Remembering Bill Kirsch (1932-2018)

As I was growing up in the 70's, Siena College's athletic teams were then known as the Indians, and they were one of the first teams to change their name, before the hubbuh over the depiction of Native Americans became a national thing. They went without a team nickname for some time, including their first trip to the NCAA men's basketball tournament, if memory serves me correctly, nearly 30 years ago.

That tournament run represented a milestone in Siena history. They had made their first major inroads in Division 1 sports, and a lot of the credit goes to former player, coach, & athletic director Bill Kirsch, who passed away Sunday at 86.

As a Division 2 school, Siena bought airtime on WAST (now WNYT) for a weekly half-hour program with Coach Kirsch. It didn't survive the decade, and if memory serves me, UAlbany (then known as Albany State) did the same for their basketball coach, the late Dick "Doc" Sauers. It was seeing that Siena program that was my first memory of Kirsch and the school.

Kirsch was a star player at Siena in the 50's, a successful coach in the 70's, and as athletic director, oversaw the construction of the Alumni Recreation Center, the home for Siena's women's hoops team. It was just a few years ago that Kirsch was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame.

The current Saints will almost certainly dedicate the remainder of the season to Kirsch's memory. Lord knows they need some divine inspiration.

Rest in peace, coach.