Basketball Lancers hall of famer Rizak was a standout small guard

Former Assumption University of Windsor standout guard Eugene (Gene) Rizak passed away recently at his home in Moose Jaw, Sask., at the age of 81.

Rizak was a two-time all-city high school basketball player at Walkerville Collegiate Institute in 1955 and 1956 before moving on to his hometown university.

He got his first call-up with the team as a freshman and dropped seven field goals against the University of Detroit, which was then a top-20 ranked school in the United States.

In three seasons with the school, he scored over 1,000 points from 1957-60 and set a school record by hitting 26-of-28 free throws and scoring 44 points in a game against the University of Toronto.

“Being a diminutive guard, he was only 5-foot-8 or 5-foot-9, and doing that well, it was quite an accomplishment for the time,” said former teammate and longtime friend Paul Valentine. “There was no three-point shot back then. At that time, that was a national record.”

He topped the conference in scoring in 1958-59 and helped the university to its first outright Ontario

Quebec Athletic Association title that season. He was inducted into the University of Windsor’s Sports Hall of Fame in 1994.

Rizak spent a year at Mcmaster University and played for several teams from 1961-70.

He played for Canada at the Pan American Games in 1967 and played on the Vancouver IGA team that won Canadian senior men’s basketball titles in 1967, 1968 and 1969.

That team was inducted into the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

Rizak served as men’s head basketball coach at the University of Regina from 1970-80 and also taught tennis from 1970-93 while also serving a stint as an assistant coach at Simon Fraser University.

The author of two books, Rizak was also a professor emeritus at the University of Regina for his research related to international sports development.

After retiring in 1993, tennis became a major passion for Rizak, who participated for the Canadian Tennis team in the age 60 category in Spain in 1999 and Australia in 2000. He also won an Ontario Provincial Tennis title in the men’s age 65 category.

“He did tennis in high school and badminton,” Valentine said. “He was always a good tennis player.”

Rizak is survived by his wife, Ann, as well as six children. At his request, no funeral service is being held, but memories can be shared with the family by email at therizakfamily@gmail.com