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FAIRFIELD, Conn. Some people believe the arrival of University of Connecticut coaches Jim Calhoun and Geno Auriemma in the mid-1980s put the state on the basketball map. Fairfields Don Harrison can tell you otherwise in his new book.
Without a doubt, theres some people who believe that, said Harrison, who will sign copies of his book, Hoops in Connecticut: The Nutmeg States Passion For Basketball, at the new Fairfield University bookstore, 1499 Post Road, from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday. Dee Rowe and Don Perno had some great basketball teams at UConn before them. In 1949, Yale had the college Player of the Year (Tony Lavelli Jr.). There is a deep history of great players and teams from Connecticut.
Harrison has seen many of them. He covered games for newspapers in Waterbury and New Haven and was founding editor of the Greenwich Citizen weekly newspaper. Harrison spent 16 years with the Waterbury newspapers, the final 14 as sports editor and executive sports editor. He authored a similar about baseball in Connecticut in 2008. Baseball and college basketball were two of my favorite sports, Harrison said. So this was a natural extension."
Names familiar to basketball fans appear in the book, such as Norwalks Calvin Murphy, New Havens John Williamson and a bevy of Bridgeport stars, including Walter Luckett, Wes Matthews and Chris and Charles Smith. Harrison also delves into teams, such as the 1985-86 squad from Sacred Heart University that won the Division II NCAA championship and the 1977-78 Fairfield University team that was tops in New England and had four players selected by the NBA.
Among the favorite stories for Harrison in the book were about Tony Hanson, who starred at UConn in the mid-1970s. He was an outgoing guy, an exciting guy, Harrison said. His college choices came down to UConn and Fairfield. He liked Dee Rowe just a little bit better, and he wound up having a great career there. Who knows what might have happened if he had gone to Fairfield.
One team most Connecticut fans forget that had a special story was the 1954-55 squad from Roger Ludlowe High School in Fairfield that won the now-defunct New England championship. Ludlowe lost to Stamford and Harding during the regular season and to Hillhouse in the state tournament. Ludlowe still earned a berth to the New England competition and beat Somerville, Mass., at Boston Garden in the championship game. Somerville knocked off Hillhouse in the semifinals. One of the players on that team was Harry Hyra, who was all-state and went on to become the captain at Fairfield University. Hes also the father of (actress) Meg Ryan, Harrison said.
The book took 40 years to write, he said, incorporating his experience as a reporter, writer, editor and student of the game. He has been working on the project for the past two years.
He uncovered some nuggets that surprised him. The first Connecticut professional player was Stamford native Tom Callahan, who played in 13 games in 1946-47. John Castellani, a New Britain native, coached Seattle University to the Final Four in 1958 on a team that included Elgin Baylor.
Readers will find many familiar names from Fairfield County in the book, including former NBA commissioner J. Walter Kennedy of Stamford, University of New Haven college star Gary Liberatore of New Canaan and Frank Oleynick, a high school star at Notre Dame of Fairfield and a former NBA player with Seattle. Harrison did his research, and the end result is a must-read for any state hoops junkie. Really, it was a labor of love, Harrison said.
What is your favorite Connecticut basketball memory? Start the discussion below!
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