Penn State Behrend's men's basketball coach Dave Niland is mourning the death of his father, Joe Niland, who died Sunday at age 89. In the late 1940s, Joe Niland served as head coach of Gannon College's basketball team. Later, he returned to Buffalo where he coached the team at Canisius.
Joe Niland was a legend in Buffalo. He knew everyone throughout western and central New York and was one of the most respected coaches and athletic administrators. In the case of his son, Dave, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.
When I covered college basketball in the 1980's for the Erie Times-News, I remember Dave well as the savvy point guard for Lemoyne College in Syracuse. As a freshman, Dave led Lemoyne, then coached by his brother-in-law, John Beilein, to several crucial victories over Gannon and Mercyhurst. Those schools all played in the Mideast Collegiate Conference, which seemed far more exciting to local fans than the GLIAC, which is Gannon's and Mercyhurst's current conference.
The thing about a coach's son or daughter is that they play like an extension of the parent on the court or field. That's the way it was with Dave Niland. Fresh out of college, he joined Beilein as an assistant coach at Canisius. Then it was on to Behrend, where Niland has become the college's best all-time coach.
Through it all, I enjoyed listening to Niland describe the lessons he learned from his father. It's funny; I haven't been a sportswriter for seven years now, yet some things remain fixed in place in my mind. One is the memory of Dave Niland as a fresh young coach who acted older than his years.
He never bragged or strutted the way some coaches do. Yet, Niland always had a good sense of himself. I heard so many stories about Joe Niland through the years that I felt as if I knew him, though we never met. In coaching, though, you get to know the parents through the way their kids conduct themselves. And I would say that Joe had good reason to be very poud of his son, Dave.
-- Kevin Cuneo
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