VICTORIA – The University of Victoria will host a memorial for former UVic basketball star and two-time Olympian Eli Pasquale.
The public ceremony is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at the university's McKinnon gymnasium.
Pasquale, who played at four world basketball championships over his career, died of cancer on Nov. 4 at age 59.
"The name Eli Pasquale is synonymous with basketball excellence and his list of accomplishments are world class," said UVic athletics director Clint Hamilton in a statement.
"Eli was one of the greatest basketball players in the world during his playing days and his impact on UVic and our Vikes program was enormous."
The Canadian Basketball Hall of Famer from Sudbury, Ont., reached national prominence as the point guard for the Vikes, where he inspired a new generation of players.
"We have lost a sporting giant and our Vikes program will forever be honoured to have the No. 13 jersey hanging in our McKinnon and CARSA facilities – a reminder for current and future generations of the high standard Eli Pasquale set while at UVic," Hamilton said.
Pasquale led Canada to a fourth-place finish at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
He returned to the Games four years later in Seoul and helped Canada to a sixth-place showing.
Pasquale was on track to return to a third Olympics when he was sidelined by an injury.
After a five-year absence from the national team, Pasquale returned at age 37 to play in the 1997 Tournament of the Americas, helping Canada qualify for the 1998 world championship.
Pasquale, who represented Canada at the Pan Am Games on two occasions, was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
He is survived by wife Karen, sons Isiah and Manny, brother Vito, sister Luciana and mother Adriana. Funeral arrangements were pending.
