LOS ANGELES (AP) — Richard “Duke” Llewellyn, chairman and co-founder of the John R. Wooden Award that goes to college basketball’s player of the year, has died. He was 93.
Llewellyn’s longtime companion, Nancy Tew, said Friday that he died of congestive heart failure at Hollenbeck Palms, a retirement home in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles.
Working with Wooden, a friend for more than 60 years, Llewellyn founded the Wooden Award in 1976. He remained on the board through this past college basketball season, meeting with sponsors, players and staff as he battled cancer.
Llewellyn and Wooden insisted on the award’s commitment to community service. Wooden, however, stopped participating in the award ceremony in 2005 because of a trademark dispute involving his name. He never contested the use of his name and it remains on the award.
