Collision Course by William Cook

Author:William Cook [Cook, William]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781620062104
Publisher: Sunbury Press, Inc.
Published: 2019-11-04T23:00:00+00:00

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* In 1970–71, the NBA divided the teams in two conferences. Previously the league had two divisions but no conferences (with the exception of the 1949–50 when the NBA had three divisions).

9

Cousy Takes Over at Boston College & Jerry Lucas Joins the Royals

Since enrolling at Holy Cross eighteen years ago, Bob Cousy had lived in Worcester, Massachusetts. He had become a partner in an insurance company in Worcester, and following his playing days with the Boston Celtics, he planned to continue living in the town with his wife, Missie, and two daughters. But upon hanging up his black Chuck Taylor All-Star high-top sneakers, Cousy was presented with several other options for a career and signed contracts with three companies to do public relations and sales.

But basketball had been his life, and Cousy didn’t want to completely separate himself from the game. As luck would have it, in early summer of 1963, Boston College offered him the head coaching job for its basketball program with a salary of $12,000 a year. As Boston College was located in Chestnut Hill, about an hour’s drive from Worcester, it was a perfect fit for both his work and domestic life.

In 1962–63, the Boston College Eagles had finished the season with a record of 10–16 under interim-coach Frank Powers, a BC professor, who had agreed to take the job. When Cousy took over, Powers agreed to stay on as an assistant and coach the freshman squad.

Cousy knew that Boston College was primarily a football school, but it was his goal not just to rebuild the Golden Eagles basketball program but to put it on the map. He believed that he had an ace in the hole for recruiting by just being Bob Cousy. He wanted to recruit players that had similar backgrounds and goals like him. In other words, Cousy wanted players from a poor economic background with a hunger to succeed.

Cousy’s first blue-chip recruit was John Austin, a 6′0″ guard from Washington, D.C.

Red Auerbach had told Cousy about Austin, and he helped recruit him for Boston College while still playing for the Celtics.

John Austin had begun playing basketball in Washington at the Boy’s Club, competing against Dave Bing and John Thompson. As a sophomore, he played at Bishop Carroll High School in D.C. and then transferred to DeMatha High in Hyattsville, Maryland. Austin’s teams won championships at both schools.

As for enrolling at Boston College, Austin remarked, “I enjoyed Catholic high school so much, I wanted to continue in a Catholic College. I also wanted to take advantage of the tremendous academic atmosphere of Boston, and thirdly, I knew Red Auerbach of the Boston Celtics and he told me Bob Cousy would be BC’s new coach. I felt that I could learn a lot from him and also be seen by the Celtics at the same time.”1

As a sophomore in 1963–64, John Austin was the only black player on the Boston College team. Playing three years of varsity ball, 1963–66, John Austin would become the

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