Watch Live: Public tribute for Eli Pasquale at the University of Victoria

The University of Victoria is holding a tribute to the life of Eli Pasquale at McKinnon Gymnasium.

The public ceremony starts at 2 p.m.

Pasquale, a two-time Olympian who played at four world championships over his career died on Nov. 4 of cancer at age 59. The Canadian Basketball Hall of Famer from Sudbury, Ont., reached national prominence as the point guard for the University of Victoria Vikes, where he inspired a new generation of players.

Pasquale led Canada to a fourth-place finish at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. He returned to the Games four years later in Seoul and helped Canada to a sixth-place showing.

But Pasquale’s involvement in Canada’s basketball didn’t end there. He became a coach himself, running basketball camps in Victoria.

Pasquale’s Vikes won their five consecutive national championships from 1980-84.

He was one of the stars of Canada’s 1983 World University Games team that upset the United States in the tournament’s semifinal, defeating an American squad led by future NBA legends Charles Barkley and Karl Malone. Pasquale was then instrumental in shutting down Yugoslavia’s Drazen Petrovic in the final to help Canada win gold.

Pasquale was selected by the Seattle SuperSonics in the fifth round of the 1984 NBA Draft and played three pre-season games for the team before being released. He later played pro basketball in Argentina, West Germany and Switzerland.

After a five-year absence from the national team, Pasquale returned at age 37 to play in the 1997 Tournament of the Americas, helping Canada qualify for the 1998 world championship.

Pasquale, who represented Canada at the Pan Am Games on two occasions, was inducted into the Canadian Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.

He is survived by wife Karen, sons Isiah and Manny, brother Vito, sister Luciana and mother Adriana.

With files from The Canadian Press

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