Legend Tripucka Gets Ring Honor
The Tripucka name, as well as the family lineage, is synonymous with Notre Dame University athletics.
Saturday afternoon inside Purcell Pavilion, a permanent tribute was unfurled for former three-time Fighting Irish All-American basketball star Kelly Tripucka when Tripucka's No. 44 was elevated into the rafters as part of Notre Dame’s Ring of Honor.
“My father (Frank) was a quarterback here; my uncle Angelo (Bertelli) was the Heisman Trophy winner in ’43,” Tripucka told reporters, with Bertelli having claimed the first of Notre Dame’s seven record Heisman Trophies. “I grew up on this place. I knew more about it probably than the guys who were already here.
“I’m certainly thrilled that I chose here. I don’t care for the winters here and the gloomy days, but as far as the experience. I don’t even recognize campus anymore. It’s changed. I would love to have another trial year with the facilities here and all that’s going on.”
Tripucka’s decorated career helped fuel the Notre Dame basketball program to its pinnacle, including the program’s lone Final Four in 1978 --- Tripucka’s freshman campaign when he also was named Midwest Regional MVP. The Irish likewise advanced to the Elite Eight in 1979. Tripucka became a first-round pick of the Detroit Pistons and spent a decade in the NBA with the Pistons, Utah Jazz and Charlotte Hornets.
“At that time, I thought Notre Dame could become a very good basketball school,” Tripucka told reporters in a pre-game press conference. “They really put us to the test right away, football team wins a national championship in ’77 my freshman year, but we kind of showed them our own greatness in getting to the Final Four. Unfortunately, we didn’t win, but I think that put us on the map.
“The four years I was here, I consider the greatest four years of Notre Dame basketball history with the record and players we had. Fourteen guys drafted in my four years, 11 played in the NBA. Pretty scary numbers. Credit to my teammates and I’m fortunate to sit here.”
Tripucka closed his decorated Notre Dame career with 1,719 points and 606 rebounds. He addressed an appreciative crowd during halftime of the Irish’s game against Georgia Tech.
“It’s an honor to be back at Notre Dame and very humbling to hang up there,” Tripucka, who also thanked the late Father Theodore Hesburgh and Father Edmund P. Joyce, said. “My dad would have had a ball with this … miss you Dad.”
Tripucka also took a moment in his media gathering to poignantly thank Irish coach Mike Brey and also tout Brey’s hardwood acumen, listing Brey alongside Michigan State’s Tom Izzo and Villanova’s Jay Wright as elite coaches getting the most from their players.
“This is very humbling, a great honor. Obviously, I thank Mike Brey,” Tripucka said. “I can’t thank him enough because I think this is a great idea he started 10 years ago. So many great players that I looked up to.”
Tripucka did reveal that he had not chosen Notre Dame, he likely would have gone to Maryland.
“My phone rings and it’s Lefty Driesell, (asking) ‘Kelly, did you make a decision yet?’,” Tripucka said. “‘Yeah, Coach, I’ve decided to go to Notre Dame.’ I figured that was going to be the end of it. He had to say something (quote-unquote) stupid, ‘Why?’ I wasn’t prepared for that. I said, ‘Well, Coach, they’re an Independent.’ Most kids now, they like the rivalries. For Notre Dame at the time as an Independent, we played anybody, anywhere all over the country, and that was attractive to me. He, without missing a beat, said, ‘Kelly, if I had known that, we would have pulled out of the ACC yesterday.’ And that is so Lefty. I get a little chuckle out of it.
“I came here, and I hope Digger (Phelps) was happy.”
For all of his cherished memories from his time as a Notre Dame star, however, Tripucka revealed the Irish’s gut-wrenching loss to BYU in 1981 that sent the Cougars to the Elite Eight has carved a dubious spot for Ainge in Tripucka family lore.
“I don’t have to run into Danny Ainge. My kids call him my ‘Mortal Enemy,’” Tripucka said. “That’s been for like 30 years. My oldest (Travis) is 30, my second son (Jake) just turned 29 on the 29th, and my youngest daughter (Reagan) is 21. That game is always brought up, and it ruins my day. There’s a few. My last high school game, I scored 56 or something and we lost in the state semifinals. It still gets my stomach turned. Just the way we lost to BYU. We were better than BYU, much better than BYU. We didn’t do some correct things, because we had that game in hand. And then we were all confused after the last timeout.
“You never allow a guy to catch the ball moving down the floor. That still hurts, as you can tell. Danny and I are fine. To my kids, he’s my mortal enemy and always will be. We’ve got issues going through life. That’s one of mine.”