By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Mr. Cadle would be known most recently to Turkish Airlines EuroLeague fans as a passionate commentator on Euroleague.TV.
In the United Kingdom, his adopted home, Mr. Cadle, was the voice of American sports, and in particular the National Football League, for a generation of followers on Sky Sports.
But Mr. Cadle’s first love was basketball. After a playing career that began at Pennsylvania State University, near his hometown of Buffalo, New York, in the United States, he found his calling as the most celebrated head coach in British pro basketball history, winning an incredible 80%of his games.
In 14 seasons between 1984 and 1997, he won 27 major trophies with his greatest spell coming while coaching Glasgow and Kingston. Between 1988 and 1992, Cadle dominated British basketball, winning 14 of the 15 domestic pieces of silverware on offer – an achievement which will likely never be matched.
His 1990-91 Kingston team is still considered the best in British basketball history, having reached the Euroleague quarterfinals that year after knocking out CSKA Moscow in the previous round.
Once in the quarters, Mr. Cadle’s team beat such big names as Aris Thessaloniki, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Limoges CSP and Scavolini Pesaro at home, while taking then two-time Euroleague champion Jugoplastika Split to overtime before losing.
It wasn’t just club basketball where Mr. Cadle’s influence was felt. He also had spells leading both the English and Scottish national teams, as well as coaching the Great Britain team during the qualifying rounds for the 1992 Olympic Games.
Mr. Cadle released an autobiography about his life in sports, “The Cadle Will Rock”, in 2016.
Source: EuroLeague