RIP Bill Daily

[xudash]

https://goxavier.com/news/2018/12/1/athletic-department-xavier-athletics-remembers-dr-bill-daily.aspx?fbclid=IwAR1ZGH9BNCSkMxCh8bFXr-EDnlbhCV8f1FwyTfu5vkRp2f_rLsMXSJ_RXNE

We talk here these days about Xavier basketball because of this guy.

We've acknowledged him before, but now we remember and honor him.

Some of you guys can't possibly know how close we came to DIII, or even dropping sports altogether. And had that happened, Xavier wouldn't be around today (IMO).

[paulxu]

Safe home Bill Daily, and thanks for all you did for Xavier.

[whopper]

amazing and many schools did de emphasize sports at that time. Thanks and I did contribute on giving Tuesday..

[noteggs]

What a great man for Xavier University all around. God Bless

[Mel Cooley XU'81]

Thanks, Dash, Paul, Whopper, and Noteggs.

Great to see these sincere tributes.

I encourage everyone to hit the link in Dash's post if only to admire the picture of Dr. Daily with Coach Staak.

Bill Daily had a vision for Xavier University that he brought to life. That vision made countless lives more enjoyable and many lives more fulfilling and successful.

Peace and prayers for him, his family, and friends.

[xu82]

RIP

The best test of your legacy is how many lives you improved. This was a life well lived.

[Muskie]

Bill Daly was an incredible human being. Prayers for his family.

[XU 87]

My understanding is that if it weren't for Bill Daily, we would very likely not have XU basketball, or XU, as we know it.

Many, many thanks to him. RIP.

[American X]

Requiescat In Pace

[Masterofreality]

This one is very personal for me. We have a Lew Hirt Society Facebook Page & I invite you to visit it, but today below is what I posted as to Dr. Daily. I am thankful to have known him, and for his life & work. RIP Doctor.


“Greetings Musketeer Faithful!! It's Xavier vs that college in Clifton week, with a game vs Ohio U thrown in Wednesday just for the hell of it. But today, is the sad re-creation of Memorial Monday, to Honor one of the truly Great Men in Xavier Athletics History- Doctor, Hall Of Famer and Honorary Lew Hirt Society Brother William (Bill) Daily- who passed away over the weekend. Please bear with the length of this posting because this is personal for many of us of his era.
This one is very sad for many of us who knew him as the character that he was, but also the wise professor and astute & aggressive Athletic Administrator too. If there is to be a Mount Rushmore of Xavier Greats, Dr. Bill Daily is on there for sure.
Dr. Daily was a Xavier contemporary of Honorary LHS Brother Bob Queenan and Former Xavier SID Jack Cherry- both who told this writer many great tales of the Good Doctor before I was lucky enough to make his acquaintance. He graduated from X in 1957 and began his association with XU Athletics as an Assistant Basketball Coach to Don Ruberg in 1964. He then became a Professor of Communication Arts in 1969 earning tenure in 1973. He became Chairman of the Communication Arts Department, and in 1975 began serving on Xavier's Athletic Board becoming the Chairman of such Board in 1977. He was inducted into Xavier's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007 and as an Honorary Lew Hirt Society Brother on February 23, 2011 during its Annual Meeting at BT Sorrentos.
Without Dr. Daily's strength, wit, persuasiveness and guile, Xavier would be a very different place today. In 1971, with Fr. O'Connor the school President and strong supporter of Athletics becoming ill, the school's trustees appointed a Provost-President in waiting in Father Robert Mulligan- most assuredly NOT a supporter of sports and a Philosophy Professor at Loyola Chicago. As soon as he could, Mulligan forced the dropping of football in 1973 and had his sights on dropping all of Xavier's Intercollegiate Sports to Division 3, with a thought to make Xavier a similar school to Loyola New Orleans. Thankfully, Dr. Daily was there to cajole the Athletic Board to dismiss Mulligan's horriffic ideas, and instead, along with Big Jim McCafferty formed plans for Xavier to emphasize Basketball and other sports as a way to make the University more successful and visible to the nation. Those plans resulted in the formation of Xavier's first conference affiliation- the Midwestern Cities Conference- which now operates as the Horizon League. Then Dr. Daily spearheaded the effort to remove Coach/Avid Golfer Tay Baker, who was more concerned with his handicap than recruiting, and hired the Coach to begin Xavier's turnaround- Bob Staak. Mulligan, after being embarrassed that his plans to de-emphasize athletics at Xavier were thwarted, moved on to St. Louis U in a lower capacity in 1982, and Xavier's program's were saved.
Dr. Daily, when Coach Staak went to Wake Forest, then made the decision to hire Pete Gillen over the call of some other Board Members who wanted Tim Grgurich, a mediocre former Head Coach at Pitt. When Peter was hired, Xavier's Basketball future success was secured- all because of the acumen and astute mind of Dr. Daily.
This writer had the opportunity to have dinners with Dr Daily and he was so entertaining. He also had season tickets in the section directly adjacent to this writers' seats. He was one of the funniest and most quick-witted folks I have ever met. Those who had him as a Professor say that he was the same way in the classroom and was quite the showman. He was also thankful for the appreciation that anyone showed to him, but was very modest in admitting his role. I never did not thank him for his work when I saw him. As Skip Prosser always said- "Never Delay Gratitude".
In summary, Xavier Basketball, Athletics, and the University as a whole would be nothing like we see now without Doctor Bill Daily. He will be deeply missed and thoughts and prayers to his family.
Thank you Dr. Daily for a life well lived and being a great Muskie. Rest in Peace. (But keep helping to bring us a Final Four! �� )
(Photo Below- Dr. Daily at his 2011 Lew Hirt Society Induction)”
2307

[xudash]

Well done MOR.

[IM4X]

Thanks for sharing that great post MOR.

Thanks Dash for letting us know.

Oh my... Very sad news. Bill Daily was certainly one of a kind. I knew he had a hand in shaping athletics at X, but I did not know he was so instrumental in keeping all of the sports programs (including basketball) alive.

I was one of the fortunate ones who got to know Bill Daily at X and even took his Group Dynamics class as an elective many years ago. What a character- what a joy it was to have a discussion with that special man. He was fun and funny. Smart yet never pretentious or full of himself. Always offering a smile along with some words that got you smiling back. One of my favorite professors and persons at X. I feel truly blessed to have known him and learned from him... and now I know I should be grateful to him for saving Xavier sports (especially the hoops program).

Bill Daily... you will be missed. You have lived a very good and meaningful life - you have made a positive impact on my life and on the lives of so many others.

Thank you!

[Masterofreality]

Another member of the XU Athletic Board in the late ‘70’s Mike Bachman, has told me that many don’t know how truly close to the edge of Division 3 Xavier was under Mulligan. Just imagine Xavier today as a 1,500 student NAIA commuter school with no Cintas Center, no development at all across Cleaney, Ledgewood Avenue still open, and zero national presence. Hell, it’s debateable if the school would have even survived with the money woes it was having under Mulligan. That’s why when Mulligan left he went to St. Louis U as an assistant to the President and never got a head job again. Mulligan was the antithesis of Top Jimmy Hoff.
Doctor Bill Daily is an Icon. #NeverForget

[SkyWalker]

I never met Bill Daily but I have certainly heard of him. I have seen him several times at Duff's before games. I beleve he is the father of Xavier basketball as we know it today. Fr. Hoff and Sr. Fleming have banners flying high above the Cintas Center floor. If it wasn't for Dr. Daily, those banners would at best be flying over the Schmidt Fieldhouse. My two daughters both attended Ohio University and are in attendance tonight. Without Bill Daily, we would be 20 point underdogs and probably playing in Athens if OU would have us. Prayers for his family and RIP. Thanks for your contributions at Xavier.