The reason that Quinnipiac named its basketball court after Burt Kahn is because in many ways he was the living embodiment of Bobcat basketball. He served as head coach from 1960–1990 and athletic director from 1961–1995. He won 450+ games, back-to-back ECAC New England championships in 1977/1978, and led his teams to 4 D-2 tourney appearances. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Burt’s former assistant Bill Mecca about his boss’s life/legacy. Today is the 17th anniversary of Burt’s passing on July 6, 2004 so we are proud to take this opportunity to remember all of his accomplishments.
Kahn became coach at Quinnipiac in 1960: how did he 1st get into coaching? I recall that he started as a high school coach in Long Island, then later ran the program at the Boys and Girls Club. He eventually got the job here and the rest is history.
He oversaw the transition of the program from NAIA to D-2 in the 1970s: what is the biggest difference between the 2 levels? Burt was always interested in taking the next challenge so I am sure that he was a proponent of the leap.
What are your memories of the 1980 D-2 tourney (he had a 9-PT loss to New Hampshire College and then a 5-PT win over Bryant in the 3rd place game)? It was 1 of the best teams we had back when I was working for Burt: just some talented kids who played well together.
What are your memories of the 1988 D-2 tourney (he lost to New Haven before beating Assumption in the 3rd place game)? That was another 1 of his best teams. We played 5-man motion and probably should have won the whole thing. that year.
In 1996 the school gymnasium was renamed the Burt Kahn Basketball Court: what did it mean to him to receive such an outstanding honor? It was 1 of the few times in his life that he was speechless. He was a man of many words but he was quite humbled by that whole experience.
You are 1 of his more than 25 former players/assistants who became head coaches themselves: what made him such a great teacher? He taught with such a passion for the game. Great teachers teach but extraordinary teachers explain. There was a science to the game and he took great pride in teaching us all how to be successful. He ingrained in his former players that Xs and Os could give you some control over the game and he cared for his student-athletes.
He remains the winningest coach in school history: what made him such a good coach, and do you think that anyone will ever break his record? He was here forever so I do not think anyone will get that many wins. It is hard to beat his commitment/passion and he had a lot of dedicated kids. He had a huge impact on our entire institution.
In addition to coaching he also served as athletic director: how was he able to balance the 2 gigs? He spent a lot of time on basketball because we did not have a lot of other sports back then. He helped start almost every sport that we ended up having and hired everyone so there was a sense of loyalty because he had given everyone the opportunity to coach. Basketball was more important to him than being AD.
He passed away in 2004: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? As a caring individual: I have never met anyone who care more about a department and a sport than Burt did. He was single and the basketball program was his life. He did really well and always tried to make us better people.