Review of "Boston Ball"

College basketball got into full swing last week so it was time to read something on that sport.  This one on the early careers of three legendary coaches is a very good one.  Here is my review of "Boston Ball" 

Title/Author:

“Boston Ball: Rick Pitino, Jim Calhoun, Gary Williams and the Forgotten Cradle of Basketball Coaches” by Clayton Trutor

Rating: 

5 of 5 stars (excellent)

Review:  While most basketball fans think of the NBA’s Boston Celtics when one refers to Boston as a “basketball town”, that wouldn’t tell the complete story.  In the 1970’s and early 1980’s there were three colleges in Boston – Northeastern, Boston College and Boston University – that were also putting together very good basketball programs.  The coaches at these schools were Jim Calhoun, Gary Williams and Rick Pitino respectively.  All three of these coaches are well-known for their success elsewhere, but their time in Boston was equally impressive.  Those coaches and their Boston programs are highlighted in this excellent book by Clayton Trutor.

Through hundreds of interviews with various people involved in those programs, including many former players, a reader will learn much about how all three coaches not only plied their trade at these smaller schools (save for Williams at Boston College since they became part of the Big East), but also had success when they were not expected to do so.  It was an even bigger hurdle to gain recognition and draw fans for Pitino, as Boston University is considered more of a hockey school than basketball and often had to cede the arena to the hockey team.  This didn’t detour Pitino, nor did a similar situation at Northeaster give Calhoun many problems.  All three coaches took over their programs under less than ideal circumstances but got their teams multiple NCAA tournament invitations.

There are other aspects of the book that while keeping the central theme of the basketball programs, the reader will enjoy.  There are some history lessons about the city of Boston at that time, a nice (?) description of the conditions of the Boston Garden are included and plenty of game action for all three schools.  As a lover of the college game during that era, I found this book to be full of very interesting stories and information on the earlier careers of three legendary coaches and the programs they led to the “Big Dance”

I wish to thank University of Nebraska Press for providing a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Link: Boston Ball: Rick Pitino, Jim Calhoun,... by Trutor, Clayton (amazon.com)