Tree still stands tall

6’10” Dennis Awtrey ’70 shares, “Winning is really fun.”

The nickname that Dennis Awtrey ’70 earned at Santa Clara doesn’t require much explanation. Considering he was 6-feet-10-inches with a trunk like a telephone pole, “Tree” wasn’t just a way to shorten Awtrey’s last name, it was an apt physical description.

Certainly, Awtrey loomed tall over the golden era of SCU’s men’s hoops. Along with brothers Bud Ogden ’69 and Ralph Ogden ’70, the powerful center helped the Broncos to their best records ever, including a 27-2 finish in 1969, when they ranked as high as No. 2 in the nation and were featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

“Winning is really fun. Repeat that after me: Winning is really fun.”

“I didn’t see all the old guys, but you’d have to say that was the best team Santa Clara ever had,” says Carroll Williams, who was assistant coach when Awtrey played and later became head coach and athletic director. Awtrey could do it all: scoring, rebounding, passing, and even pounding against some of the game’s all-time greats like UCLA’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who went on to become the NBA’s all-time scoring leader.

“Awtrey moved people around,” Willams says. “I’m sure Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would tell you. He had quite a few jostles with Kareem.”

The WCC Hall of Honor

These days, Awtrey is happy with a much lower profile. The former All-American and his wife recently built a bed-and-breakfast in Manzanita, Ore., a stone’s throw from the ocean and about 100 miles from his daughter in Portland. (His son lives in Denver.) The town has just over 600 residents, which is how Awtrey likes it.

post-image DENNIS AWTREY '70
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