‘ Like a father’: Rowe’s lasting impact on the Huskies

The conversations bounced from career advice to family updates. Every other week or so, the player checked in with his former coach.

Jim Abromaitis last played for Dee Rowe in 1977, yet the relationship endured for more than four decades. The last phone call was last week, just days before Rowe died at age 91.

What did Dee Rowe mean to him?

“I’m sure there are a number of guys that have a similar reaction to that question,” Abromaitis said. “But, he was like my second father.”

A quick random sampling:

“He was a like a second father to me,” said Bob Staak, a member of Rowe’s first UConn team in 1969-70.

Said Jeff Carr, a teammate of Abromaitis in the mid-1970s: “After he stopped coaching me, he was like a father. That’s how important he was.”

Rowe coached UConn from 1969 to 1977, yet he may be remembered most as the athletic department’s ambassador and beloved booster in the years since his coaching career ended. A stately presence on campus, a mentor to coaches and athletes for decades, the face and soul of UConn sports.

Those who played for him, though, paint a picture of a sometimes demanding coach with a sharp basketball mind. Rowe was tough but fair, intensely competitive yet, ultimately, a teacher.

That’s why he never stopped mentoring his players.

Abromaitis, a Waterbury native, is among the most accomplished products of the UConn athletic department. He served as the commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development and the executive director of the Capital City Economic Development Authority before becoming athletic director at Albertus Magnus in 2013.

As he navigated his career, Abromaitis never made a decision with consulting with Rowe.

“Any time I did anything, I checked in with Dee,” Abromaitis said. “Any lifechanging decision, I checked in with Dee, made sure he was OK with it.”

Carr, a Hartford native,

reer that included stops as head coach at Xavier and Wake Forest before 13 years as an NBA assistant coach.

At 73, Staak is still scouting for the Miami Heat.

That long basketball life was heavily influenced by Rowe, both as a coach and a friend.

“We always had a great relationship,” Staak said. “He was just so caring for people, always wanted to be helpful to people … whatever they might be going through. He was just a people person.

“I think everybody that played for him will say the same thing about him.”

Rowe came to UConn after 13 years as coach at Worcester Academy. Staak had aspirations to coach before playing under Rowe, and he found a mentor as both a player and assistant from 1973 to 1975.

“He just exposed me to a lot of different things,” Staak said. “He was very

much a multiple offense and a multiple defense kind of guy. There would be a lot of sets, a lot of continuity offense, there was changing defenses, there was zone, there was man, there was combination defenses. There was pressure at different levels of the court. So I was exposed to a lot of things.

“It was a great learning experience for me. Having played under that system and then having been in coaching meetings and saw how he implemented it, what were the teaching points and so forth that he wanted to convey to his staff to get across to the players.”

Abromaitis remembers Rowe as, above all else, thorough.

“He always had a practice plan,” he said. “Thorough meant that not only did we do what we were scheduled to do in practice, but we did it right. And we didn’t leave until we did. Fair, and just someone who you couldn’t help but respect — just the way he carried himself and dealt with everybody.”

And that respect between coach and player never stopped. His players were scattered around the world, some consistently returned to Storrs for visits while others remained connected through phone calls.

But Rowe was the same presence. When Carr’s son J.C. was a student at Eastern Connecticut State and needed career advice, he found his way to Rowe.

The UConn family ran deep for Rowe.

“He was something else,” said Carr, choking up. “He was so important in my life. … After every conversation, he’d say, ‘I love you.’ Now, who does that, right? I’d say, ‘I love you, too, coach.’ Every time.

“What a man.”