The Gene Guarilia Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Monday, September 26th,
2005
You led GW in rebounding three times during your college career, including
an impressive 18.6 rebounds-per-game average in ‘59. What was it that made
you one of the premiere rebounders in the nation?
I
was about 6’-6”, and I had pretty good leaping ability. I also lifted
weights, so I’d built myself up to become a lot stronger on the boards. I
was aggressive – that helped – and I had a pretty good nose for the ball. I
just knew where to be, which is something you can’t really teach. It’s more
of an instinct than anything else. But those were some of the things that
helped me to become a good rebounder.
On
Saturday, March 1, 1958, George Washington squared off against West Virginia
University. Jerry West scored 25 points in the Mountaineers' 113-107
victory. Please tell me a little bit about Mr. West. What was it like to
play against him?
Jerry
West was a great competitor. What a leaper, too. He could really get off
the floor. He could stop on a dime and shoot the jumper, and when he drove
he could take it all the way in to the hoop and float that ball up above the
bigger guys. Later on I played against him when he was with the Lakers and
I was with the Celtics. His college coach – Freddie Schaus – later became
his head coach in Los Angeles.
The game you’re referring to was the double-overtime game at Uline Arena, which was where the Washington Capitols used to play hockey. That place was always cold [laughs]. But I remember that game well. “Hot Rod” Hundley was also a Mountaineer at the time. They had a great team.
You were
honored, along with the immortal Red Auerbach, as part of George Washington
University's All-Century men's basketball team. What does this recognition
mean to you personally, and what does it mean to share this honor with Mr.
Auerbach?
Red
was my coach at Boston, as you well know. I always respected him, and to be
linked with a person like him is a great honor, because George Washington
had some pretty darned good basketball teams through the years. Joe Holup
was a Third Team All-American for GW in 1955-56. At one time we were ranked
fifth or sixth in the nation. So there is a great tradition at GW, and it
was an honor to be selected as a member of the All-Century team.
The
Boston Celtics selected you in the 2nd round of the 1959 NBA Draft. Two of
your teammates were also drafted - Bill Telasky in Round 5 by Philadelphia,
and Bucky McDonald in Round 6 by New York. What does this say about the
strength of that George Washington team?
Bucky
died a few years ago – I went to his funeral. He was an army person. He
came in midway through my sophomore season…he’d been discharged from the
service. As soon as he joined the team we really jelled.
Bill and I were recruited by GW in 1955. There were 11 of us that came in together, but nine of us flunked out. And a lot of the guys that we lost were big guys, 6’-9” and 6’-10”, and we were left without any height. Naturally, we had a disastrous season my first year. Had those guys been able to play it may have been a lot different, because some of them were really good players. You take three or four guys off the team that are 6’-9” or 6’-10”, and there goes your inside game. I was basically a corner player, and I played mostly on the wing or in the corner. The loss of those guys forced me underneath. I had to play with my back to the basket, which is something I’d never done – even in high school I was on the wing, because we had a big center. I had a good corner shot, so the wing was my natural position. Telasky and McDonald was a guard, and most of our forwards were 6’-4” and 6’-5”. So we were usually overmatched on the glass.
