Ray Wilson

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Floyd
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Re: Ray Wilson

Post by Floyd » Wed May 05, 2021 1:48 pm

LS, we used to sneak down pregame in the old Gahden to watch warmups until we got booted. One Celtics/Sixers game we were sitting under the Sixers hoop and they were doing warmups and a ball rolled over near us. Julius came over and picked it up, it looked like he was picking up a grapefruit. My friend said, Jesus, you look like you just saw God, and I said, I think I did.

For those at UMass while Julius was there, did Ray Wilson recruit him to UMass?
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SignMan
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Re: Ray Wilson

Post by SignMan » Wed May 05, 2021 2:05 pm

Remember now, Jack was expecting his 6'3" guard recruit to show up...
in between that and his arrival...
The Growth Spurt...
The rest is history.
The angle of incidence = the angle of reflection: REBOUND!

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SignMan
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Re: Ray Wilson

Post by SignMan » Wed May 05, 2021 2:24 pm

Floyd wrote: Wed May 05, 2021 1:48 pm LS, we used to sneak down pregame in the old Gahden to watch warmups until we got booted. One Celtics/Sixers game we were sitting under the Sixers hoop and they were doing warmups and a ball rolled over near us. Julius came over and picked it up, it looked like he was picking up a grapefruit. My friend said, Jesus, you look like you just saw God, and I said, I think I did.

For those at UMass while Julius was there, did Ray Wilson recruit him to UMass?
Not UMass, but, the old Gahden.
I was lucky enough to have played at least 6, maybe 8 games on the old parkay.
Team was part of a Boston Boys League that played there, the afternoon of C's home games, courtesy Walter Brown.
Our team had players from several cities, including Everett, Chelsea, Cambridge, and parts of Boston...Mattapan and Dorchester likely.
Another team member was another future UM hoops team manager, as I was...Dave Andelman, from Cambridge. I am talking re: 1962-1964 as best I recall...definitely my HS days.
I was always the first one there, because EHS got out @ 1:30 pm and I took the T from EHS right into the Garden, got changed and on the court before anyone else did. Often, some Celtics came out to horse around...literally playing H-O-R-S-E. They played at one end of the court while I shot around at the other. My fave memory, other than hitting a 15 foot hook shot from around the foul line, in a game, Heinsohnesque, was watching Clyde Lovellette swish 40 foot two-hand set shots.
Every time we played there, we were given free passes to the Celtics game that night. We could sit in any unoccupied seat. A couple of times, I found an empty seat courtside/midcourt, sitting on one of the old folding wooden chairs with my feet literally inches from the court.
We sometimes wandered around the Garden, all over the place. One time, two of us were walking along somewhere and went down an unmarked hallway, finding ourselves in the locker room of the short-lived Chicago Zephyrs...nice Zephyr jackets were out...fun to see and remember them...
The angle of incidence = the angle of reflection: REBOUND!

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econalum
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Re: Ray Wilson

Post by econalum » Wed May 05, 2021 3:19 pm

vanmeter wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 8:21 pm Really great topic and posts.
I started Umass in Fall of 1972 and went to almost all games at cage in my 4 years.
Placed rocked and patched even when playing Maine or Vermont. I think, at that time Jack, Ray, and Fan Gaudette were the coaches. Had great respect for all of them.
I actually started out as a manager in the Fall of 72. However I bailed out after a month as,then, only one manager went to road games. Steve Libby was the head manager, and he was only a sophomore, so I figured that I would not get to that position until I was a senior.
As it turned out Steve stopped after his sophomore season and Mike Littman, who came in after me, became the head manager the next year.
Those were the days.

I was in the class of '76 and roomed with Mike Littman 74-75. Pleased to report that Mike has had an excellent career in Academia as a Professor and Chair of Business at Buffalo State - we stay in touch. Those moments at the Cage were so electric, well covered elsewhere on this BB.
Feeling entitled is JUST a feeling...

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Re: Ray Wilson

Post by vanmeter » Wed May 05, 2021 3:39 pm

^
Thanks for the update on Mike. Glad to hear he has done so well.

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