “Monk,” Meineke led the Flyers to their first 20-win season and first NIT appearance. In 1953, he was the first NBA rookie of the year as a member of the Fort Wayne Pistons. He ended his career in 1957-58 with the Cincinnati Royals.
Sept. 4 – Curtis Jones, Jr., 40, West Virginia associate director of athletics.
Sept. 4 – Giant Victory, 25, winner of the 1991 Hambletonian. Giant Victory also won the Breeders Crown as a 3-year-old and was selected Trotter of the Year.
Sept. 5 – Willie Frazier, 71, former AFL-NFL tight end. Frazier played four years with the Houston Oilers and continued to be a standout tight end for the San Diego Chargers, going to the AFL All Star game from 1966-1968. Willie retired from the Oilers in 1975. He finished his 121 game career with 211 receptions, for 3,111 yards and 38 touchdowns.
Sept. 6 – Jack Doyle, 80, former University of South Dakota men’s basketball coach and athletic director. He became head coach in 1973 and coached for nine seasons, leading the Coyotes to a 106-119 record. Doyle was USD’s athletic director from 1982 until his retirement in 1998.
Sept. 7 – Zelmo Beaty, 73, dominating center who led the Utah Stars to the ABA championship in 1971. Beaty, a combined five-time NBA and ABA All-Star and a member of the ABA’s All-Time Team, averaged 17.1 points and 10.9 rebounds over his 12-year career. Beaty played the first seven for the NBA’s Hawks, first in St. Louis and then in Atlanta. He played four years with the ABA’s Utah Stars and his final year with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Sept. 7 – Les Schissler, 83, six-time Professional Bowlers Association Tour champion. Schissler won the 1967 All-Star Tournament (now the U.S. Open) for his only major title. Schissler, a member of the USBC Hall of Fame, was also a three-time USBC Open Championships titlist, winning Classic singles, all-events and team titles in 1966.
Sept. 8 – Nick Pasquale, 20, walk-on wide receiver at UCLA.
Sept. 12 – Frank Tripucka, 85, former Notre Dame quarterback. Tripucka was a backup to Heisman Trophy winner John Lujack, who led the Irish to back-to-back national championships in 1946 and ’47. He was drafted by Philadelphia in 1949 and played for the Eagles, the Detroit Lions, the Chicago Cardinals, the Dallas Texans. He was brought in as a coach of the AFL’s Denver Broncos before the 1960 season, but he was Denver’s best option at QB. Tripucka threw for 3,038 yards and 24 touchdowns that season. He also tossed the first touchdown pass in American Football League history.
Sept. 12 – Warren Giese, 89, former South Carolina coach who led the Gamecocks from 1956-60. Giese compiled a 28-21-1 record over five years.
Sept. 13 – Mike Dunbar, 64, longtime college football coach. Dunbar most recently served as Northern Illinois’ offensive coordinator. He spent 12 years as a head coach, going 83-24-1 at Central Washington from 1987-91 and Northern Iowa from 1997-2000. He was also offensive coordinator at Toledo, California, Minnesota, Northwestern and New Mexico State.
Sept. 13 – Rick Casares, 82, former Chicago Bears running back. Casares was once their all-time leading rusher, was a five-time Pro Bowl pick and a member of the 1963 championship team. He played 10 seasons in Chicago and ran for 5,675 yards. He was the Bears’ all-time leading rusher until Walter Payton surpassed him and currently ranks third.
Sept. 14 – Jonathan Ferrell, 24, former Florida A&M safety.
Sept. 15 – Bonita Spence, 51, veteran NCAA women’s basketball official. Spence worked every NCAA women’s tournament since 2000, including the Final Four in 2001 and 2005. She officiated for 27 years, handling games in the Big East, ACC, Big Ten and SEC. Spence also refereed in the WNBA from 1999-2009.
Sept. 16 – Earl Gunn, 81, former center and defensive end at Georgia in the early 1950s.
Sept. 16 – Scott Adams, 46, former Georgia and NFL offensive lineman. Adams played for Georgia from 1985-88 and played six seasons in the NFL. He played for Minnesota, New Orleans, Chicago, Tampa Bay and Atlanta.
Sept. 18 – Ken Norton, 70, the only heavyweight champion never to win the title in the ring. He was the second man to beat Muhammad Ali, breaking Ali’s jaw and sending him to the hospital in their 1973 heavyweight fight. Norton frustrated Ali three times in all, including their final bout at Yankee Stadium in 1976, where he lost the controversial title fight. Norton came back the next year to win a heavyweight title eliminator and was declared champion by the World Boxing Council when Leon Spinks decided to fight Ali in a rematch instead of facing his mandatory challenger. But on June 9, 1978, Norton lost a brutal 15-round fight to Larry Holmes in what many regard as one of boxing’s epic heavyweight bouts and would never be champion again. Norton finished with a record of 42-7-1 and 33 knockouts.
Sept. 18 – Charles Fobbs, 47, assistant softball coach at Michigan State.
Sept. 19 – Allan Ellis, 62, former Pro Bowl cornerback. Drafted out of UCLA in 1973, Ellis had 22 interceptions over seven seasons with the Bears. He spent his final year in the league with San Diego in 1981. Ellis became the first Bears cornerback to be selected to the Pro Bowl in 1977.
Sept. 19 – Hiroshi Yamauchi, 85, owner of the Seattle Mariners. Yamauchi, who ran Nintendo for more than 50 years, had little interest in baseball, but was approached to buy the Mariners, who may have had to move out of Washington state where Nintendo of America Inc. was headquartered to Florida without a new backer. The acquisition in 1992 made the Seattle club the first in the major leagues to have foreign ownership.
Sept. 19 – John Reger, 82, three-time Pro Bowl linebacker starred for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins in the 1950s and 60s. He forged a 12-year career as one of the finer two-way players in the NFL, making the Pro Bowl from 1959-61. He spent nine seasons with the Steelers from 1955-63 before spending three with the Redskins.
Sept. 21 – Ben Flick, 19, freshman offensive lineman for Cincinnati was killed in a one-vehicle accident south of Oxford, Ohio.
Sept. 21 – Francis Peay, 69, former Northwestern football coach. Peay went 13-51-2 from 1986-91. Peay was offensive lineman at Missouri before the New York Giants selected him in the first round of the 1966 NFL draft. He also played for Green Bay and Kansas City during a nine-year career.
Sept. 23 – Stanislaw Szozda, 62, Olympic medalist and former world cycling champion. One of Poland’s best cyclists, Szozda won silver at the 1972 Munich Olympics and again at the 1976 Montreal Games in the team time trial. He also won team world championship titles in 1973 and 1975.
Sept. 24 – Paul Dietzel, 89, former college football coach and athletic director. Dietzel coached LSU from 1955 until 1961, leaving for Army and South Carolina. He also broadcast Southern Conference football games and helped create Samford University’s athletics department before returning to LSU as athletics director from 1978 until 1982. Dietzel was the last living member of the staff that guided LSU to an undefeated season and national championship in 1958.
Sept. 24 – Paul Oliver, 29, former University of Georgia and San Diego Chargers defensive back. Oliver was a 2007 fourth-round supplemental draft pick from Georgia after he was ruled academically ineligible his senior year. He played four seasons with the Chargers.
Sept. 26 – Denis Brodeur, 82, sports photographer and father of Martin Brodeur. Brodeur enjoyed a lengthy career as one of Canada’s most successful sports photographers, shot pictures of the Montreal Canadiens for several decades, first as a newspaper man and then as the team’s official photographer.
Sept. 27 – Gates Brown, 74, outfielder who played his entire 13-year major league career with the Detroit Tigers. Brown played on Detroit’s 1968 team that won the World Series, and was part of another title with the Tigers in 1984 as a batting coach.
Sept. 29 – Cecil Perkins, 77, former Southwestern Oklahoma State football player, coach and director of athletics.
Sept. 29 – L.C. Greenwood, 67, former Steelers defensive end. Greenwood was the relentless defensive end who made up one quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ “Steel Curtain” defense of the 1970s. A six-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro, Greenwood played for the Steelers from 1969-81, helping Pittsburgh win an unprecedented four Super Bowls in a six-year span. Greenwood, Joe Greene, Ernie Holmes and Dwight White formed the bedrock of the defense that helped turn a perennial loser into a dynasty.
Sept. 29 – Bob Kurland, 88, Oklahoma State basketball legend. Kurland was a 7-footer who led what was then Oklahoma A&M to national championships in 1945 and 1946, and was a member of the 1948 and 1952 U.S. gold medal-winning Olympic teams.
Sept. 30 – Bill McLellan, 81, former Clemson director of athletics. McLellan served as director of athletics from 1971-85. During this time Clemson won 34 ACC Championships in nine different sports. The program was especially successful from 1978-85 when Clemson had 45 top 25 teams and 27 ACC championships.
Sept. 30 – James Street, 65, former Texas quarterback. Street was a backup who took over the Texas wishbone offense in 1968. He led the Longhorns to the 1969 national title, winning 20 straight games, including the 15-14 victory over Arkansas in 1969 dubbed the “Game of the Century” followed by a season-capping Cotton Bowl win against Notre Dame. Street was also a standout pitcher, posting a 29-8 record for Texas that included a perfect game (1970 vs. Texas Tech) and no-hitter (1969 vs. SMU).