The love affair between the kid from New York and the Main Line started after his stellar career at Bishop Molloy High School, when he was the first recruit of new coach Massimino in 1974.
"It had come down to three schools for me: Duke, Holy Cross and Villanova," said Rigsby. "[Then-Duke coach] Bill Foster recruited me and Butch Lee. Butch was considered the best guard to come out of the New York Public League, and I was considered the best in the Catholic League. But Butch went to Marquette and I went to Villanova. Tom Brennan, who was an assistant at 'Nova and later coached at Vermont, was instrumental in getting me to Villanova. I loved that guy. And, I wanted to be near a city not named New York and also wanted to go to a school where basketball was the most important sport. It was the perfect fit."
And still is. Rigsby himself has trouble believing this is his 29th year behind the mike as an analyst. He also became a full-time employee at the university in 2000 when he was named director of development for athletics of the V Club, which provides financial resources for the school's athletic departments.
"When I got done playing at Villanova, I played in the CBA, and I hated it," he recalled. "You only played on Fridays and Sundays and I was the type of player who needed to play all the time to stay in shape. So it didn't work. Then, I became an assistant coach at Drexel under Eddie Burke. And I hated it as much as I hated playing in the CBA. I had been hanging around the Fieldhouse a lot and was asked if I wanted to do some radio. Back then, you needed to be standing on a corner in Aston with an umbrella in your hand in order to hear us, but I loved it.
