CUBA, NY — Pat Wight has seen his father cry only twice.
And though he couldn’t visualize it, he could sense that this was undoubtedly the third time.
Early this fall, after having mostly recovered from an illness over the summer, Gary Wight, the legendary Cuba-Rushford boys basketball coach, was diagnosed with another ailment. To that point, the elder Wight, in true Gary fashion, had always quietly pushed back on the idea of a court dedication in his honor. Though he knew it was inevitable, he’d always treated it in his typically self-effacing and endearingly cantankerous manner, the same way he always did his 421 career victories, 14 county championships, five sectional titles, and, most shimmering of all, his 1979 New York State Class C title.
Until he couldn’t push back any longer.
Pat, who’s followed in his father’s footsteps as Rebels coach, approached the C-R administration about holding the ceremony this season. Not that he was fearing the worst, but the last thing he wanted was for it to be a posthumous dedication.
“And at that point, the administration really ran with it,” Wight said. “They said, yep, it’s approved, we’re doing it, here we go, Dec. 1, first home game, we’ll get it going, we’ll get it done.”
At the time, Gary was sick enough that he couldn’t have visitors, so Pat and other school officials called him to deliver the news. And even without being there, Pat and athletic director Chris Cappelletti knew …
“He was definitely tearing up on that phone call,” Pat recalled. “He said, ‘I always thought it would be cool to see my grandkids play on that court.’ He’d thought about it from that angle and thought it would be cool, so he gave us the go-ahead.”
On Friday night, that promise to get it done came to fruition.
INSIDE A packed Cuba-Rushford gymnasium, before a crowd that included a number of former players, school and community members and most of that 1979 team, Wight, wheelchair-bound in the moment, but in wonderful spirits, watched as the Rebels’ home floor was officially named Gary Wight Court.
If there was a local coach, alongside the likes of Olean’s Jeff Anastasia, whose name seemed destined to be emblazoned along a sideline, whose presence was synonymous with his program’s success, it was Wight. He led the C-R and former Cuba programs for 36 years (1976-2012), winning a state title in his third season, a sectional title in his last and steering any number of strong campaigns in between.
And on Friday, with his six sons standing behind him, it happened.
AT TIMES during the 20-minute ceremony between the JV and varsity games pitting C-R and Ellicottville, there were laughs. Wight wasn’t going to start his brief speech with anything other than one of his trademark sideways comments.
At others, there was nary a dry eye in the building.
Such was the case when Gary looked into the crowd and thanked his brother Tom for accompanying him on the many trips he’s needed to make to Buffalo for treatment. “We know that Buffalo hospital better than anybody,” he said. “We could make that drive frontwards, backwards, with our eyes shut, with our eyes open. Thank you, Tom.”
It all left an indelible mark on Pat, who, a decade after his father’s retirement, has continued his legacy as the Rebels’ basketball coach and who’s battled health issues of his own in the last year. From here on, he’ll be coaching on the same court that bears his father’s name, the one on which his son Braedon, a senior, will play his final season.
“(Our brothers) always talked about it,” Pat said. “‘Would we ever coach where dad was; and I was always kind of the one who was like, I would. I had all those years (as an assistant) at Allegany-Limestone. And they said, ‘when you leave, when that job opens up and you take it, I know you’re gonna go.’ It’s incredible. Now I’m gonna be coaching, when the floor is (soon completed), with his name in front of me every time I’m on that sideline.
“I thank the administration for the chance to coach here and kind of instill some of the stuff he taught me as a human, as a player and as a coach. I’m really looking forward to the challenge and that, if nothing else, he’s proud at the end.”
GARY SPOKE like a proud man before the few hundred in attendance.
He should have been. Wight finished his coaching career with a glittering mark of 421-276 (.641), three Big 30 Coach of the Year honors (1980, ‘87, 2012), one Section 5 Class C Coach of the Year honor (2012) and one NYS Class C top coaching nod (1987).
Aside from the ‘79 state title, he guided the Greyhounds to a 25-1 record and a second-place state Class D finish in 1986-87. He was inducted into the Big 30 Basketball Hall of Fame in 2016.
And on this night, he not only got to watch his grandson play on that court, he received the commemorative plaque from him. This year’s four seniors were part of the last class that Gary coached, as modified players five years earlier. They were the ones who surprised him with the plaque, bringing the program to an end and the audience to its feet.
“I appreciate this honor very much,” Wight concluded, “To the parents, the school and community: thank you.”
