Mike O'Donnell, left, and Mike Williams, two long-time assistant coaches at Aviano High School in Italy, take down a banner hiding the words that now are displayed prominently in the school's renamed gymnasium. (Kent Harris / Stars and Stripes)
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — Talk about a home-court advantage.
Ken McNeely’s basketball teams don’t usually have much trouble winning in their own gymnasium.
In fact, the Aviano boys’ basketball teams have had so much success that the gym was renamed Tuesday in his honor.
McNeely, who has taught mathematics and coached basketball at the school for 30 years, is normally one to deflect praise on the kids. And he tried to do that again Tuesday, without much success.
Principal Doug McEnery called the dedication of the school’s gymnasium in McNeely’s name “a celebration of an entire lifetime of service.”
Joseph Tafoya, head of the Department of Defense Education Activity, and Thomas Ellinger, the DODDS-Europe Mediterranean District superintendent, were among the dignitaries on hand. Luigi Ezio Cipolat, the representative for the Italian basketball federation in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, also attended.
McNeely thanked them for attending and broke down several times while talking to the students gathered around him.
“There’s no way possible for me to remember the names of all the people … who have made this possible today,” he said.
McEnery used an unusual approach to show the guests the impact that McNeely has had and continues to have at the school. He asked students on the various sports teams to leave the stands and come onto the court.
Then he asked those who have taken geometry or math analysis classes from McNeely to come on the court. Only a few dozen students were left in the stands.
McEnery said McNeely, who also coaches football and is the school’s athletic director, has had an impact on hundreds and hundreds of lives over the years.
“A truly remarkable number that only a mathematician could appreciate,” he said.
After the ceremony, McNeely said his one regret about the event was that more of the former students and athletes couldn’t attend.
“I wish they could have been here and I could have shared this moment with them,” he said.
McEnery said the idea of naming the gymnasium for McNeely — who has won close to 700 basketball games at Aviano — has been around for a few years. But the timing hadn’t been right.
The timing has nothing to do with McNeely retiring or leaving the school, because he’s not. Opposing coaches will still have to deal with him leading the Saints every year in Coach McNeely Gym.
