My ode to Bill Raftery …

I have been fortunate in my lifetime to have met some really great people. Back in my other life as a college basketball coach, I had the good fortune to be introduced to Bill Raftery, who at the time was the Head Basketball Coach at Seton Hall University. I have only one regret since meeting him … I have never been able to spend any time with him since I got out of the basketball business.

At the time I was introduced to Bill Raftery, I was coaching at Santa Ana College in California. Les Krichman introduced us to each other. Les was a mutual friend who ran a sporting goods store in Newark, New Jersey and knew more about what was going on in the East Coast basketball world than anyone I knew. Many an assistant coach had slept on Les’s couch while out on the recruiting trail.

It was getting late in the recruiting season, and Bill was lamenting the fact that he didn’t have a big man yet. Therefore, he was looking to find a junior college (JC) transfer to fit the bill. As Les was in the habit of doing, he put two and two together and suggested that Bill call me. I had a reputation with certain coaches that I not only knew the JC scene, but my evaluations of the players was usually on the money as to how they would do at the four-year level.

Long story short, Bill called, I recommended, he recruited and got a, “yes.” He said to me later that getting the 6’8” inside player “saved their ass” that year. The next year at the Final Four in Salt Lake City, Utah we got together and spent a great deal of the weekend hanging out. You do remember that weekend, don’t you? That was the one when a couple of guys named Magic and Bird butted heads.

There was another event happening at that Final Four. They were honoring the 1957 University of North Carolina Tar Heels’ undefeated season. They had to beat the University of Kansas team led by the great Wilt Chamberlain to remain undefeated. (there were three overtimes I think).

Why do I bring this up? Bill and I spent considerable time with those guys and their wives that weekend. If you recall, and most of you won’t, that team was made up of New Yorkers.  Rosenbluth, Cunningham, Queeg, Brennan, etc. had a big suite at a downtown hotel. It was well stocked with cases of beer for fear that they might run out and not be able to get more in Salt Lake.

This was my first opportunity to see Bill in action, and what I saw was a man that was a true Irishman, friend and loved by all. He wasn’t putting up a front, pretending something that wasn’t so or on some personal agenda. For you newcomers to the basketball scene, you may recognize Bill as the long-time color man on college basketball for the past 25 or 30 years. He has been the model for doing that job since he began.

Passion, enthusiasm, humor and insight are just a few of the attributes of a guy who loves the game he played and coached. The few times we have bumped into each other along the way, he has treated me with respect and as an equal. He should receive many a “thank you” from all the just-fired coaches who have been able to find work behind the microphone as he set the standard and demonstrated what was possible for coaches to contribute to any game broadcast.

I am sure that many of the young talent in the broadcasting field have no idea what Bill Raftery has provided for their future. For me to call him a friend, which I know he would allow (have I said how gracious he is?), is just an example of who he is.

Bill, may you continue as long as you can speak. No one finishes like Billy R.

You are the best.