The basketball community in Melbourne’s north-west is in mourning following the death yesterday of longtime player and coach Cecil Exum aged 60.
Exum died in a Los Angeles hospital where he’d been in intensive care with lung complications.
His death came just days after his son, Dante Exum, returned to the NBA by signing with the Dallas Mavericks.
Following his son’s career overseas was one the reasons Exum brought an end to his career coaching local basketball which included stints in Werribee, Keilor and Broadmeadows.
“He was a lovely person, very easy to talk to and very interested in basketball, especially player and coach development” said Glen Milner, Vice-President of Broadmeadows Basketball Association where Exum was director of coaching from 2017 to 2021.
According to Milner, Exum’s affable manner, high standards and vast experience made him the perfect fit.
“He was a very engaging person who was able to connect easily with players and parents,” Milner said.
“He was clear about setting playing and coaching standards.
He had a pretty significant impact.”
Another of Exum’s former employers, the Wyndham Basketball Association, released a statement expressing their sadness and offering condolences to his family.
“Cecil was an instrumental contributor in the development & growth of Wyndham’s (Werribee) basketball programs from 1997 to 2007 as Director of Coaching.
Cecil always had time for everyone with an infectious smile and genuine passion for teaching and encouraging those who played or coached the great sport of basketball.”
Wyndham teams will wear black armbands in his honour this weekend.
Born in Dudley North Carolina, Exum played college basketball at the famed University of North Carolina, where his roommate and teammate was none other than the man now considered the greatest player of all time: Michael Jordan.
After helping the Tar Heels win the 1982 national championship together, Jordan went onto superstardom with the Chicago Bulls, while Exum’s NBA career with the Denver Nuggets was brief.
In 1986 he moved to Australia to play with the Bulleen Boomers in the NBL and never left.
More recently he became better known as Dante’s dad, after his son was picked number five overall by the Utah Jazz in 2014 NBA Draft.
Glen Milner said whenever Dante was home, his father would bring him along to Broadmeadows.
“The youngsters got a big kick out of it,” said Milner who remembered Exum senior as a humble man without ego.
“A lovely chap, modest, didn’t blow his own trumpet and was very committed to what he had to do.”
Cecil Exum is survived by wife Desiree and children Jamaar, Dante and Tierra.
