Post by newfieguy74 on Oct 10, 2023 7:33:45 GMT -5
DAN SHAUGHNESSY
The Celtics draft pick who chose the priesthood over the NBA
By Dan Shaughnessy Globe Staff,Updated October 10, 2023, 32 minutes ago
4
The Rev. Earle Markey, a fourth-round draft pick of the Celtics in 1953, took in the Harvard-Holy Cross football game at Polar Park Sept. 30.
The Rev. Earle Markey, a fourth-round draft pick of the Celtics in 1953, took in the Harvard-Holy Cross football game at Polar Park Sept. 30.TAYLA BOLDUC
WORCESTER — Earle Markey was Holy Cross’s basketball captain after Bob Cousy, before Tommy Heinsohn. He was a 1,000-point-scoring guard and an honorable mention Associated Press All-American. In his final game with the Crusaders, he battled future NBA legend Bob Pettit, scoring 16 points in an 81-73 Elite Eight loss in the NCAA Tournament.
A few weeks after that game, Markey was selected by Celtics general manager/coach Red Auerbach in the fourth round of the 1953 NBA draft.
But he never gave pro ball a shot.
Instead, Markey became a Jesuit priest.
“I didn’t have knowledge of whether Earle wanted to just save the team or save the world,” Cousy said this week from his Worcester home. “But he was clearly impacted by the Jesuit experience at Holy Cross.”
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“The priesthood had been in the back of my mind junior and senior year,” the 91-year-old Markey said while watching Holy Cross-Harvard football at Polar Park. “I was asking myself, ‘What am I going to do with my life?’
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“I still had an open field in front of me. I decided that I wanted to live a life in which — at the end of my life — I had done good for other people. A victory with the Celtics would not compare with celebrating Mass or doing things for other people. They were different worlds.”
ADVERTISING
NBA … or priesthood? Not your typical post-grad conflict of options. Certainly not these days.
Markey thinks he could have made the Celtics "as a substitute" had he not entered the priesthood.
Markey thinks he could have made the Celtics "as a substitute" had he not entered the priesthood.COURTESY COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS
Cousy, who’d been a member of Holy Cross’s 1947 NCAA championship team, was a senior when Markey arrived in Worcester from St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City) in the autumn of 1949. Freshmen could not play varsity at that time, so the two were never teammates, but Cousy was familiar with the the 6-foot-2-inch point guard.
“I remember him being a very smooth type of player,” the 95-year-old Cousy said. “He was very quick, fast, jumped well. Proficient offensively. He handled the ball reasonably well.”
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Markey took over the backcourt after Cousy graduated and pushed the Crusaders to seasons of 20-5 and 24-4 in his sophomore and junior years. The Cross beat Seattle in the then-prestigious NIT tournament in ‘52 when Markey was an honorable mention AP All-American.
Markey led the Cross to the NCAA East Regional final in his senior season. LSU’s Pettit, who went on to become one of the greatest players in NBA history, torched the Cross with 29 points at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, while Markey scored 16. Pettit, Markey, and HC’s Togo Palazzi were named to the All-Tournament Team.
On the day of the NBA draft (April 21), Auerbach selected Frank Ramsey (Hall of Famer) in Round 1, Cliff Hagan (Hall of Famer) in Round 3, and Markey in Round 4.
Markey didn’t learn he’d been selected by the Celtics until an envelope arrived at his Holy Cross mailbox a few days after the draft.
Markey's career decision made news in 1953.
Markey's career decision made news in 1953. GLOBE FILE
“Red didn’t call me,” Markey said with a chuckle. “This wasn’t Larry Bird we’re talking here. But I got a letter from [Celtics owner] Walter Brown.”
Markey still has the top half of the tattered letter, on official “Boston Celtics Basketball Club Incorporated” team stationery, which reads (in part), “Doubtless you have read in the paper where the Celtics drafted you in the College Draft … are you interested in playing pro ball? … what is your [military] draft status? … Doubtless you will be hearing from Red, if you’re interested.”
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“Part of my dilemma at that time included the fact that I would have to do military service for two years somehow after graduation,” said Markey. “Cousy and [Bill] Sharman were both starting guards in the heart of their playing careers. I was thinking more about a lifetime career than three or four years of playing basketball.”
Auerbach often found roster spots for lower-round picks. Rick Weitzman was a 10th-round pick out of Northeastern who made the Celtics in 1967. Steve Kuberski was a fourth-rounder in 1969. John Thompson (’64) and Rick Carlisle (’84) were third-round picks who stuck. All of them won rings with the Celtics.
After Markey told the Celtics his decision, he got a handwritten letter from Brown, who wrote, “You have apparently made a great decision and it has my deepest admiration … Should you decide you haven’t the call for the priesthood, please depend upon us to give you every opportunity, within our power, to play basketball.”
The letter from Celtics owner Walter Brown to Markey.
The letter from Celtics owner Walter Brown to Markey.COURTESY EARLE MAR
Would Markey have made the Celtics?
“I think I would have made it as a substitute,” he said. “Especially the way the Celtics played. I would have been a person would could have given Cousy or Sharman a rest. I thought about it a lot.”
“Earl was on the cusp of having All-American talent,” surmised Cousy. “He might have been able to make the transition to 2-guard.”
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Any regrets, Father?
“Not regret,” Markey said. “But wonderment. I do wonder …”
He has been serving as dean of students, vice president of student affairs, and/or associate director of admissions continuously at Holy Cross since 1976.
Looking back on his life of service, Markey said, “I’m pleased for various reasons. Whenever I’ve done anything that I think is worthwhile, I say, ‘Thank you, Lord.’
“You’re not doing this by yourself. So my feeling is a good feeling because I can go to bed at night and say, ‘Well, I could have done better. I could have done this, but I did that.’ Overall, looking back on my life, I’m glad I did this.”
He never had a conversation with Auerbach. Not even when Heinsohn brought him into the Celtics locker room after a Sunday afternoon game at the old Garden during the Cousy-Bill Russell-Heinsohn championship run.
“Red just walked by me and said, ‘Hello, Father,’ ” recalled Markey. “I don’t think he knew it was me.”
The humble padre made no attempt to introduce himself to Red. He’d chosen a life of humility.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him @dan_shaughnessy.
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The Celtics draft pick who chose the priesthood over the NBA
By Dan Shaughnessy Globe Staff,Updated October 10, 2023, 32 minutes ago
4
The Rev. Earle Markey, a fourth-round draft pick of the Celtics in 1953, took in the Harvard-Holy Cross football game at Polar Park Sept. 30.
The Rev. Earle Markey, a fourth-round draft pick of the Celtics in 1953, took in the Harvard-Holy Cross football game at Polar Park Sept. 30.TAYLA BOLDUC
WORCESTER — Earle Markey was Holy Cross’s basketball captain after Bob Cousy, before Tommy Heinsohn. He was a 1,000-point-scoring guard and an honorable mention Associated Press All-American. In his final game with the Crusaders, he battled future NBA legend Bob Pettit, scoring 16 points in an 81-73 Elite Eight loss in the NCAA Tournament.
A few weeks after that game, Markey was selected by Celtics general manager/coach Red Auerbach in the fourth round of the 1953 NBA draft.
But he never gave pro ball a shot.
Instead, Markey became a Jesuit priest.
“I didn’t have knowledge of whether Earle wanted to just save the team or save the world,” Cousy said this week from his Worcester home. “But he was clearly impacted by the Jesuit experience at Holy Cross.”
Advertisement
“The priesthood had been in the back of my mind junior and senior year,” the 91-year-old Markey said while watching Holy Cross-Harvard football at Polar Park. “I was asking myself, ‘What am I going to do with my life?’
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Be the first to know the latest sports news as it happens, and get the Globe's most interesting reporting right to your inbox.
Enter Email
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“I still had an open field in front of me. I decided that I wanted to live a life in which — at the end of my life — I had done good for other people. A victory with the Celtics would not compare with celebrating Mass or doing things for other people. They were different worlds.”
ADVERTISING
NBA … or priesthood? Not your typical post-grad conflict of options. Certainly not these days.
Markey thinks he could have made the Celtics "as a substitute" had he not entered the priesthood.
Markey thinks he could have made the Celtics "as a substitute" had he not entered the priesthood.COURTESY COLLEGE OF THE HOLY CROSS
Cousy, who’d been a member of Holy Cross’s 1947 NCAA championship team, was a senior when Markey arrived in Worcester from St. Peter’s Prep (Jersey City) in the autumn of 1949. Freshmen could not play varsity at that time, so the two were never teammates, but Cousy was familiar with the the 6-foot-2-inch point guard.
“I remember him being a very smooth type of player,” the 95-year-old Cousy said. “He was very quick, fast, jumped well. Proficient offensively. He handled the ball reasonably well.”
Advertisement
Markey took over the backcourt after Cousy graduated and pushed the Crusaders to seasons of 20-5 and 24-4 in his sophomore and junior years. The Cross beat Seattle in the then-prestigious NIT tournament in ‘52 when Markey was an honorable mention AP All-American.
Markey led the Cross to the NCAA East Regional final in his senior season. LSU’s Pettit, who went on to become one of the greatest players in NBA history, torched the Cross with 29 points at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, while Markey scored 16. Pettit, Markey, and HC’s Togo Palazzi were named to the All-Tournament Team.
On the day of the NBA draft (April 21), Auerbach selected Frank Ramsey (Hall of Famer) in Round 1, Cliff Hagan (Hall of Famer) in Round 3, and Markey in Round 4.
Markey didn’t learn he’d been selected by the Celtics until an envelope arrived at his Holy Cross mailbox a few days after the draft.
Markey's career decision made news in 1953.
Markey's career decision made news in 1953. GLOBE FILE
“Red didn’t call me,” Markey said with a chuckle. “This wasn’t Larry Bird we’re talking here. But I got a letter from [Celtics owner] Walter Brown.”
Markey still has the top half of the tattered letter, on official “Boston Celtics Basketball Club Incorporated” team stationery, which reads (in part), “Doubtless you have read in the paper where the Celtics drafted you in the College Draft … are you interested in playing pro ball? … what is your [military] draft status? … Doubtless you will be hearing from Red, if you’re interested.”
Advertisement
“Part of my dilemma at that time included the fact that I would have to do military service for two years somehow after graduation,” said Markey. “Cousy and [Bill] Sharman were both starting guards in the heart of their playing careers. I was thinking more about a lifetime career than three or four years of playing basketball.”
Auerbach often found roster spots for lower-round picks. Rick Weitzman was a 10th-round pick out of Northeastern who made the Celtics in 1967. Steve Kuberski was a fourth-rounder in 1969. John Thompson (’64) and Rick Carlisle (’84) were third-round picks who stuck. All of them won rings with the Celtics.
After Markey told the Celtics his decision, he got a handwritten letter from Brown, who wrote, “You have apparently made a great decision and it has my deepest admiration … Should you decide you haven’t the call for the priesthood, please depend upon us to give you every opportunity, within our power, to play basketball.”
The letter from Celtics owner Walter Brown to Markey.
The letter from Celtics owner Walter Brown to Markey.COURTESY EARLE MAR
Would Markey have made the Celtics?
“I think I would have made it as a substitute,” he said. “Especially the way the Celtics played. I would have been a person would could have given Cousy or Sharman a rest. I thought about it a lot.”
“Earl was on the cusp of having All-American talent,” surmised Cousy. “He might have been able to make the transition to 2-guard.”
Advertisement
Any regrets, Father?
“Not regret,” Markey said. “But wonderment. I do wonder …”
He has been serving as dean of students, vice president of student affairs, and/or associate director of admissions continuously at Holy Cross since 1976.
Looking back on his life of service, Markey said, “I’m pleased for various reasons. Whenever I’ve done anything that I think is worthwhile, I say, ‘Thank you, Lord.’
“You’re not doing this by yourself. So my feeling is a good feeling because I can go to bed at night and say, ‘Well, I could have done better. I could have done this, but I did that.’ Overall, looking back on my life, I’m glad I did this.”
He never had a conversation with Auerbach. Not even when Heinsohn brought him into the Celtics locker room after a Sunday afternoon game at the old Garden during the Cousy-Bill Russell-Heinsohn championship run.
“Red just walked by me and said, ‘Hello, Father,’ ” recalled Markey. “I don’t think he knew it was me.”
The humble padre made no attempt to introduce himself to Red. He’d chosen a life of humility.
Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him @dan_shaughnessy.
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