Duke Great Dick Groat Honored By The City Of Pittsburgh

Say this is pretty cool even if we didn’t see it until a day after: former Duke great Dick Groat was honored in his hometown of Pittsburgh with “Dick Groat Day.”

A native off Pittsburgh, Groat left to go to Duke, where he played both baseball and basketball, two years in the military and near the end of his career, after playing for his hometown Pirates from 1952-1962 (other than his two-years of military service), he spent a few years bouncing between St. Louis, Philadelphia and San Francisco.

He also spent one season with the Fort Wayne Pistons in 1952-53.

Other than that, he got back to Pittsburgh and stayed there. He’s been on the Pitt radio crew since 1979 and that 38-year stretch is remarkable for its sheer longevity. Not many 87-year-olds could still do what he does for a living.

His heart has always been in Pittsburgh though and we have to think that he must get a certain kick out of knowing that new Pitt coach Jeff Capel, another Duke guard, though one who came much later, will be coaching one of his two favorite schools.

The main thing that comes through loud and clear here, though, is Groat’s deep and enduring bond with his hometown. Lucky Pittsburgh.