March 4, 2007

In the fall of 1946 a basketball sensation from Queens, New York would make his way to the small college campus of Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. He arrived without fanfare and no basketball expert could have predicted the impact he would have on the game. That young man was Bob Cousy and his style, his flair, his panache for the game would change basketball forever.

Bob Cousy joined the basketball team at Holy Cross as a freshman under second-year coach Alvin "Doggie" Julian. Julian, a future Hall of Famer himself, would coach only three years at Holy Cross, but would compile a 65-10 record and garner one national championship. Life as they say is all about timing and Cousy's was impeccable whether leading the fast break or simply falling into the perfect set of circumstances. While he did not play much in his freshman year, the "Cooz" would go on to become an All-America and score 1775 points during his college career, and would become that "very rare athlete-the flamboyant individual performer who was essentially a team man."

Cousy was "a basketball gem, a daring innovator, a ball-handling wizard, a marvelous one-hand shooter, a general of the court." Observers would claim that Cousy had the ability to photograph plays and the players around him. And while there would always be a generic fast break, the Cousy fast break would be a unique combination of speed, quickness, and razzle dazzle made possible by extraordinary court sense and vision. Driving down the center of the court he would flip a blind pass over his shoulder to a teammate knowing the speed and habits of those around him. It was as if his brain could compute where the player would be at a particular time going at a particular speed. With Cousy taking the lead, the Crusaders would be nicknamed the Fancy Pants A.C. because of the way they handled and moved the ball. The Crusaders would compile a 99-19 record during Cousy's collegiate career.

Not bad for a team that had no home court. Holy Cross played their games an hour from campus at the Boston Garden and the Boston Arena. Occasionally they would play in Worcester at the South High gym.

The first NCAA Championship tournament was played in 1939. Oregon defeated Ohio St. 46-33. From 1939 to 1950 only eight teams went to the tournament each year. So a championship hopeful needed to win three games to sit atop the basketball world. Until 1947 the tournament was dominated by schools west of the Mississippi. Oregon, Stanford, Wyoming, Utah, and Oklahoma A&M each captured at least one title prior to Holy Cross's run in 1947. Indiana and Wisconsin, while east of the Mighty Mississippi, were the other winners and hardly on the eastern seaboard. In fact, it was rare for an eastern team to make the finals. Dartmouth proved to be a consistent exception, playing in 1941 and 1943, and losing in the championship game in 1942 and 1944. But it would not be until 1947 that a team from the east would emerge victorious.

In the first game in 1947, Holy Cross overcame an eight point Navy halftime lead in Madison Square Garden to beat the Midshipmen 55-47. George Kaftan scored 15 and future Providence College coach, Joe Mullaney, added 18. Cousy, who did not start any of the three games that year, came off the bench to score six points. In the semifinal game Holy Cross led by only two at the half but stormed past City College of New York in the second half for a 60-45 victory. Kaftan would again lead the team with a game-high 30 points while Cousy found the bottom of the net for five tallies. In the final against Oklahoma before more than 18,000 spectators at Madison Square Garden, Holy Cross would tie an NCAA championship game record by holding the Sooners to 16 second half points to win the championship, 58-47. The Crusaders were led by tournament Most Outstanding Player George Kaftan with 18 points, Dermie O'Connell with 16, and Frank Oftring with 14 points. Cousy would manage only two points that game.