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Bob Cousy shared laughs and tears with the crowd gathered at his alma mater, Holy Cross. The day was planned to honor Bob and unveil a bronze statue created by NJ sculptor, Brian Hanlon, in his honor.
Click here to watch the video of Bob Cousy’s speech
On Saturday, June 7, during Reunion Weekend, the College of the Holy Cross honored one of its best-known former student athletes, Bob Cousy ’50, with the unveiling of a life-size bronze statue in front of the Hart Recreation Center on campus.
The highly anticipated event, celebrating the former Crusader and Boston Celtics point guard, drew a crowd of more than 400. Among those in attendance were Cousy’s family and friends, alumni and former teammates (including Tom Heinsohn ’56 and Togo Palazzi ’54), Celtics and NBA staff, and media.
Ron Perry ’54, former athletic director at Holy Cross, served as the emcee of the unveiling ceremony, at which Rev. John E. Brooks, S.J., ’49, president emeritus, and Cousy’s daughter, Marie, spoke about the personal and professional accomplishments of “Mr. Basketball” and the importance of the statue.
Humbled by the honor, Cousy also offered remarks. Calling the experience “surreal,” he reflected on the College’s impressive athletic tradition and added, “I’m also very proud to be so acknowledged at a school that not only enjoys international acclaim and respect for its academic curriculum, but also for its commitment to social justice and truth.”
Following the statue dedication, invited guests gathered for a reception and luncheon in the Hogan Campus Center at which former Celtic Tom Heinsohn ’56 and Basketball Hall of Fame President and CEO John Doleva shared their memories of the “Cooz” and remarked on his many contributions to the sport and the community.
Commissioned by a group of alumni and friends of the College, and created by New Jersey sculptor Brian Hanlon, the statue recognizes Cousy not only for his extraordinary basketball career at Holy Cross and with the Celtics, but also for his generous and long-term commitment to the citizenry of Worcester and for his efforts to integrate the NBA racially during its early years.
Holy Cross captures ‘the Cooz’ in bronze
By Paul Jarvey TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
pjarvey@telegram.com
WORCESTER — Holy Cross has had its alumni reach the highest levels of business, law, media and government, but Bob Cousy, who helped the Crusaders win the 1947 NCAA basketball championship before leading the Boston Celtics to six NBA titles, will be the first graduate of the college to be honored with a statue on campus.
He is humbled by the distinction, but he doesn’t want his bronze likeness, which will be unveiled in Junein front of the Hart Center, to be alone.
“It is my hope in the not-too-distant future that I would be flanked by a prominent Holy Cross sports lady on my left and a distinguished minority athlete on my right,” Cousy said during a news conference yesterday to announce the project. “That would complete the picture of what a Jesuit education is all about.”
Bob Cousy smiles yesterday during the news conference to announce that a statue of his likeness would be erected at Holy Cross. (T&G Staff/DAN GOULD)
Not wanting it to seem like he was promoting himself or pushing for a bronze likeness at his alma mater, Cousy was reluctant to even attend the news conference, but was convinced by Ken Kaufman, the former WPI basketball coach who chairs the statue committee, and Andy Laska, his former HC teammate and a member of the committee.
It’s a good thing he came because Bill Sharman, his backcourt mate with the Celtics, was there to wish him well, as were former HC coach and current UConn assistant George Blaney, college president emeritus the Rev. John E. Brooks, and members of the committee including Laska, Kaufman and Dee Rowe. There were many top basketball minds in the room.
All will be eager to see what New Jersey sculptor Brian Hanlon does with Cousy, who came to HC as a humble son of immigrants and parlayed his talents as a point guard into a successful career that earned him the nickname “Mr. Basketball.”
Hanlon said he will depict a slightly older player than the one who played for HC, with him dribbling on a parquet floor, a nod to the professional basketball career that awaited Cousy after he left school. The seven-foot statue will cost six figures and be paid for with donations, according to Tony Froio, the legal counsel to the committee and a former HC baseball player.
Cousy expects that it will be odd to see himself cast in bronze.
“It’s got to be spooky to look up and see a statue (of yourself),” he said. “It’s going to be a little strange and bizarre.”
He said he used to kid Red Auerbach about his statue at Faneuil Hall in Boston, saying it made the pigeons happy. Like Auerbach, the 78-year-old Cousy will be cast in bronze while still alive.
“It seems appropriate that when you’re sight-seeing somewhere, and you look up at a statue, that you expect that the subject has long gone to — in my case — the great golf course in the sky,” Cousy said. He talked about enduring hard times as he grew up in New York before coming to HC. In 1966, after his playing days, he visited the farm in France where his father was raised. Meeting his three uncles for the first time, he saw that they lived in a house with earthen floors and no electricity.
“I had always been told I had been born 20 years too soon (to better cash in on his basketball talents),” Cousy said. “I was the highest-paid player in the league, and in my last year I made $35,000. But if I’m born 20 years sooner, I’m picking potatoes on that farm and living in a little broken-down farmhouse.” No statue, no nothing.
Instead, he became one of the greatest basketball players ever and one of Worcester’s most prominent citizens. He’s hoping his statue doesn’t just reflect personal achievement, but stands for all that Holy Cross has accomplished in sports.
“With a limited recruiting budget and limited television exposure, and graduating 98 percent of its student-athletes, what Holy Cross has established is rather remarkable,” Cousy said. “If anyone looking at my statue is reminded of this sports legacy, I would be a happy camper if I’m on either side of the grass, quite frankly.”
By KAREN KENNEDY-HALL
Courier-Post Staff
PENNSAUKEN
March 13, 2003
Mayor Bill Orth said he has dreamed of putting up a memorial here to remember the events and heroes of Sept. 11, 2001.
“I want everybody to remember what happened,” Orth said. “I want my grandchildren to see it and know it was important.”
That dream is on the road to coming true.
On March 5, a resolution was introduced to allow the township committee to borrow $266,000 for the design and construction of a Sept. 11 memorial at Route 130 and Merchantville Avenue, where concrete spells out Pennsauken.
A public hearing and final action will be taken at 5:30 p. m. Wednesday.
Orth hopes to dedicate the sculpture by Sept. 11.
The monument was designed by sculptor Brian P. Hanlon of Toms River, who has made more than 200 public art pieces including memorials, busts and religious statues in his 15- year career.
TINA MARKOE KINSLOW/Courier-Post; Sculptor Brian P. Hanlon stands behind a model of his 9/11 monument that is to be erected at Route 130 and Merchantville Avenue, Pennsauken, by Sept. 11, 2003.
The bronze monument shows five, life-sized figures of a firefighter, police officer, businessman, emergency medical technician and a police dog. It depicts a scene from that day when terrorists hijacked two airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center towers in New York, killing almost 3,000 people.
The scene shows a black businessman in a suit sitting on a curb with his head down. In one hand is a cell phone, the other is lifeless, and, “he is completely overwhelmed with emotion,” Hanlon said.
On one side is a female EMT, standing, with her hand on his shoulder. The other side is a police officer, seated a level above the businessman. Next to the police officer is a German shepherd police dog, standing on the curb. Behind the police officer is a firefighter, tipping his helmet.
“It’s about 9/11 and it’s also about this town,” said Hanlon, 40. “They’re simply doing their job but by doing their job, it has a profound effect on the community.”
Hanlon said all the figures will be about 6 feet tall and the whole monument will take up a space of about 15 feet by 15 feet.
According to Orth, the site at the center of the township will be redesigned.
“Our intent is to have a circle of honor surrounding the sculpture,” Orth said.
The circle will be made of 12-inch by 6-inch granite or paving blocks that the township will sell to help defray the cost.
A 30-foot, black granite wall will be erected behind the monument as a backdrop, engraved with the words, “We shall never forget” and the date will be etched below it.
Sidewalks, lighting and landscaping will be incorporated into the redesign.
Rowan University sociology professor John Myers said it’ s a common practice for people to put up memorials to remember important historic events.
“Look at the museums and memorials for the Holocaust,” Myers said.
And since Sept. 11 was a huge turning point in our history, “it makes a lot of sense to do that,” Myers said.
“When something is important to us, we want people who come after us to know that this was a very important thing and not to be forgotten,” Myers said.
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