In retirement, Duquesne’s Dave Saba will measure his sports information career by ‘Forrest Gump moments’
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Dave Saba calls them “Forrest Gump moments,” those unforgettable interactions with sports celebrities and one future U.S. president that surfaced during his four decades in athletic administration at two institutions of higher learning, Texas and Duquesne.
Landmarks of a lifetime, they come rushing back to him now, especially after he announced his retirement — as of Aug. 11 — following 25 years and more than 1,000 basketball games as Duquesne’s longest tenured sports information director (officially associate athletic director for media relations).
On this day 25 years ago, Dave Saba became a Duke.
Today was his last practice.
Thank you for everything. pic.twitter.com/Cuz5FlbQAm
— Duquesne Basketball (@DuqMBB) August 3, 2023
The moments include:
• George W. Bush, then the governor of Texas, sitting down with him at press row at a Longhorns basketball game. “He was reading the press notes and eating popcorn,” said Saba, who worked in Texas’ sports information department from 1986-98. “Really personable guy. He was a fan. He would sit there and get immersed in the game.”
• Standing courtside — alone, he thought — before a Texas game and turning around and there was Bill Self, then the coach at Oral Roberts before he won two national championships at Kansas. “This guy stands next to me and puts his hands on his hips,” Saba said. “He said, ‘Man, this is what it’s all about.’
“We beat them, 106-69.”
• Having dinner with and being riveted by stories told by Jim Valvano, then a commentator for ABC, a year before his death.
• Sitting in a Pitt classroom — yes, Saba is a proud Pitt man — with Dan Marino. The class was organizational communication. “I remember him doing a presentation on how a play gets from the press box to the field,” he said.
• Going to a dog track in Arizona with Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux and his Chicago Cubs teammate Calvin Schiraldi, who were friends with the son of Texas baseball coach Cliff Gustafson. “This guy knocks on the door (of Schiraldi’s condo), 5-foot-9, glasses, real skinny, with his girlfriend. He said, ‘You mind if I play with your video game?’ It was Greg Maddux. He looked like he was 14.”
• The day Pro Football Hall of Famer Sid Gillman desperately needed his help. While Saba was an intern with the Philadelphia Eagles, he was working late one night — at his desk in a hallway — when Gillman appeared. “Sonny, can you help me? I dropped a daggone VHS tape behind a cabinet,” Gillman said.
“I fished it out for him,” Saba said.
Earlier, when Saba was an intern for the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL in the 1980s, he was handed even greater responsibility.
Saba was driving Maulers running back Mike Rozier and public relations director Bill Keenist to the airport for a flight to Philadelphia where the Heisman Trophy winner was presented with the Maxwell Award.
“As they were getting out of the car,” Saba said, “Mike turns and says, ‘Do me a favor and hold this for me. I don’t want to take it.’ He throws me his wallet.
“I get home and notice a piece of paper sticking out. So, I take a look. It was a check for $50,000. I was a nervous wreck until I gave it back to him the next day.”
At Texas, Saba used to tell former basketball coach Tom Penders he was the only person to see every minute of every Longhorns basketball game from 1990-98. “Tom got thrown out of a couple games. His one assistant who was there the whole time got thrown out of a game,” Saba said. “I never missed a game.”
Saba, 62, has been courtside almost as much as he’s been in his office, or at home. If you pay close attention, you’ll see him in the background when Bryce Drew of No. 13 seed Valparaiso hit the iconic game-winning shot to defeat No. 4 Ole Miss in the 1998 NCAA Tournament.
“I’m behind his right knee,” said Saba, who was working the regional in Oklahoma City as a volunteer.
He also makes a less-than-one-second cameo in CBS’ “One Shining Moment” video at the end of the 1990 NCAA Tournament. “You hang around long enough … ” he said.
Saba loved working at Texas, but after nearly a decade living in Austin, the 1978 Brentwood High School graduate decided it was time to go home.
“I loved Austin. UT was great. Nothing bad to say about it,” he said. “It was time for a change.”
He interviewed for the job at Duquesne in 1998, got it and a wife, too. His wife, Shelly, who was Duquesne’s first women’s soccer coach, was on the interviewing committee.
Saba has worked with five basketball coaches at Duquesne: Darelle Porter, Danny Nee, Ron Everhart, Jim Ferry and Keith Dambrot.
He said Dambrot, the current coach, is “probably my favorite coach to work with.”
“A good guy. He’s a people person and really thrives on relationships. It’s fun to watch him interact with players and staff.”
Dambrot said Saba’s retirement is a loss for the university, his program and himself.
“When Dave told me he was going to retire, I was really happy for him. But at the same time, it’s a tremendous loss for our organization and for me, personally, because I really like him,” Dambrot said.
“For me, personally, when there is something tough I have to deal with, he’s so experienced, I just say, ‘Hey, Dave. How would you handle this with the media?’ I’ve been around the block, but he’s dealt with the media way more than me even.
“For me, it’s going to be a long year without him. I consider him a really close friend.”
Said Saba: “My goal was to help people be able to do their jobs. I was lucky enough to work with good coaches who understood that, especially Keith. He gets it. I’ll miss working with him a lot.”
Saba’s Duquesne memories are many. Who could forget the 30-hour bus ride back home from Fairfax, Va., in 2016 after a game against George Mason. In a snowstorm, two trucks jackknifed ahead of the Duquesne bus, putting traffic at a standstill. Saba said the bus didn’t move for 22 hours. He still remembers the turnpike mile marker (133) where they sat.
“We were on every news outlet you could imagine,” he said. Including the BBC because the Dukes had a player from England.
Saba has worked all six NCAA Tournament sub-regionals staged in Pittsburgh, with Duquesne as the host school — first with Texas in 1997. He was media coordinator for the other five.
“It was like a second job,” he said.
He remembers going out and buying 300 feet of phone cord in 2002 so the CBS-TV truck outside Mellon Arena could get stats.
“I ran it up through the stands and out the door to the truck,” he said. “Your stomach’s in a knot, hoping nobody kicks it and disconnects a wire.”
Retirement will be spent with Shelly and their daughters. Sydney is a sophomore lacrosse player at Xavier and Avery plays ice hockey for North Catholic and the Penguins Elite Team. Next year, Avery will matriculate to Brown. He’ll end up going to nearly as many games in retirement as he did while working.
Meanwhile, the NCAA Tournament returns to Pittsburgh next March, but don’t expect to see Saba courtside at PPG Paints Arena.
“This will be the first one I’ll miss. I’d rather be on a chair somewhere watching.”