Some thoughts on the death of Dayton big man Steve McElvene:
During Dayton’s Atlantic 10 Tournament win over Richmond, on March 11, I tweeted the following:
“Dayton’s Steve McElvene is evolving into a mid-1990s shot-blocking big man. Think Samaki Walker/Lorenzen Wright. Athletic but inside-focused.”
I was looking forward to seeing it happen.
I never spoke McElvene, but I liked his game and his story. Big Steve, as Dayton people called him, looked like he was enjoying being a college basketball player. For me that’s a trait that’s always fun to watch.
In high school he was over 300 pounds, but during his redshirt year at Dayton he dropped 50 or 60 pounds to get down to 260.
MassLive’s Dan Malone and I compared what he’d done to what Rashaan Holloway was trying to do in terms of fitness.
I made a mental note to talk to McElvene and compare and contrast the challenges and success both he and Holloway experienced in reshaping their respective bodies. I was looking forward to it. I’m sad that it won’t happen.
Athlete deaths always hit me hard. I’ve spent my professional career around 18-24 year-olds. By legal definition they’re adults, but just barely. Mostly they’re kids just dipping their toes in adulthood, all their dreams still intact waiting to be chased.
Their energy is fun to be around.
But when an athlete dies without warning, it’s hard to wrap my brain around. One day their so alive and the next that life is gone.
In McElvene’s case, I’m only feeling it from a far, as a broad lesson about how fragile life is, even from the youngest, strongest and seemingly healthiest.
It makes me sad to think about his family. They must have been so proud of what he was and so hopeful about what he’d someday become. The void he’ll leave in the lives of those close to him is immeasurable.
I don’t know if he was going to someday blossom into an NBA caliber talent, although his body dimensions gave him a chance. But even if he didn’t, his size and skill set assured him of a chance to build a nice nest egg overseas.
Life appeared to hold good things in McElvene’s future.
I originally thought there was a good chance that Archie Miller might take another job this offseason. His stock was high and his best player, Dyshawn Pierre was graduating.
I’m glad he didn’t leave. This will be an emotional year at Dayton. I can’t imagine how tough that would have been for a new coach. I think Miller will handle it well and the already supportive Dayton fan base will rally around that team.
Every time a college athlete dies I think about Greg Cannella, Russ Yarworth and Jim Rudy and the grace and poise all three UMass coaches showed when Eric Sopracasa, Greg Menton and Stephanie Santos died in the during their UMass playing careers.
If there’s a tougher experience for a coach I can’t imagine it. Not only are they battling their own grief, but they need to help heal their team and to some degree the community and fan base. That’s a lot to put on anyone’s shoulders.
But looking back at all three UMass athlete deaths that I covered I remain impressed at how Cannella, Yarworth and Rudy represented themselves, their programs and the school.
All three of those deaths were over 10 years ago now, but the memories of their leadership still feel fresh to me.
Every program in every sport at every school calls itself a family. It can be pretty cliché. But in the face of tragedy, there was no doubt that Cannella, Yarworth and Rudy were running their program’s that way.