Gene Bartow, who succeeded John Wooden at UCLA and later began UAB's athletic program, has died, UAB officials said. He was 81. Bartow, who was the president of the company that owns the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies and FedEx Forum, died Tuesday evening at his home in Birmingham, Ala., after a battle with stomach cancer, said university spokesman Norm Reilly. "Coach Bartow is a beloved figure in college basketball and in the lives of many players and fans," said UAB athletic director Brian Mackin in a statement. "He was a great man and dedicated leader who set a standard of excellence for UAB athletics." The school had been preparing for Saturday's Bartow Classic, a basketball game between UAB and Memphis that raises money for the Coach Gene Bartow Fund for Cancer Research. He was diagnosed with stomach cancer in April 2009. Bartow was one of the winningest NCAA Division I basketball coaches with 647 wins over 34 seasons. He was inducted into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2009 and UAB renamed its basketball arena in his honor in 1997. Read more: http://espn.go.com/mens-college-bas...-former-ucla-bruins-uab-blazers-coach-dies-81
