BRONX, N.Y. – The Fordham Athletic Department will honor the life and legacy of legendary Fordham Alumnus Tom Konchalski, FCRH '68, on Dec. 30 when the Rams host a basketball doubleheader at the Rose Hill Gym. The men's team will tip off against Columbia at 1 p.m. before the women's squad hosts Saint Joe's in its Atlantic 10 home opener at 4 p.m.
"There are few people who embodied what it meant to be a man of Fordham more than Tom Konchalski," said Fordham Athletic Director Ed Kull. "As renowned as he was for his vast knowledge of the game, he was adored even more for his kind nature and sharp wit. It's an honor to continue this new tradition and honor Tom's legacy."
Last year, The Tom Konchalski Classic took the form of a four-team tournament played the week before Thanksgiving, an event during which the Rams went 3-0.
For nearly four decades, Konchalski published High School Basketball Illustrated, a 16-part annual newsletter that contained insights about players from around the country destined for every level of college basketball. Mailed out in manila envelopes, HSBI had a loyal subscriber base of college coaches who paid Konchalski a few hundred dollars a year for analysis and evaluation worth 10 times that amount. A technological traditionalist, Konchalski did not publish his newsletter online. He did not own a computer, or a cell phone, or a VCR. He briefly used an answering machine, but disconnected it after a few weeks. He never owned a car, instead traversing the city on public transportation or catching a ride with a coach or a journalist who would jump at the opportunity to pick Konchalski's brain for an hour or two on their journey.
Earlier this year, he Naismtih Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame posthumously bestowed Konchalski with the John Bunn Lifetime Achievement Award.
A magna cum laude graduate from Rose Hill with degrees in philosophy and political science, Konchalski was one of the greatest wordsmiths the basketball world has ever known. His descriptions of players were clever beyond measure. A player didn't just jump high, he was "no match for Earth's gravitational pull." A player wasn't large, he was "a mountain masquerading as a man." A player didn't just make shots effortlessly, "he scored as we breathe."
The only thing stronger than Konchalski's handshake was his memory. In a world dominated by statistics, Konchalski could pull the most seemingly obscure figures out of thin air with unimpeachable accuracy. A chance run-in on the street with a former high school subject would often lead to Konchalksi rattling off his scoring totals from a game that took place more than two decades prior. Additionally, he would remember the names of the player's mother, father, siblings and the family dog.
Upon his death in February of 2021 following a lengthy battle with cancer, remembrances for Konchalski came from across the basketball world, as coaches, journalists and former players offered condolences. All praised his brilliant mind and keen eye, but none failed to mention his character.
In addition to its namesake, the Tom Konchalski Classic will honor another iconic figure in New York Basketball, as the game's most valuable player award will be named the Jim O'Connell MVP Trophy. O'Connell, who passed away in 2018, spent 40 years as a college basketball writer for the Associated Press, covering every Final Four from Magic-Bird in 1979 until 2017. O'Connell, known to many simply as "Oc," received the profession's highest honor, the Curt Gowdy Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, in 2002, the same year in which he was inducted into the United States Basketball Writers Association's Hall of Fame.
"I was fortunate enough to meet Oc early on in my career as an administrator and I was blown away by his humility," said Kull. "He was one of the most prominent journalists in the country, but he made time for everyone. He covered games all around the globe, but one of his favorite spots to watch a game was right here in the Rose Hill Gym."
Before starting his four-decade tenure at AP, O'Connell spent two years as the Sports Information Director at Fordham from 1976-78. He was married for 37 years to the former Anne Gregory, the leading scorer and rebounder in Fordham Women's Basketball history and the first female inductee into the school's athletic hall of fame.
