With the 2020 NCAA tourney tipping off next month, we will spend this month taking a walk down memory lane with a choice collection of players/coaches who are celebrating an awesome anniversary this year. From some game-winning FTs in the 1955 tourney (65th anniversary) through a 17-PT comeback win in the 2015 1st 4 (5th anniversary), these legends have all carved out a little piece of history in past Marches. We begin our series with Johnny McCarthy, an All-American at Canisius whose game-winning FTs helped his Golden Griffins beat Villanova in 1955 before losing to eventual national runner-up La Salle. After being drafted by Rochester in 1956 he spent 6 seasons in the NBA and even won a title with the Celtics in 1964. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Johnny about the 65th anniversary of his clutch performance the 1955 NCAA tourney and the 60th anniversary of becoming the very 1st player in NBA history to record a triple-double in his playoff debut.
Take me through the 1955 NCAA tourney as a player at Canisius:
You scored 19 PTS in a win over Williams: how big a deal was it to get the 1st tourney win in school history? It was terrific. The game was at MSG so we were thrilled to be there and it was a great win for us.
You scored 28 PTS in a 2-PT win over Villanova, including the game-winning FTs with 3 seconds left: how much of a home-court advantage did the Wildcats have in Philly, and how nervous were you when you stepped to the FT line? We had a number of players from Philly on our team and they all knew a lot of the Villanova players from high school. I did not think too much about the FTs at the time.
You scored 17 PTS in a loss to defending national champion La Salle (Hall-of-Famer Tom Gola had 30 PTS): where does Gola rank among the best players that you ever saw? It is ironic that you ask that because I always say that Gola was the best college player I ever faced. Coach Red Auerbach said that as well.
Take me through the 1956 NCAA tourney:
You scored 16 PTS and Fran “Swish” Corcoran made an 18-foot jumper with 6 seconds left in a 1-PT 4-OT upset win over NC State: how were you able to play all 60 minutes, and how exhausted were you by the end of the game? I actually fouled out during 1 of the overtimes. NC State was ranked #2 so it was exciting to be back at MSG against 1 of the best teams in the country.
You scored 10 PTS in a 2-PT loss to Temple after a couple of controversial calls down the stretch by referee Tommy Bell (who would referee the 1st Super Bowl a decade later): did you feel like you were robbed, and how close did your shot at the buzzer come to going in? There was an over-and-back call that we thought was not great because they had forced our player over the line. My shot was close…but not enough to win.
1 of your teammates was future U.S. Representative Hank Nowak: what was he like as a teammate, and did you ever think he would become a Congressman? I did not think that he would become a congressman back then but Henry was a great competitor who went on to represent our college very well in Congress.
You finished your career as the #1 scorer/#2 rebounder in school history: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were? I never really cared about individual statistics: I was prouder of our success as a team that made the NCAA tourney 3 straight times. It was a tremendous achievement due to our school’s size/academic focus.
In the summer of 1956 you were drafted by the Rochester Royals: what did it mean to you to get drafted, and what was it like to play with Maurice Stokes? There were only 8 NBA teams back then. It was great because many of the other rookies had also been All-Americans. I also got to play with Sihugo Green/Dick Ricketts.
You are 1 of 4 players in NBA history (along with Magic Johnson/LeBron James/Nikola Jokic) to record a triple-double in your playoff debut (13 PTS/11 REB/11 AST against Minneapolis on 3/16/60): what is the biggest difference between the regular season and the playoffs, and how were you able to get so many rebounds as a 6’1” guard? I did not learn about that record until much later: there was hardly any publicity about it at the time. As a guard I did not really focus on rebounding but was somehow able to get a few that night.
You finished that year by losing Game 7 of the Finals at Boston and the following season you lost to the Celtics in 5 games: was it frustrating to keep facing them in the Finals, and was it just a situation where nobody could beat the legendary Celtics of that era? They had pretty good depth but we still thought that we could beat them. Bill Russell graduated from college the same year I did and once Boston got him they just started an amazing run of winning titles.
In 1964 you joined Boston and ended up winning the title: what did it mean to you to win a title? I hurt my knee in St. Louis a couple of years earlier so I was just trying to make a comeback. The Celtics also had stars like Sam Heinsohn/KC Jones/Sam Jones: what a great team!
You averaged 7.8 PPG/3.7 APG during your 6-year NBA career: how do you want to be remembered the most? I also played another year in the ABA. I want to be remembered as a competitor and team player who played hard.
After retiring you coached your hometown Buffalo Braves during the 1971-72 season, and from 1974-77 you were head coach at Canisius: what was it like to be an NBA coach, and what is the biggest difference between being a pro coach vs. a college coach? I took over for Dolph Schayes so they were just beginning to develop the club. When you coach college kids there is more instruction involved and it is a much smaller season. As a pro coach you have to help everyone develop as a team with older players.