By Brent Edmunds
Danny Ainge and the BYU Legends basketball team lost 116-105 in the Huntsman Center July 14, but the scoreboard wasn’t what mattered.
“The best thing about these games is seeing old teammates and coaches,” said Danny Ainge, former BYU All-American and NBA great.
The other players on the team agreed with Ainge.
“I love the camraderie,” said Russell Larsen.
“Some guys take it serious and get really physical, but I think it’s just fun to get out here and test your skills again.”
Some players were very physical, as Larsen mentioned, but as a whole the game kept a very low intensity level.
Intensity wasn’t low entirely because of age, many of the players still have a lot of energy and athleticism, more importantly the Utes took control of the game with great shooting.
By the end of the first quarter they had a commanding lead. For the rest of the game they led by as many as 20 and never led by less than 10, for more than a minute or two.
The Cougars made a couple of runs led by Danny Ainge and Gary Trost, but to no avail.
The Utes Kelvin Upshaw hit everything he threw at the hoop during the first half; while the rest of the team, specifically Jimmy Soto, Byron Wilson and Pace Mannion were on fire from behind the 3-point line during the second half.
The loss gave BYU a record of 0-3 in the annual Legends Classic.
However, the focus of the evening was more than basketball.
The Utah Tip Off Club is a nonprofit charitable organization that promotes and encourages excellence in youth through basketball.
The organization revolves around the instructions given in former UCLA coach, John Woodens’, “Pyramid of Success.”
The goal of the organization is to use the success and achievements of athletes as examples of hard work, dedication and self discipline that can be transferred into other areas of life.
The game on July 14 was supposed to help raise money, but turn out for the event was less than organizers had anticipated.
“We had hoped the seats would be full, but we are grateful for those of you who have come to support us tonight,” said Steve Gasser, President of ICON sports agency.
The donations were less than expected as well.
After the envelopes had been passed around the crowd Gasser announced that $30 had been raised.
Gasser later announced $150 dollars had been raised and encouraged those present to donate more.
This reporter could not verify if the envelopes had been passed around in the locker room as well.
