Syracuse University basketball legend Louis Orr has died, according to the men’s basketball program.
Orr, who was 64, was a forward for the Orange in the late 1970s, earning first-team All-Big East honors in 1980, and spent eight seasons in the NBA with the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks. He went into coaching soon after his pro career ended, and was a head coach at Siena, Seton Hall and Bowling Green. Most recently, he was on Georgetown’s coaching staff under head coach Patrick Ewing.
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 Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) December 16, 2022
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
His number 55 hangs in the rafters at the JMA Wireless Dome. Fans also voted him to SU's All-Century team.
"Louis Orr was the greatest man I've had the pleasure to know," Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim wrote on Twitter. "He came into my life as my first recruit, became a fantastic coach and colleague — but most importantly, he became a dear friend. I will treasure our years together. Sending my love to his family and our Orange family."
Ewing, who played with Orr with the Knicks, called said he'd "forever be part of this Hoya program.
"I've lost a great friend," Ewing wrote on Twitter. "Someone who has been in my life since I was 22 years old. 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."