Bill Daily: Professor and Men's Basketball Pioneer
Dec 3, 2018
Bill Daily, 1957-1961 alumnus, long-time faculty member in Communication Arts and Education, and men's basketball pioneer, died on Saturday, Dec. 1. He was 83.
Daily was the father of Xavier alumni Mary Beth Bruns (1983) of University Relations, Maria Dickman (1986), Frank Daily (1987), and Maura Daily, former adjunct in Communication Arts, and grandfather of alumnae Molly Lutts (2011) of the Office of Graduate Services, Jennifer Bruns (2015) and current junior Pammy Dickman.
Daily was the assistant basketball coach from 1964-1968. From 1969-2006, he was a member of the faculty in the Department of Communication Arts, during which time he created the service-learning semester in Cincinnati's Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, and was also director of the cultural diversity required course. He also helped develop Xavier's graduate program in Human Resource Development.
In 1978, as the university considered moving to Division III, he led a group that advocated for emphasizing athletics to increase visibility of the entire University. The search committee that he led hired Bob Staak as head coach for Xavier men's basketball, leading Xavier to the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1961.
Daily was inducted into Xavier's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2007. During an NCAA tournament interview earlier this year, former men's coach Chris Mack said, "Xavier really, really cares about our basketball program ... It really started with Bob Staak and Bill Daily and the administration who said, hey, we can use basketball to make our University better."
Visitation is Thursday, Dec. 6, from 4:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m. in the Schiff Family Conference Center at the Cintas Center. A Mass of Christian Burial is at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 7, at Sisters of Saint Francis Chapel, 22143 Main St., Oldenburg, Ind. 47036.
Daily's children started an endowment fund to ensure that Xavier basketball can provide managers with a stipend each year. Memorials are appreciated to the Bill Daily Basketball Managers Endowment, c/o Xavier University, 3800 Victory Parkway, ML 5440 Cincinnati, Ohio 45207.