Pittaluga Tournament Returns, Honors Fallen Sons

The first Danny Pittaluga ’82 Memorial Basketball Tournament was held on March 25, 2006, and it returned to 16th Street once again on April 18 to honor Pittaluga and other deceased Sons of Xavier. After Pittaluga tragically died in June 2004 of a sudden heart attack, his classmates joined together and decided to pay tribute to a great teammate and special human being by hosting a three-on-three basketball tournament in his name. In recent years, the event has grown into a basketball event for all alumni. 

This year's tournament started by remembering Pittaluga, Mike Andrews ’85, Jimmy Riches ’89, Chris Israel ’89, Chris Lawler ’95, and Larry McMahon ’97 and their families. Former faculty member and varsity basketball coach Tom Carpenter returned and reminisced with Mike Waitkus ’82, Ike Okeke ’82, Tim Sullivan ’82, Charlie Marquardt ’82, John Regan ’83, Tim Derham ’83, John Corea '82, and Kevin Charles ’82. "Xavier is such a special place, and I have always appreciated the hard work and dedication of all my former players and teams," Coach Carpenter said. "We were in the toughest division of the CHSAA and competed night in and night out against nationally-ranked programs such as Rice, Power, and Tolentine. It was a great era of basketball in New York City, and I was glad to be a part of it.” 

Mike Norris ’94 (Guilford College), Kevin Riley ’03 (Hobart College), Nygel Roach ’02 (St. John’s University), and guest Mike Manning (Hobart College)—The Pippins Pub All Stars—were this year’s winning team. A special thanks to Coach Joe McGrane and the Advancement Staff for all their time and effort in organizing and facilitating such a successful event. To view photos from the tournament, visit our Flickr site.