Life Comes Full Circle for Fordham Great John Andariese

New York, N.Y. - The life of John Andariese unequivocally came full circle on the night of October 30, 2017, appropriately at The Water Club, appropriately receiving an award named for his former coach, mentor and father figure, appropriately from his alma mater, where his "basketball lineage began," as his friend, the N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver, poignantly explained.
 
Before a joyous group 200 strong – family, friends, alumni and admirers – at the venue that he married his beloved wife Maureen 26 years ago, the treasured Knicks broadcaster and basketball Hall of Famer was presented with the "Johnny Bach Award" from Fordham University Athletics at the annual basketball Tip-Off Dinner, and what a way to launch a season.
 
The dozen or so current men's and women's basketball players in attendance were given a history lesson on the basketball lineage of their school, too.  It was noted that Andariese was coached by Bach (1956-60), the winningest coach in Rams' history, who also played hoops at Fordham (1943-47), and was coached by none other than the football icon Vince Lombardi, the freshman basketball coach. 
 
It was a night for the ages. And from heaven's hardwood, the two gentlemen Johns from Fordham in The Bronx by way of Brooklyn, forever intertwined, had to be watching in awe.
 
"He and Johnny Bach are up there, amazed," said Maureen. "They were like bookends, the two nicest, most handsome men I've ever been around.
 
"Everything about him was 'you're going to win it,'" Maureen continued in her emotional remarks. "His attitude was never give up. Fight, fight, fight. I hope this night brings the Fordham teams significant success."
 

Minutes earlier, his longtime broadcast partner Marv Albert, reflected: "Johnny Hoops and Johnny Bach were the two most gracious, two most caring, two nicest people I've ever met in basketball."
 
Marv cited the qualities that made Johnny Hoops so superb at his chosen craft: "his passion for the game, his ability to break it down, and his sense of humor," and recalled that his friend would always chuckle when Marv referred to him on the air as the "53^rd all-time leading rebounder in Fordham basketball history."
 
"Somewhere Johnny Hoops and his one-time coach are taking this all in," wrapped up Marv.
 
Commissioner Silver, who was befriended by Andariese during his early years in the N.B.A., recalled the story when they first met: "I was in a room with 25 people from the NBA, and I was the only one that John didn't know. He made a bee-line over and wanted to know: 'what's your name? How did you get your job? What do you do? You have size, do you have game?' He was curious."
 
Commissioner Silver remembered that Andariese would delight in the simplicity of in a great BLT sandwich – "the bacon Adam, the bacon" – and the nattily-dressed broadcaster's love for fine clothing:
 
"He was Johnny Hoops, but we called him 'Johnny Suits,'" laughed Silver. "'Feel this (fabric) Adam.' If he liked a BLT sandwich, you can imagine how he felt about fabric."
 

Andariese had taken Silver to his Manhattan clothier, Edwin, and was now about to take the major step into high-end wardrobe: "I turned over the tag, and was having second thoughts. I told John: 'I'm not sure I'm ready to pay this much for a suit.' And he said: 'you only pass this way just once.' Enjoy life, you deserve it."
 
And so, the eloquent Commissioner, at this Jesuit event, quoted the Quaker missionary Etienne de Grellet, in succinctly capsuling the life of John Andariese, the person: "I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again."
 
For the many whose way John Andariese had passed, his resounding kindness will forever be remembered as the epitome of what it is to be a great Fordham man.

Related: Coach Johnny Bach was a rarity in the NBA (NBA.com)