Louis Orr, a Syracuse basketball legend who went on to play in the NBA and later coach at Seton Hall, died on Thursday at age 64, the Orange confirmed in a statement.
“We mourn the loss of an Orange legend — a player, a coach, and most importantly a great person who made everyone around him better,” Syracuse’s men’s basketball program said in a statement.
We mourn the loss of an Orange legend – a player, a coach, and most importantly a great person who made everyone around him better.
Louis Orr’s memory will live in our hearts forever, and especially whenever we look up and see his No. 55 in the Dome rafters. pic.twitter.com/X6KnKSfpQP
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) December 16, 2022
Orr, a 6-foot-8 forward, played for the Orange from 1976 to 1980. As a freshman, he was a member of Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim’s first season at Cuse.
Orr and teammate Roosevelt Bouie were nicknamed the “Louis and Bouie Show” and led some of the most successful teams in program history. During Orr’s collegiate career, Syracuse went 100-18 and reached the NCAA Tournament every season.
Orr graduated in 1980 with 1,487 career points and was selected by the Indiana Pacers in the second round of the 1980 NBA Draft.
The Cincinnati native played in Indiana for two seasons, guiding the Pacers to the first round of the playoffs as a rookie in 1981. Orr headed to the New York Knicks in 1982 and spent six seasons with the team before retiring in 1988. He finished his NBA career with 5,545 career points and 2,117 rebounds in 569 games.
After the NBA, Orr transitioned to a coaching career and served as an assistant at Xavier, Providence and Syracuse. He took his first head coaching job at Siena in 2000 before going to Seton Hall (2001-06) and Bowling Green (2007-14). Since 2017, he worked as an assistant at Georgetown on the staff of his former Knicks teammate Patrick Ewing.
“I’ve lost a great friend. Someone who has been in my life since I was 22 years old,” Ewing said in a statement about Orr’s death. “We developed a friendship and a brotherhood. He was always someone I could talk to — we would talk about life, we would talk about basketball, we would talk about family. He will be truly missed and he will forever be part of this Hoya program.”
(Photo: Jim McIsaac / Getty Images)
