Accolades and gifts keep coming for the University of Detroit basketball team and head coach Ray McCallum -- with Titans coaching legend Dick Vitale sending some of both.
Vitale, the ESPN basketball analyst who first made his name in the game as head coach of the Titans from 1973-77, was impressed with their dominating 70-50 road victory over Valparaiso in the Horizon League championship game Tuesday night.
The victory gave the Titans an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. It’s their first NCAA appearance since 1999, when they made the second of two straight NCAA appearances under former Titans coach Perry Watson.
Sophomore guard Ray McCallum Jr. led the Titans with 21 points Tuesday.
Coach McCallum celebrated his birthday Tuesday and called the game his “best birthday ever.”
“They were very tough-minded defensively, and Ray McCallum, Jr. is a legit super soph,” Vitale said via e-mail. “Really proud of them. Sent a congratulatory gift basket to Ray this morning.
“LET’S GO TITANS!!!!”
The sign off, with four exclamation points, is vintage Vitale.
Vitale had a 79-70 record with Detroit, and his 1976-77 team made the NCAA tournament. After a first-round win over Middle Tennessee State, the Titans lost to Michigan in a regional semifinal.
Vitale, a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, was honored at Detroit in December, when the court at Calihan Hall was rededicated in his name.
