PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Few in Western Pennsylvania sports history were as talented as Dick Groat. A National League MVP and World Series champion with the Pirates, a first-round NBA draft pick and a college basketball legend at Duke. The Swissvale native passed away Thursday at age 92 from complications from a stroke.
His number retired at Cameron Indoor Stadium at Duke University, the esteem to which Pitt basketball coach Jeff Capel and Blue Devils all-time winningest coach Mike Krzyzewski held Groat was all you needed to see. He was the 1952 National Player of the Year leading the country in points and assists. A two-time All-American he was drafted by the Fort Wayne Pistons in the NBA. He also led the Blue Devils baseball team to its first College World Series appearance in 1952 batting .375.
He would choose baseball for financial considerations after the Pirates forced him to decide between sports. He would lead the Pirates to the World Series in 1960 along with being named the best player in the entire league.
Following his playing career, Groat returned home to call Pitt basketball games with close friend Bill Hillgrove. His passion for the Panthers often spilled over onto the air.
"Total chemistry," Hillgrove said. "We knew when each other would breathe, let a lone talk. That's kind of rare. I will miss Dick on the air and off the air."
The owner and co-founder of Champion Lakes Golf Course in Ligonier, Groat held a yearly golf outing to raise money for Pitt scholarships.
Hillgrove said Groat's humility is one of the things he will miss most.
"If anybody should have been carried away with himself or narcissistic, it should have been Dick Groat, and he was anything but. I will miss that part of him."
Groat is enshrined in several Halls of Fame (this year added to the Pirates), including the unofficial one, as a Hall of Fame human being.