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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Apr 26, 2020 8:05:10 GMT -5
Because of the singular importance of the subject, I'll post this here rather than in one of the numerous Fauci-related threads elsewhere on this board. I'll also preface by saying that Fauci says he wanted to play baseball or basketball at a higher level. The question is answered here. The answer is relevant to other threads on this board re: 17-18 year olds often having an inflated view of their athletic skills. As a reference is made, bear in mind that back in that era, colleges fielded a varsity team and a freshman team, The interviewer is David Rubenstein, who is a friend of Fauci for many years, You can read Rubenstein's bio here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_RubensteinThe interview reveals that more than once Rubenstein sought to have Fauci join his private equity firm, and was turned down. All the above aside, this interview is one of the best of the Fauci interviews that I have seen, probably because Fauci and Rubenstein are friends, and Rubsenstein is already familiar with Fauci's life story. |
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Apr 26, 2020 8:50:47 GMT -5
Sorry not watching 59 minutes of YouTube. Why did he not play freshman ball at HC? Shoot.
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Post by KY Crusader 75 on Apr 26, 2020 8:57:21 GMT -5
Just a guess: Tony Fauci realized that, while he loved basketball, he did not have the talent to compete beyond the high school level and that his time was better spent in his pre-med studies,
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Apr 26, 2020 9:04:02 GMT -5
Just a guess: Tony Fauci realized that, while he loved basketball, he did not have the talent to compete beyond the high school level and that his time was better spent in his pre-med studies, Probably a good guess. While he was a good HS player, the HC Varsity team was certainly nothing to sneeze at back then. Given that there were freshmen teams then, you figure 3-4 guys on the plebe team were the "varsity recruits" with 11-12 other players needed to fill the roster. Presumably these would be guys who were good HS players but not DI material. So there's certainly a decent chance that Fauci had the skills to at least make the freshmen team if he wanted to play. |
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Post by hcpride on Apr 26, 2020 9:14:37 GMT -5
Very common decision to go from pretty good varsity high school ball to intramurals at HC - at least during my time there. Common being a couple of hundred. (Regis is not necessarily a sports powerhouse and I think I read that the team was particularly awful during the 5' 7" Dr. Fauci's senior year. I do note they have not lost a football game this century  ) |
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Post by HC92 on Apr 26, 2020 9:58:59 GMT -5
Sorry not watching 59 minutes of YouTube. Why did he not play freshman ball at HC? Shoot. It starts around 8:00 into the video. While in high school, he had the opportunity to play one or more scrimmages against local college freshmen teams including St. John’s, and realized quickly after playing against someone who went on to be an All-America that what makes you a good high school player does not necessarily translate to the college level. Also, he’s 5’7”. |
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Post by hchoops on Apr 26, 2020 10:33:01 GMT -5
Sorry not watching 59 minutes of YouTube. Why did he not play freshman ball at HC? Shoot. It starts around 8:00 into the video. While in high school, he had the opportunity to play one or more scrimmages against local college freshmen teams including St. John’s, and realized quickly after playing against someone who went on to be an All-America that what makes you a good high school player does not necessarily translate to the college level. Also, he’s 5’7”. That probably was Ivan Kovac, , 5’11”, a very good player, but not an All-American or possibly Willie Hall a higher scorer, but 6’4” and also not an All- American. The only future All- American from that freshman class was 6’11” Leroy Ellis. Must have been a tough matchup for the Regis center. |
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Apr 26, 2020 10:39:27 GMT -5
Sorry not watching 59 minutes of YouTube. Why did he not play freshman ball at HC? Shoot. It starts around 8:00 into the video. While in high school, he had the opportunity to play one or more scrimmages against local college freshmen teams including St. John’s, and realized quickly after playing against someone who went on to be an All-America that what makes you a good high school player does not necessarily translate to the college level. Also, he’s 5’7”. He does not identify the player he played against on a freshman team and who subsequently played for the St. Louis Hawks. Possibly it was either Bob Duffy of Colgate (who played for the Hawks), or Tony Jackson of St. John's (who didn't, but who became an All American), and he amalgamated identities. Fauci also says he, Fauci, was very fast, which I read as being quick. He also details how he came to go to Holy Cross, in more elaborate detail. And it seems to me Fr. Busam at HC adhered to a similar 'protocol' as the Jesuits at Regis did with him, with Fr. Busam deciding where HC pre-med students would go to medical school. And it also seems Fr. Busam was perhaps not happy that Fauci chose Cornell over Harvard, where Fr. Busam had apparently steered him. Fauce also states that HC at that time had the "overwhelming best pre med program" among all Catholic colleges. |
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Post by efg72 on Apr 26, 2020 10:48:55 GMT -5
Tony and I discussed the very topic about a month ago. Paraphrasing his comment - I played against George in a Christmas tournament in 57 and at that point realized as good as I might be, he might not be good enough to play at Holy Cross so he moved on to medicine
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Post by hchoops on Apr 26, 2020 10:49:25 GMT -5
It starts around 8:00 into the video. While in high school, he had the opportunity to play one or more scrimmages against local college freshmen teams including St. John’s, and realized quickly after playing against someone who went on to be an All-America that what makes you a good high school player does not necessarily translate to the college level. Also, he’s 5’7”. He does not identify the player he played against on a freshman team and who subsequently played for the St. Louis Hawks. Possibly it was either Bob Duffy of Colgate (who played for the Hawks), or Tony Jackson of St. John's (who didn't, but who became an All American), and he amalgamated identities. Fauci also says he, Fauci, was very fast, which I read as being quick. Tony Jackson was in the SJU class of ‘62, so would not have been on that freshman team. Did Fauci say he played against Colgate ? A long way to come for a freshman team. |
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Post by hchoops on Apr 26, 2020 10:50:27 GMT -5
Tony and I discussed the very topic about a month ago. Paraphrasing his comment - I played against George in a Christmas tournament in 57 and at that point realized as good as he might be, he might not be good enough to play at Holy Cross so he moved on to medicine The George you refer to is Blaney, correct ? |
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Apr 26, 2020 11:02:15 GMT -5
Blaney would be the right age, but he did not play freshman ball in New York. I think Tony's opponent (who revealed to him he was not a college level player) is an amalgam of several players.
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Post by hchoops on Apr 26, 2020 11:22:04 GMT -5
George B. competed against Fauci in a Jesuit Tourney the ‘56-57 season when George was a senior at St.Peter’s Prep and Tony was a Junior at Regis.
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Post by efg72 on Apr 26, 2020 11:24:35 GMT -5
Correct, and I believe they played one or two other games against each other
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ge
Climbing Mt. St. James
Posts: 71 
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Post by ge on Apr 26, 2020 12:36:50 GMT -5
Lenny Wilkens? He graduated from Bedford- Stuyvesant in 1956 who was an All-American at Providence and played for the St.Louis Hawks.
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Post by Xmassader on Apr 26, 2020 13:27:18 GMT -5
ge That’s what I thought too.
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Post by hchoops on Apr 26, 2020 13:40:30 GMT -5
Lenny played for Boys High in Bed Sty., Brooklyn.He was 2 years older than Dr.F. Catholic and public schools rarely played against each other in games, but sometimes scrimmaged
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Post by hc87 on Apr 26, 2020 15:44:12 GMT -5
Yeah, I would imagine that you had to be pretty good to play (or even be on the frosh) at HC then. All male student body, lot of guys I'm sure that played at good (mostly Catholic HS) schools, HC was still probably one of the Top 25-50 programs in that era etc. etc.
Even in my era in the 80s, there were a lot of very good intramural players...many of whom would probably have played a lot at D3 schools.
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Post by hchoops on Apr 26, 2020 17:04:47 GMT -5
For Fauci’s 58-59 freshman team the backcourt was probably Bill Canavan and Ken McClory from All Hallows in the Bronx whom Tony may have played against when at Regis.,
Of course the main job of guards in that class was to pass to The Shot who I think averaged over 30 ppg on that freshman team.
As far as the varsity was concerned, the problem for guards in that class was the presence of the two guards in the class of ‘61– Blaney and Tim Shea, one of, if not the best HC backcourt.
i guess some others would be Cousy and either Laska or Mullaney, Perry jr and Bobby Kelly, Perry Sr and (Fr.) Markey, and Wendelken and Joe Kelly.
More recent may be Meade and Hamilton.
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Post by beaven302 on Apr 26, 2020 17:25:04 GMT -5
There was a very good article on Fauci in a recent New Yorker magazine. It says that he did not try to play at the college level because he was too short.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Apr 26, 2020 18:22:15 GMT -5
Yeah, I would imagine that you had to be pretty good to play (or even be on the frosh) at HC then. All male student body, lot of guys I'm sure that played at good (mostly Catholic HS) schools, HC was still probably one of the Top 25-50 programs in that era etc. etc. Even in my era in the 80s, there were a lot of very good intramural players...many of whom would probably have played a lot at D3 schools. Even in my time, the HC intramural culture remained pretty competitive. I imagine it still is today. Unlike a lot of DI schools where I imagine varsity athletes are forbidden by their coaches from participating, many Crusaders participated in intramural competition. A lot of football and lacrosse players played intramural hoops. The departing basketball seniors would largely even suit up. The track team usually produced the team to beat in flag football. Most of the football and hockey guys played softball, etc. |
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Post by hchoops on Apr 26, 2020 18:38:04 GMT -5
I can vividly running into a screen set by All American Center Jon Morris in a highly competitive basketball game.
I believe the championship in 65 was won by a squad led by defensive ends Dugan and Mee. A photo of that team was posted recently.
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Post by nycrusader2010 on Apr 26, 2020 18:43:53 GMT -5
Very common decision to go from pretty good varsity high school ball to intramurals at HC - at least during my time there. Common being a couple of hundred. (Regis is not necessarily a sports powerhouse and I think I read that the team was particularly awful during the 5' 7" Dr. Fauci's senior year. I do note they have not lost a football game this century )Last football loss was sometime in the 1940's if I'm not mistaken. Regis definitely not a sports powerhouse by any means -- if there is a HS equivalent to the "entertainment business" they take no part. However, they are rarely REALLY BAD in sports. Particularly when it comes to basketball, Regis is an overall solid small-school program -- typically among the top teams in the city and often New York State in their classification (lowest of three tiers in the Catholic league and 3rd out of enrollment 5 classes in New York State). Typically, Regis' top basketball alum wind up either going the college intramural route or occasionally get the opportunity to continue their varsity careers at the Division III level. Last D-I alum played for Davidson in the early 2000's and was school's all time 3-pt scorer before a guy named Steph Curry stepped foot on campus. In Fauci's day, all the Catholic schools played in one division so Regis would have been playing the like of All Hallows, Tolentine, Power Memorial, Rice, Hayes, All Hallows, etc. I imagine they had more bad than good teams relative to that competition. A little bit before Dr. Fauci, however, Regis won a "schoolboy national title" with a 27-1 season at one point in the mid-to-late 1940's. Former Governor Mario Cuomo (St. John's Prep) even quipped that he could never beat them on the hardwood. Regis does play in the top division in baseball and soccer and somewhat regularly produces Division I athletes in these sports in addition to track & field. Current HC sophomore pitcher Matt Clarkin is a Regis alum as is Declan Cronin '19. |
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Post by Pakachoag Phreek on Apr 26, 2020 18:50:18 GMT -5
There was a very good article on Fauci in a recent New Yorker magazine. It says that he did not try to play at the college level because he was too short. In the interview with David Rubenstein, Fauci says he inherited two attributes from his father: speed and height, and went on to say that 5'7" inches doesn't cut it in basketball. I'm now inclined to agree with posters who think the unnamed player is Lenny Wilkens. Fauci was specific only to this player being an All American (which Wilkens was) and playing for the St. Louis Hawks. Regis would not have played against Providence's freshman squad and as pointed out, Wilkens was two years ahead of Fauci. Perhaps he conflated the experience on being on a team that played against Wilkens, and concluded by his senior year, when Regis did apparently play against freshman squads, that his dream of playing at a higher level was just that. |
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Post by hchoops on Apr 26, 2020 18:57:27 GMT -5
Regis was the CHSAA Class B champion in 2014 and 2015 under Coach Kevin Cullen.
They also won in 2004, 2005, 1992 and 1993.
Don’t know about that alleged 1940s “ schoolboy national title”. Going back to 1928, the first year of the CHSAA, Regis never won the championship when there was only one classification. (Until 1984)
Maybe an urban legend..
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