The NCAA and the National Association of Basketball Coaches are auctioning off 75 paintings of the 75 years of March Madness coaching that led teams to the NCAA Basketball Championship.
One of those paintings depicts former UW coach Everett Shelton, who led the 1943 team to the NCAA Division I men’s basketball championship.
“Coach Everett Shelton is one of the greatest coaches and teachers in the history of college basketball,” said Dan Gavitt, NCAA vice president of men’s basketball in a news release. “The NCAA and the University of Wyoming are eternally grateful for his impact on the lives of the student-athletes he coached and we are thrilled to honor Coach Shelton’s place in the tradition of March Madness with this painting.”
The painting was unveiled at Saturday’s men’s basketball game when the Cowboys beat the University of Colorado Buffalos, 76-69.
The painting was done by artist Opie Otterstad, who painted all 75 pieces. Otterstad has been a sports artist for 18 years. Each of his works tell a story about his subject; some are obvious and some are much more vague. Over the past 20 years, Otterstad has created about 2,000 works of art with the majority of the pieces focused on sports art, according to the NCAA website.
The original painting of Shelton was auctioned off Sunday, and the other paintings will continue to be auctioned off on the NCAA website as they are unveiled.
A portion of the proceeds went to benefit the NABC foundation, which supports the ticket to reading rewards, college basketball experience and National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.
“This collection of artwork will serve as a unique and permanent reminder of these coaches’ accomplishments on the court and their incredible contributions to the game of basketball,” Jim Haney, executive director of the NABC, said in a news release.
