Flynn, 49, was stricken at his Catonsville home and died at St. Agnes Hospital, across Caton Avenue from Cardinal Gibbons School, where he had played and coached.
"We
are in shock and disbelief," said Jamie Smith, the McDaniel athletic
director. "Bob was so positive and enthusiastic. He established an
atmosphere here that we need to continue."
McDaniel postponed
today's home game against Ursinus, and Smith said it was unlikely the
Green Terror would play Wednesday's scheduled home game against Washington
College.
Flynn had McDaniel off to a 7-6 start, its best in two
decades. Last August, while a regular at Ravens training camp, he
enthusiastically talked about building the Green Terror into a contender
in the Centennial Conference.
Westminster was the last stop in a
career that earned Flynn many friends and few adversaries.
At
Gibbons, Flynn played for the late Ray Mullis, the winningest high school
coach in Baltimore basketball history. He got his undergraduate degree
from Mount St. Mary's, and from 1984 to 1994, assisted the Mount's Jim
Phelan, one of the winningest coaches in NCAA history.
"He was
coaching a high school team here in Emmitsburg when I had an opening,"
Phelan said. "Bob was a knowledgeable basketball man who kept it fun for
the kids. He was terrific, because he knew what we were trying to do from
having watched us as a student.
"Bob went out of his way to be nice
to the fringe people, from the manager to the custodial
help."
Mount St. Mary's observed a moment of silence before
yesterday's game against Central Connecticut.
Flynn coached St.
Mary's College in southern Maryland from 1994 to 1999. His 15 wins in
1997-98 were the most for the Seahawks since they joined the NCAA in
1977.
In 1999, Flynn began a six-year stint at his high school alma
mater, where he coached basketball and served as athletic director. He
gradually built Gibbons back into a factor in the Baltimore Catholic
League, one of the nation's premier high school leagues.
In
2003-04, the Crusaders had their best season since 1984-85, going 27-7 and
ascending to the No. 1 spot in The Sun poll after an upset of Mount
St. Joseph in the semifinals of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic
Association A Conference tournament.
Gibbons alumni remember
Flynn's effort to boost the school. "He bled Gibbons red," said Rob
Valderas, a Crusaders teammate and fellow member of the school's Class of
1975. "Bob didn't play much for us in high school, but he was a student of
the game. He loved Coach Mullis, who was his inspiration to get into
coaching, and he loved his profession."
In 2005, Flynn returned to
college coaching at McDaniel, which last had a winning record in 1984-85
and last won 10 games in 1997-98.
"He was really excited about
McDaniel and the direction of the program," said Mount St. Joseph's Pat
Clatchey, a coaching rival and friend. "Bob spent his entire adult life
helping young people. … From the entire St. Joe community, our heart goes
out to Bob's family."
Flynn is survived by his wife, Tina; a
daughter, Caitlin; and twin sons, Michael and Ryan.
Breaking into
the business, Glen Burnie High coach Mike Rudd was befriended on the camp
circuit by Flynn. The Gophers played Dunbar last night, and Rudd planned
his own tribute, one understood by anyone who saw Flynn coach at
Gibbons.
"I'll have a red towel over my shoulder," Rudd said. "I
feel like I've lost a brother. I don't know if Bob understood, how many
lives he touched."
Funeral arrangements are
pending.
paul.mcmullen@baltsun.com