TUCSON, AZ — "It's a matter of using your talents and pushing them together."
That's something Bob Elliott learned from a young age, years before he started playing basketball for the legendary Arizona Wildcats.
Currently, Elliott is the only University of Arizona player - male or female - to not only score more than 2,000 points but also to have more than 1,000 rebounds!
Whether it's free throws, lay-ups, or slam dunks, it's no secret that Bob was a big hit on the hardwood when he started on the team back in the 1970s, even as the Wildcats found a new home at the McKale Memorial Center.
"To Arizona, basketball is Tucson and Fred Snowden started basketball in Arizona," explains Elliott.
Better known as "The Fox," Snowden was the UofA's trailblazing Men's Basketball Coach; he was the first African American coach to head the basketball program at a major university.
Under Snowden, Elliott remembers the Wildcats would play in front of sell-out crowds at McKale; Snowden's fast-paced style attracted many a fan - and grew the Wildcats' numbers in droves.
Elliott took all the new-found attention in stride.
"I jokingly say that I am the only 6'9" Black guy in this town, so it’s easy to spot me. And back then...I had this eight-inch Afro, I am easy to spot!"
Then came 1976 - The Wildcats made it all the way to the Elite Eight!
Despite all the attention, Elliott explains he didn't feel scared.
"It was a great opportunity. We got to play against UCLA and be on national television with the winner going to the Final Four."
But the Wildcats would never see that Final Four. They lost in a bruising battle to the Bruins, 82-66.
"We gave it our best shot," says Elliott. "It didn’t happen, but we had accomplished something that was huge."
Elliott says it reminded him of a lesson his grandmother had always taught him.
"If you've been given something, it's your responsibility to give back."
It's a lesson Elliott has continued to live throughout his life - Most recently, opening the African American Museum of Southern Arizona on campus in the Student Union in Tucson.
ABC15 profiled the museum in February. See our story here.
Elliott would go on to be drafted in the NBA and play abroad in Europe. He also spent nearly three decades as a television commentator - and even did voiceover work for video games! As if that wasn't enough, Elliott has owned and operated his own accounting firm in Tucson for more than four decades!
To learn more about Elliott and his legendary career at the UofA and beyond, click here.
