WORCESTER—Holy Cross and Boston Celtics legend Bob Cousy has been honored quite a few times during 97 years. So how did he feel about Holy Cross naming the basketball court at the Hart Center after him on Saturday?
“That’s nice,” Cousy told the Worcester Guardian. “I always wanted a court named after me so I could invite my friends in on rainy days to play three-on-three, but they never gave me one in high school.”
Cousy was kidding, of course. The 1950 HC graduate went on to say that he was deeply moved that his alma mater continues to honor him. In 2008, HC erected a statue of him in front of the Hart Center.
“It’s nice to be remembered in any type of Holy Cross legacy,” he said. “I’ve maintained a relationship with Holy Cross over the years.”
HC dedicated the court as the Bob Cousy ’50 Court on Saturday before the Crusaders defeated Lehigh, 76-67, in a Patriot League men’s basketball game. The college said the honor was made possible by a generous gift made in Cousy’s honor.
Rev. Earle Markey, S.J., a 1953 HC graduate and former Crusaders basketball standout, provided a blessing as Cousy wore a purple Holy Cross jacket and sat in a wheelchair at center court. Then the new Bob Cousy ’50 Court logo with Cousy’s signature was unveiled along each sideline.
The dedication was part of celebrating the 125th anniversary of men’s basketball at the college. During timeouts of the game, the HC men’s basketball teams of 1955-56, 1960-61, 1975-76, 1980-81, 2000-01 and 2015-16 were recognized. At halftime, past Crusaders of the Year received rings.
Despite a few inches of snow falling, a sizable crowd showed up for a pregame ceremony at the Blaney Gymnasium. Vincent Rougeau, Holy Cross president, and Kit Hughes, Holy Cross vice president of intercollegiate athletics, spoke about Cousy. Sports podcaster Bill Simmons, a 1992 HC graduate, then conducted a question and answer session with him. Hughes read a letter of congratulations from Celtics owners Bill Chisholm and Wyc Grousbeck.
When Simmons asked Cousy if HC should honor his former Celtics teammate Tom Heinsohn, who helped HC win the 1954 NIT championship, Cousy said that HC had plenty of buildings and should name one after him. Heinsohn died at 86 in 2020.
Karen Kenyatta Russell, daughter of the late Celtics great and former Cousy teammate Bill Russell, was among those who were on hand for the pregame ceremony. So were Mayor Joseph Petty, HC football legend Gordie Lockbaum, NCAA president and former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, and District Attorney Joe Early, whose father Joe also played for HC’s 1954 NIT Championship team.
Cousy starred in basketball at Holy Cross and as a freshman he helped the Crusaders win the NCAA Championship in 1947, but he never played a game at the Hart Center. HC played home games at South High School when he was a freshman and later played them at the Worcester Auditorium. The Hart Center opened in 1975 and was renamed the Hart Center at the Luth Athletic Complex in 2018.
HC said dedicating the court in Cousy’s honor cemented his legacy at the college for not only his basketball contributions, but also for his civil rights advocacy and his charity work.
There’s another statue of Cousy in Worcester. The city installed one of him outside the DCU Center in 2021. Gov. Maura Healey announced last month that she and the city are working together to rename the I-290 bridge over Southbridge Street near HC after Cousy.
“I am the luckiest camper on earth,” Cousy said. “I’ve been fortunate in every part of my career.
“And I owe a lot of it to Holy Cross and the Society of Jesus. The Jesuits, I’ve had a great admiration for them since I got off the train in Worcester 80 years ago.”
Cousy has kept a home in Worcester since he took the train from his home in Queens, N.Y., to attend HC at age 18. He enjoyed the quieter life he lived in Worcester and leaving the hubbub of Boston behind.
The Mass. Turnpike wasn’t built back then so he had to drive Route 9 from Worcester to Boston and back for Celtics games. The trip to Boston could last two hours, but to him the escape of living in Worcester was worth it.
“I avoided 90 percent of the celebrity stuff,” he said. “Other people would say, ‘You’re out of your mind. You could have been celebrated.’ I’m not overly humble. I’m very aware of what I’ve accomplished and I’m very proud of it, but Worcester was a breath of fresh air. To this day, it’s an All-American city, it deserves it.”
Cousy said he had no religious training until he enrolled at HC.
“Up to that point,” he said, “I existed on the law of the jungle in the ghetto, which was survival and self interest. That’s what kept you alive in the ghetto.”
When Cousy attended HC, Jesuit priests taught all the classes and he credited them with installing discipline in his life. During his four years in college, students were required to attend Mass at 7 a.m. each day. He remembers the Jesuits taking attendance to make sure everyone showed up.
Jesuits also made sure that students were in their dorm rooms studying by 7 each night and that lights were out by 10.
“I absorbed that discipline,” Cousy said. “I didn’t mind it. I didn’t know it at the time, but I thrived on it.”
Cousy has received plenty of honors. In 2000, the Holy Cross Magazine selected him as the top athlete in school history. The Bob Cousy Award is presented to the top point guard in men’s college basketball and the Bob Cousy Trophy is awarded to the NBA Eastern Conference champion.
In 2019, President Donald Trump presented Cousy with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his accomplishments on and off the court.
Cousy has been inducted to many halls of fame, including the HC Varsity Club Hall of Fame and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. HC has retired his jersey No. 17 and the Celtics retired his No. 14.
The HC men’s basketball team wore purple T-shirts with Cousy’s No. 17 on them while warming up before its game on Saturday.
At HC, Cousy earned All-America honors and helped the Crusaders win a school-record 29 consecutive games from March 4, 1949 to March 4, 1950.
He helped the Celtics win the first six of their 18 NBA championships and was named NBA Most Valuable Player after they won their first title in 1957. He led the league in assists for eight consecutive years.
He went on to coach Boston College for six years and the NBA’s Cincinnati Royals and Kansas City-Omaha Kings for four-plus seasons. Then he analyzed Celtics games on television for 34 years.
Cousy pushed for diversity in the NBA and supported his Black teammates during the civil rights movement. Inspired by Cousy working with the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Mass. & Metrowest for decades, the “Bob Cousy Assist Program” was founded in 2023 to have HC basketball student-athletes mentor middle school students from the Nativity School in Worcester.
Despite weakening vision, Cousy still manages to read a book a week. He also spends Thursdays with his friends at Worcester Country Club.
His daughter Ticia Cousy, who lives with him, attended the dedication on Saturday.
“It means the world to him,” she said. “This is a full circle moment. He has a statue out front and now his name is on the court. It’s amazing. He’s very grateful and it’s going to keep him alive longer and he’s 97.”
His wife of 63 years, Missie, passed away in 2013.
“I’d like to think my dear bride was proud of what we accomplished,” he said.
Cousy is the only surviving member of the 1947 NCAA Championship team and the oldest living former NBA player. He’s been fighting a cough recently, but he said his physician, Dr. Daniel Massarelli, told him he’ll be around long enough to at least turn 100.
“I’m in my last quarter,” he said with a laugh.
Cousy called Worcester “a city with a heart.” Now the court at the Hart Center is named after him.
“That’s nice,” he said.
Bill Doyle can be reached at billdoyle1515@gmail.com
