Posted on Thu, Jul. 11, 2002

Ex-Cav Sorenson loses cancer battle
Forward helped OSU make Final Four

Dave Sorenson, a star at Ohio State and a member of the first Cavaliers team, died of cancer Tuesday at a hospice in Cleveland. He was 54.

Sorenson helped lead the Buckeyes to the Final Four in 1968 and later played three seasons in the NBA. In 1970-71, he was one of the most popular players on a woeful Cavs expansion team, which went 15-67.

``He was a great guy,'' said Bill Fitch, who coached the Cavs for their first nine seasons. ``He was a great player at Ohio State, and he could really shoot the ball. He was a pure shooter. He would have been a great 3-point shooter in today's game. He was a nice kid, a top-drawer kind of guy. He was the kind of kid you'd like your daughter to marry. I can't believe he's gone.''

Sorenson had been sick for several years. Bingo Smith, another original Cav, said he last talked to Sorenson last year. In 2000, when Smith was in the hospital with a heart condition, Sorenson visited him.

``I knew he'd been sick,'' said Smith, an Akron resident. ``With me also being sick, we both just talked about the good times. We had a lot of them, being the first players on the team. But we also went through hell together with those early teams.''

Sorenson. a 6-foot-7 forward, played in the NBA from 1970-73, averaging 8.1 points. He spent his first 2 ½ seasons with the Cavs and his final half season with Philadelphia. With the Cavs, Sorenson averaged 8.8 points, including 11.3 as a rookie.

``He was a very consistent player,'' Smith said. ``You might not know he was out there. But then he'd get 13 or 14 points and 10 rebounds. He was pretty good on defense. If he'd been a little quicker on his feet, he would have been a heck of a player.''

After leaving the NBA, Sorenson played professionally in Europe. He later became a sales representative for the Converse athletic shoe company. At the time of his death, Sorenson, a Findlay native who lived in Rocky River, was national sales manager for Cleveland-based Peterson Nut Co.

Sorenson was twice named All-Big Ten at Ohio State. His career scoring average of 21.1 points ranks fifth in school history.

Sorenson is survived by his wife, Wanda, of Rocky River; his mother, Viola Peterson, of Tiffin; sons, Andrew and Stephen, of Rocky River; and sister, Carroll Campbell, of Tiffin. The funeral is Saturday at the Evangelical Freedom Church near Findlay.

CHRIS TOMASSON