‘Icing on the cake’: Canton dedicates Dave Downey Court with new look in historic gym

Canton's Dave Downey (front) and his family are honored during a court dedication ceremony in his honor at Alice Ingersoll Gym. Jonathan Michel/Clutch Sports Media

CANTON — Step inside Canton’s Alice Ingersoll Gymnasium and you’ll be greeted by a marriage of history and basketball. 

Pictures, trophies and other memorabilia displaying the best of Canton High School’s longstanding athletic history adorn a trophy case in the foyer and in a cozy corner where the Canton Athletics Hall of Fame is located. 

The already-historic venue, dubbed “The Grand Old Lady” by some, added one of its biggest chapters yet by blending history with the present, dedicating its brand-new playing surface as Dave Downey Court on Friday.

Downey was a Little Giants basketball legend and went on to star at the University of Illinois, where he is a member of the school’s athletic Hall of Fame and has his number 40 hanging in the rafters of the State Farm Center. 

Now, Downey, aged 84, is immortalized in his beloved hometown. 

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