With tears welling in his eyes and
his wife
 holding
his arm, Dominic Rosselli stared up
at the newly unveiled 12-foot tall,
1,500-pound bronze sculpture and
shook his head.
"Wow," he said. "It's beautiful."
The sculpture, commissioned in honor of Rosselli's 43-year
coaching career at YSU, was unveiled
to a chorus of oohs and aahs during
a ceremony outside the Beeghly
Center on May 20, 2005.
"It's the greatest thing that ever happened to me," Rosselli
told nearly 200 people gathered for
the unveiling. "They final made a
stiff of me."
Tony Lariccia, YSU graduate and a vice president at Merrill
Lynch in Youngstown, gave Youngstown
State $100,000 to commission the
statue of Rosselli, who was head
basketball, head baseball and
assistant football coach at YSU from
1939 through 1982.
"He's been my hero since I was 15 years old," said Lariccia,
who first started watching Rosselli
coach basketball in the late 1950s.
"He's been a big inspiration."
The statue, installed on the south patio of the Beeghly
Center, was designed by
award-winning sculptor Edward E.
Hlavka of St. George, Utah, who was
selected after a national search.
The sculpture depicts Rosselli, complete with Converse tennis
shoes and thick-rimmed eyeglasses,
standing in front of the trunk of
three athletes -- a baseball,
football and basketball player.
"Something like this isn't earned by just one person,"
Rosselli said. "I owe a lot to a lot
of people, to many players, the fans
and the families who made so many
sacrifices."
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