Greg Beckwith, 60, departs as steward of Spiders' basketball spirit (2024)

The University of Richmond played at Drake during the 2021-22 season and Spiders point guard Jacob Gilyard snuck inside to steal the ball from one of the Bulldogs’ big men. Muted cackling followed on the UR radio broadcast. The reaction came from analyst Greg Beckwith.

“Set him up,” Beckwith smoothly said of Gilyard and the victimized Drake player. “Set. Him. Up.”

Beckwith knew what he was talking about.

He started for the Spiders from 1984-86, leading them as point guard to a pair of NCAA tournaments and the NIT. The 1984 Richmond team upset Charles Barkley and Auburn. The 5-foot-10 Beckwith, a lefty inducted to the UR Athletics Hall of Fame in 2003, in his four NCAA tournament games averaged 9.5 assists. He left the program as the school’s career leader in assists and steals.

The Spiders’ basketball community mourns, as do others who knew Beckwith, following Beckwith’s death on Friday. Beckwith, 60, suffered a heart attack, according to his wife, Julie.

‘140 pounds of courage’

Former UR coach Dick Tarrant once described Beckwith as “140 pounds of courage,” and according to Newman, Beckwith’s “height didn’t affect his confidence.”

Beckwith was never his team’s star scorer, but emerged during his time at UR as an indominable force multiplier who Richmond needed on the court. Newman recalled that he and other Spiders saw to it that opponents did not get Beckwith in foul trouble by taking advantage of his height.

“We scrambled a lot. ’No, you’re not posting him up.’ We were close-knit,” said Newman.

Offensively, “Our number one rule,” said ex-Richmond center Steve Kratzer, “(was) get the ball to Beckwith every chance you get. When he had the ball, we were relaxed. We were within our system.”

‘A true class act’

Beckwith became UR’s popular radio and TV analyst for two decades, through last season. He continued to contribute in other ways: as a role model and mentor to Spiders’ players and coaches, steward of the Richmond basketball spirit, ambassador of UR hoops, connector of past and present eras.

“We’ve always known the type of person Greg was, but every day since it happened, we as a family are just realizing more and more the expansiveness of his touch, and how many people are just really, really hurting right now in addition to us,” Julie Beckwith said Monday.

“You hate other people being in pain, but it sure does make you feel better to know that the person you loved had such an impact on so many other people.”

Even the Spiders’ archrival respected Beckwith. Ed McLaughlin, VCU’s vice president and director of athletics, in a social-media post called Beckwith “a smart, kind, genuine man … a true class act.”

Very rarely does UR present the Eastman Award, named after former UR guard Kevin Eastman (mid-1970s standout). It honors a Spider who demonstrated extraordinary leadership and dedication in addition to outstanding play. Beckwith, originally from Uniontown, Pennsylvania, won it.

‘Boom!’ Beckwith, Newman, Davis

Coming out of high school, Beckwith was not viewed as a top-tier prospect. Richmond showed interest only after Beckwith’s senior season was completed, and then, with some trepidation. Division I coaches think deeply before they offer scholarships to 5-10 players. Tarrant did.

Newman said he and John Davis, a standout forward on those mid-80s NCAA teams, were familiar with one another through the summer camp circuit while in high school. They were not aware of Beckwith. When Newman and Davis got to know Beckwith through phone calls – “Boom!” said Newman – all three decided to come to UR, and were Spiders’ senior captains.

“I knew it would be tough,” Beckwith once said of his playing career. “I wanted to find a place where, as a freshman, I could gradually gain confidence in the coach and he could gradually gain confidence in me.”

Beckwith, who earned an economics degree and a Master’s degree at UR, worked as a graduate assistant coach at Richmond and Virginia Tech. In 1998, he began working for adidas and spent 23 years with that company. Beckwith then joined S&S Activewear.

“Beck represented everything we want our players to be,” said Chris Mooney, UR’s coach since 2005.

There will be a celebration of life on Monday, June 3, at 1 p.m., at UR’s Cannon Memorial Chapel, with an on-campus reception to follow.