Don Kennedy was a St. Peter’s institution, winning more than 300 games during his 20+ years with the Peacocks to become the winningest head coach in school history. He made 5 trips to the NIT, set a school record with 24 wins in 1968, and was posthumously inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Don’s son George Kennedy about his father winning a high school national championship and winning the 1st-ever sold-out college basketball game at Madison Square Garden. Today marks the 17th anniversary of Don’s passing on October 26, 2004 so we take this time to honor his life/legacy.
In 1948 your father Don coached Regis High School to a national championship as the team extended its winning streak from the previous year to a remarkable 37 games in a row: what did it mean to him to win a title? He was very excited about it but he did not show his emotions as much as most people. He would put the honor on his players but he was overjoyed because he had been knocking on the door for several years. Regis took the smartest kids and he loved coaching those players: he only had to tell them things once or twice.
After becoming coach at St. Peter’s he also served as the school’s athletic director: how did he balance being a coach with being an administrator? He actually loved doing both and got along with everyone. Many coaches back then were also athletic directors and he loved all sports. He played many sports as a kid and was good at most of them. He actually planned to retire as a coach and just be an AD.
In 1962 you played 1 season for your father: what was the best part and what was the not-so-best part? He treated me pretty well considering I was his son. Some of the players felt funny about it but I knew that I could play. Sometimes he would make an example of me but he had coached my older brother in the past so he had learned his lessons. I played the kind of basketball he liked: I would rather pass the ball then score.
He was known for using a full-court press on defense and a fast-break on offense: what made his tactics so effective, and how exhausted were his players by the end of each season? I started the season around 200 pounds…and was down to 175 by the end of the year! He usually played 7-8 players but we did not press the entire game. St. John’s would not play against St. Peter’s: Coach Lou Carnesecca said that he did not want to face my father because he used some crazy defenses…but we played a lot of zone. Some of the defenses were a little complicated and we would really charge at our opponents. My dad never got the best players in the country but he got the most out of his blue-collar guys. He was big on the basics: his teams always boxed out and made good passes.
In 1966 he cut Bob Hurley from his team: could he have imagined at the time that Hurley would eventually become 1 of the best high school coaches ever? I told my dad once that I was surprised because Hurley seemed like his kind of player. When Hurley tried out he shot a lot and my dad did not like that: I think that if he had tried out again he might have made it.
In the 1968 NIT he had a 100-71 win over nationally-ranked Duke in the 1st-ever sellout for a college basketball game at the 1-month old Madison Square Garden: how did he pull off the upset, and where does that rank among the greatest wins in school history? His tallest player was only about 6’5” but they were fast and Duke was not used to playing against a team with that kind of speed: it was almost embarrassing to watch the Duke players try to keep up with them. He loved being the underdog and instilled that in his players. Duke was surprised and just kept spinning. The St. Peters’s players knew where to go on fast breaks and secondary breaks and caught Duke completely off guard.
His 323 wins remain the most in school history: did he realize at the time how prolific a coach he was, and do you think that anyone will ever break his record? Somebody should break his record at some point: the schedules back then were tougher and he wanted to play the best teams in the nation. Back then he played the local schools and they all had good teams: Manhattan, Iona, Fordham, etc. A lot of other coaches did not want to play against my father because his defenses confused them.
He ran a summer camp in East Hampton for almost 40 years: what made it different from other camps? He worked on basics all the time. The kids who went there learned a lot even though he did not advertise it much.
1 of his obituaries called him “arguably the most prominent non-Jesuit in Saint Peter’s College history”: what impact did he have on the school? He had such a belief in himself and followed his code of honesty. If you were his friend then you were his friend for life. A lot of his players did not like him but they all respected him. His code was similar to the Jesuit thinking and he respected other people. He was very friendly with the priests and they would come over for dinner all the time.
In 2013 he was posthumously inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame: when people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? I think that he should be remembered for the work he did and the fact that he was true to himself/his players. He did things the right way and was successful everywhere he went. When he 1st thought about taking the job someone told him not to take it because they thought it was a dead end but he loved it. The people at St. Peters were great. 1 year he was playing Seton Hall when they were the #1 team in the nation: he went up to Coach Honey Russell and told him to take it easy on him. St. Peter’s missed a layup at the buzzer and Coach Russell said, “If you ever pull that s— again I will punch you in the face!” After games the bartender would provide a number of shots depending on the outcome of the game: he took losses hard but never changed his personality. He went to a holiday tournament 1 year and offered a scholarship to a kid who was only a sophomore named…Bill Raftery!