A few weeks ago, I released the Mount Rushmore of Brooklyn-Queens CHSAA basketball as selected by the league’s longtime coaches, administrators, officials, and superfans. Had I conceived the idea even five years ago, there would have been no question regarding who I would have contacted first — Tom Konchalski.
The local high school basketball scout and daily communicant from Forest Hills was such a wealth of information he would have been an immense resource as I began the project. Unfortunately, we lost Konchalski four years ago, on Feb. 8, at the age of 74, following a two-year battle with cancer.
Given his love of the sport, Konchalski, who grew up attending the Church of the Ascension, Elmhurst, could have easily rattled off his Mount Rushmore of Brooklyn-Queens CHSAA basketball. Even more likely, he would have been able to list each student-athlete’s Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) parish, any outside teams they played for, and his first interaction with each player. That’s the attention to detail that made him a legend.
“Basketball is a game of surpassing grace and beauty,” Konchalski told me while being inducted in 2013 to the Basketball Old-Timers of America Hall of Fame. “It’s played by the best athletes in the world, and it’s been an absolute joy to follow this game for close to 60 years. When it’s played as a team game, I think it’s something absolutely beautiful. … It’s a microcosm of life.”
As we reflect on Konchalski’s legacy four years after his death, it’s important to note that many of the handwritten records he kept throughout his 43 years of scouting still exist, thanks to two of his close friends: fellow Archbishop Molloy H.S., Briarwood, graduate Joe Dunleavy, and longtime college basketball coach and Xaverian H.S., Bay Ridge, graduate Barry “Slice” Rohrssen.
Dunleavy — whom Konchalski coached in CYO — Rohrssen, and Konchalski’s cousin John Coman were by Tom’s side, praying the rosary upon his passing at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx. They have preserved Konchalski’s vast archive of files, which he used to put together his famous High School Basketball Illustrated (HSBI) newsletter 16 times each year. And he did this without using a computer, cellphone, answering machine, or car.
In fact, the exact amount of full yellow legal pad pages filled with notes is 11,065. Even more fascinating is that each numbered page is double-sided, meaning he had more than 20,000 legal pad pages of information on the top basketball talent in the area and beyond. He kept all these legal pads in a walk-in closet, along with programs and rosters from his various travels.
Some of his musings include the first time he saw Lew Alcindor (later Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) play for St. Jude parish in Inwood, his calling the CHSAA one of the best basketball leagues in the country 25 years ago, and entries on some of the best New York City players he ever saw, including Nate “Tiny” Archibald, Bob Cousy, Connie Hawkins, Bernard King, and Abdul-Jabbar.
In putting together the recent Brooklyn-Queens CHSAA Mount Rushmore, a name that appeared on virtually every top five was Archbishop Molloy’s Kenny Anderson. Konchalski called Anderson — the only four-time First Team All-City player — the best guard he had ever seen in high school.
Surely, if asked to name an all-time Brooklyn-Queens CHSAA coach, Konchalski would have likely named the great Jack Curran, who he viewed as a mentor during his time in Briarwood. Maybe Konchalski would have been slightly partial given his Molloy ties, but five city championships and developing a handful of NBA-caliber players propel Curran to the top of the list.
It’s remarkable to understand Konchalski’s ranking system for his HSBI newsletter. He developed five levels of projection for players using a star rating system, with “5” being reserved for players who profiled to be major contributors for nationally ranked Division I college programs down to “1” for players who could have an impact on Division III teams.
He also added a “+” or “-” to create 15 potential projections in his system. A “+” meant a player had the ability to become exceptional at the prescribed level, while a “-” was applied to a player he felt had the potential to perform at the given level but was reluctant to predict definitively. A rare “5+” ranking was reserved for the small number of players who were viewed as potentially dominating the big-time college basketball landscape.
Konchalski officially took ownership of the HSBI newsletter in 1984 from its original founder, Howard Garfinkel. Over the years, the newsletter has been a valuable resource to more than 200 college basketball coaches nationwide, given its detailed analysis of high school student-athletes up and down the East Coast.
Following Konchalski’s death and his posthumous induction into the CHSAA Hall of Fame, Rohrssen and Dunleavy, along with Tom’s brother Steve, started the Thomas C. Konchalski Foundation to honor his life by providing scholarships to area high school students. The true measure of a legacy is talking about someone who has passed as if they were still here. Because of his foundation and the lasting memories of those whose lives he touched, Konchalski continues to be a beloved figure in the local basketball scene.
His old-school style was iconic, and his caring nature as a true gentleman has yet to be forgotten. Year after year, Konchalski remains present — which was the hallmark of his life and career.