John Richard "Dick" Motta, coach of the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association, has been named Alumnus of the Year by Utah State University.
Motta, a 1953 graduate of USU who also earned a master's degree from USU in 1960, was honored by the USU Alumni Association and Alumni Council at a dinner, Friday, June 29."The Alumni Association is proud to honor someone of Dick Motta's stature who has maintained his interest and involvement with his alma mater throughout his career," said Jay Haws, director of alumni relations.
Motta was named NBA Coach of the Year in 1971 when he was coaching the Chicago Bulls. He coached the Washington Bullets and took them to the NBA championship in 1976. After coaching the Dallas Mavericks he gave up coaching until this year when he joined the Kings.
He is the third winningest coach in NBA history and is now the active coach with the most wins. Only Red Auerbach coached in more playoff games than Motta's 126.
He was a consultant for the Mavericks and did color commentary for the Detroit Pistons broadcasts after leaving Dallas.
In 1989, he and fellow USU graduate Dr. Elmer Larsen purchased the Bluebird Candy Company in Logan. He is still a partner in that business.
Motta and Larsen have donated the profits from the company's O'Aggie candy bar to the USU Alumni Association.
He began his coaching career at Grace, Idaho, High School after graduating from Utah State. He took Grace to the Idaho state championship in 1959. He worked at Colorado State before becoming head basketball coach at Weber State College in Ogden. He joined Chicago in 1968.
Motta is married to the former Janice Fraser and they have three children.