Ex-NBA Coach, GM Dick Versace Returns to Roots at Gordon Tech

Versace called those quartet of seasons — from 1969-73, when he compiled a 100-18 record — at Gordon “like Camelot.”

verscace 2He also never forgot how the success at the North Side Catholic school eventually would help vault him to a head coaching job with the Indiana Pacers and president of basketball operations and general manager positions with the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies.

“I’m grateful to Gordon for giving me the vehicle to propel me to a level where I could move on and make enough money to actually be able to pay for my kids to go to college,” Versace says now.

In an effort to give back to Gordon, Versace, 73, this season became a volunteer consultant for the school’s boys basketball team, which is led by second-year head coach Tom Kleinschmidt.

It’s only fitting, Kleinschmidt said.

“Dick was the one who influenced me to come back,” said Kleinschmidt, the Rams’ all-time leading scorer with 1,989 points, and a former DePaul superstar. “I ask Dick’s advice and I bounce a lot of stuff off him.”

Versace, a longtime West Loop resident, attends several Rams practices each month. He also goes to most home games and a spattering of road tilts, always sitting a few rows away from Gordon Tech’s bench.

“It couldn’t be a better situation for me having him around,” said Rams assistant coach Carl Maniscalco, 55, who was recruited by Versace at Gordon and also played for him in junior college and when Versace was the head coach at Bradley University. “I’m still awestruck by him. He always adds something little that seems so simple that maybe a 55-year-old like me doesn’t see yet.”

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