It has been a tough week and this is the toughest news of all.
This hits home hard.
Louie was in my class at Syracuse. When I first got a look at him, I was pretty shocked at his appearance. Syracuse has had lots of skinny forwards over the years but I am not sure anyone was ever skinnier than Louis.
He was born with a bad body but a great basketball mind. One of our smartest players and this was the case from day one. He was really good even as a true frosh.
Weird looking shot, super narrow shoulders, almost no bulk. But he competed under the boards, somehow got his hands on rebounds in traffic with stronger guys and held on to the ball. Very tough kid.
Seemed to always make the right decision, whether it was setting a pick, passing or shooting, whether to contest a shot or try and draw a charge. It was inevitable that he become a coach.
Amazing he had a great career at Syracuse and even more amazing that he also had a long career in the NBA.
Louis was one of those guys I loved to watch play and admired greatly. He got more out of what he had to work with than any other player I have ever seen at Syracuse.
RIP Louis. Condolences to his friends and family. We Syracuse fans will never forget what you did for our program as a player and later as a coach.