New York Times Obit

HAMILTON – Ernie Vandeweghe '49, one of the Mount Rushmore figures of Colgate Athletics and the school's first All-America basketball player, died Saturday. He was 86.
 
Vandeweghe was named to All-America squads in 1947, 1948 and 1949 after setting Colgate scoring records for a game (35), season (397) and career (1,404). He was MVP as a freshman of the 1946 East-West All-Star Game at Madison Square Garden, and then played in the same classic again in 1949.
 
His 19.4-point scoring clip in 1946-47 ranked third in all of college basketball. The 6-foot-3 guard was then the fifth-best scorer in the nation each of the next two seasons at 20.3 and 20.9, respectively.
 
The modern emphasis on offense and 3-point shooting caused those records to be surpassed, but the Long Island native remains in the school's top 21 for all three of his season averages. He stands seventh in career scoring average, ninth in points.
 
"I think of Ernie every time I walk by his jersey that hangs proudly in Cotterell Court," Colgate Director of Athletics Victoria M. Chun said. "Ernie was the quintessential student-athlete who was able to excel in multiple sports at Colgate while having the same result in the classroom.
 

"I had the great opportunity to talk to Ernie years ago, and the way he talked about Colgate literally brought tears to my eyes." 
 
Ernie Vandeweghe Day
After the 1948-49 campaign, Vandeweghe was named to Colliers Magazine All-America First Team, Sporting News First Team, Look Magazine Second Team, Associated Press Third Team, United Press Third Team – and every All-East team that was selected.
 
In addition, CBS Television designated him one of the 10 best basketball players in the country.
 
Colgate retired Vandeweghe's No. 11 jersey on Ernie Vandeweghe Day, March 8, 1953, in Madison Square Garden. His banner hangs today in Huntington Gym, where Colgate played basketball during the Vandeweghe era; and in Cotterell Court, current home of the Raiders. The Colgate Athletics Hall of Honor inducted him in 1980.
 
"The loss of Mr. Vandeweghe saddens the Colgate basketball community," Colgate men's basketball head coach Matt Langel said. "No one embodied our current commitment to a pursuit of excellence in academics, athletics and betterment of the community more than Mr. Vandeweghe.
 
"His No. 11 that hangs in the rafters at Cotterell Court will always remind us of how much one person can accomplish, all while being a great family man and giving back to others in the community."
 
After graduation, Vandeweghe spent six seasons between 1949 and 1956 with the NBA's New York Knicks. Vandeweghe scored 2,135 points in 224 regular-season games for the Knicks despite attending Columbia University Medical School on the side. After retiring from basketball, he became a physician for the U.S. Air Force in Germany.

Family of Athletic Success
Vandeweghe and his wife, Colleen Kay Hutchins – Miss America 1952, married 1953, died 2010 – had quite the sporting family. Son Kiki was a college basketball and NBA star and head coach; daughter Tauna won a U.S. national swimming championship and competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Ernie's birthplace of Montreal; son Bruk medaled in beach volleyball at the 1994 Goodwill Games; and daughter Heather captained the U.S. national women's water polo team before becoming a physician like her father.
 
A granddaughter, CoCo Vandeweghe, is a professional tennis player who has competed in all four Grand Slam tournaments. CoCo, who confirmed her grandfather's death in a Facebook post Saturday, is Tauna's daughter.
 
The cause, time and place of Vandeweghe's death were not given.

Born Sept. 12, 1928, in Montreal, Vandeweghe grew up in the Long Island hamlet of Oceanside, New York. His family loved sports and was partial to soccer. Vandeweghe played soccer at Colgate and was invited to the 1948 U.S. Olympic Trials in that sport. His father, Ernie Sr. '26, was called "one of the best soccer players in Colgate history" and he played professionally. His grandfather also played soccer.
 
Colgate Honors Student
Vandeweghe at Colgate was a pre-med student and member of the honorary society Maroon Key as a junior and Konosioni as a senior. He was president of Pan-Hellenic Council governing the university's 13 national fraternities, and was a George W. Cobb fellow as one of Colgate's "top 13 men of distinctive achievement."
 
After the Air Force stint, Vandeweghe went on to serve as team physician for the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers from 1960-67. He later became a sports agent, and basketball legends Bill Walton and Spencer Haywood were among his clients.
 
Vandeweghe was so respected in the athletics world that he served as chair of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and with the Olympic Sports Commission under President Ford. In the 1970s, he assisted on two key pieces of Olympic sports legislation: Title IX (effective 1972) and the Amateur Sports Act of 1978.