Stuart Suss
PhD Student
Posts: 1439
Loc: Chester County, Pennsylva...
Reg: 11-21-04
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09-03-18 01:53 PM - Post#260911
In response to SteveChop
In 1971, as a sophomore, I wrote a letter to the new Penn basketball coach, Chuck Daly, asking to do statistics. I went to the basketball office to drop off the letter. Daly was away from the office, and I was sent in to see the two assistant coaches, the holdover from the prior staff, Ray Carazo, and the rookie, Rollie Massimino. In a short time, Carazo decided he knew all about me. "I know your type. You are just trying to get into the games for free." Carazo threw me out of the office while Massimino watched silently.
Daly would return to the office and read my letter. He had no idea what had happened with his assistant coaches. Being polite, he invited me to the intrasquad scrimmage to show what statistics I could do. After the scrimmage, Daly showed me an article, by a man named Paul Keller, in Scholastic Coach magazine, about a concept called the offensive efficiency rating. He asked me if I could build a statistical system based on that article. The rest is history.
Years later I would hear from people that Chuck Daly was telling a story about how he hired me after I was thrown out of the office by Rollie Massimino. I told Chuck that it was Ray Carazo, not Rollie who had thrown me out. Chuck thought briefly, then decided not to change anything. "Better story with Rollie," he explained to me.
Chuck Daly died in 2009. Rollie Massimino died one year ago, August 30, 2017. Ray Carazo died August 28, 2018. They're all gone.
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