Chuck Alexinas question

[dtrumpet]

For many of those years UConn was still in the Yankee Conference. When UConn first joined the Big East we had the worst facilities in the league and no academic support. It is a miracle that Dom Perno did as well as he did with what he had to work with. When JC came on board he was immediately given the academic support needed and Gampel was on the near horizon. As great as Calhoun turned out to be he could have never succeeded in the manner he did without the academic support and Gampel.

I'm not sure he got the support on the academic side until Gamble and Robinson got in academic trouble. Then the case was made. Calhoun made more out of the same players in his first year with guys like Besselink, Gamble, Robinson and Jeff King than Perno ever would have. Nice guy, no question, there is no evidence to think otherwise, but just not a good coach.

 

[UConnNick]

What has to be remembered about the late 70's, early 80's era at UCONN is the school was in a transitional era. Prior UCONN presidents, most notably Homer Babbidge, had come from an Ivy League background and mentality, and Toner was coaching at Columbia before he came to UCONN. Babbidge had a view of UCONN as being a "public Ivy", and as such, he saw us as an academic first, sports second school. They wouldn't let most of the great Conn. players of that era into UCONN because of academics, not because the coaches didn't want them. Once that tradition continued, Conn. HS coaches weren't about to encourage their players to commit to UCONN if they weren't going to get admitted. Without an academic program in place for the athletes, you either made your grades or you were gone, and that's if you made it past the admissions office.

Perno was far from the greatest coach in the world, but he had no support from the school administration, the admissions office or anybody else. He had an AD who was more interested in currying favor with the NCAA, and he let the athletic dept. run by itself, which it didn't do very well. However, Perno still should have been able to accomplish more with the talent that he did have. UCONN won games during that era in spite of the institutional neglect, but the Big East was too big a hurdle to overcome in view of the small mindedness of the UCONN administration. When they finally woke up and took a good look at the situation, they debated whether or not to withdraw from the Big East or commit to upgrading facilities, revamping the admissions process for players, instituting academic counseling, and other things for the basketball program. Luckily they chose the latter course, hired Auriemma and Calhoun, and the rest is history.

 

[hoophuskee]

I agree he may have not liked playing for JC and elected to go elsewhere as he had so many offers………

The thing with the Huskies is you can't have Bobby Dulin and Clay Johnson as your guards with a front line like that……they had no shot!

Clay was too young. After his soph year he was out wasn't he? I somehow remember they played worse without Clay. Not sure how long Bobby Dulin was there with Corny. I just know team was way too slow with Corny, Chuck and Mike.

Corny lost his quickness in favor of "girth." A HUGE mistake. Chuck was slow obviously and Mike couldn't handle the ball thus you could put someone less athletic on him, then what is he going to do?

 

[Richmondhsky]

At least spell his name right. Aleksinas. No x. Scored about 80% of Wamogo's points in HS. Totally destroyed the Berkshire League, which we all know isn't much. Went to UK and won a ring as back up in '78 with Hall. Then left and we got him. Was a big coup back then. A decent big man, enough said. Yes those teams under Perno could have done more. Who knows if Calhoun was there if things would have been different. All from memory, no google on this post.

Berkshire League in CT? Really? S class at best.
Saw him get dunked on by a maybe 6'from NY in a CT v NY city game in New Haven during the summer that my SCSU football team attended, Soft. Two biggest 5's the state has had.... Gminski and Chuck and there isn't any comparison.

 

[hthusky74]

I can't believe I spotted this thread today. Earlier today I was watching a show on cable tv called Gas Monkeys. It's where these guys in Dallas TX go around the country looking for valuable or collectible cars to rebuild and sell for a profit. On today's show they were in CT going to look at some 67 Firebirds that were allegedly the first two ever built. They are on the state roads in CT gong through the Litchfield hills. They come to their destination and this big guy in a blue UK hat comes over and says, "I'm Chuck Aleksinas, are you here to see the Firebirds?" They say yes and ask, "You're pretty tall, did you play any basketball?" The big guy responds, "I played for the Golden State Warriors in the NBA, played some pro ball in Europe, and played in college for Kentucky."
Absolutely no mention of UConn and he's wearing a UK hat!!! The cars were indeed the first two Firebirds built the VINs were both "1", one was a coupe and one was a convertible. 67 was the first year Firebirds were built and they produced 10 "model" cars for commercials, car shows, etc. that's what these were and they happened to be the first two. Ho Chuck got them I didn't hear as my wife was yelling at me to turn off the tv and get going. I'll have to wait for the reruns.

 

[Husky1]

I graduated in 82 and was big fan then. Corny had great year freshman year and maintained that level against improving big east. As a team we did not improve and everyone focused on stopping corney so he got better. Rest of team did not and Perno could not get them to play hard. Biggest problem was our guards - Hobbs, Dulin and Vern hiscomb could not shoot and other teams just sagged on our bigs. Mckay and corney were studs , alexinas was a 7 ft jump shooter who played zero defense and did not have heart

 

[mauconnfan]

I graduated in 82 and was big fan then. Corny had great year freshman year and maintained that level against improving big east. As a team we did not improve and everyone focused on stopping corney so he got better. Rest of team did not and Perno could not get them to play hard. Biggest problem was our guards - Hobbs, Dulin and Vern hiscomb could not shoot and other teams just sagged on our bigs. Mckay and corney were studs , alexinas was a 7 ft jump shooter who played zero defense and did not have heart

Hobbsy and Vern were freshman correct? Vern could certainly shoot it but Perno never used him correctly……

 

[TRest]

Hobbsy and Vern were freshman correct? Vern could certainly shoot it but Perno never used him correctly……

They were also like 5'10" and 5'8", which was another problem. Our dorm used to call them the Turnover Twins.

 

[huskyrob1]

I remember our forwards were never able to handle the ball. McKay could shoot from the corner or dunk on the break, but could never beat anyone off the dribble. Chuck was glued to the floor, outside of the paint. And our guards were definitely Yankee Conference or worse (once Whelton left). Norm Bailey was the most athletic guy we had for a few years.

Agree on Baily, a heck of a player. Left school though, grades I think? He had a very good pro career playing in Europe. One of my favorite players from Calhouns early years was Lyman Depriest, that guy had talent and he played with heart.

 

[UDann]

I can't believe I spotted this thread today. Earlier today I was watching a show on cable tv called Gas Monkeys. It's where these guys in Dallas TX go around the country looking for valuable or collectible cars to rebuild and sell for a profit. On today's show they were in CT going to look at some 67 Firebirds that were allegedly the first two ever built. They are on the state roads in CT gong through the Litchfield hills. They come to their destination and this big guy in a blue UK hat comes over and says, "I'm Chuck Aleksinas, are you here to see the Firebirds?" They say yes and ask, "You're pretty tall, did you play any basketball?" The big guy responds, "I played for the Golden State Warriors in the NBA, played some pro ball in Europe, and played in college for Kentucky."
Absolutely no mention of UConn and he's wearing a UK hat!!! The cars were indeed the first two Firebirds built the VINs were both "1", one was a coupe and one was a convertible. 67 was the first year Firebirds were built and they produced 10 "model" cars for commercials, car shows, etc. that's what these were and they happened to be the first two. Ho Chuck got them I didn't hear as my wife was yelling at me to turn off the tv and get going. I'll have to wait for the reruns.

Here is an article on the show http://ecreditdaily.com/2014/04/fas...1967-firebirds-connecticut-garage-big-profit/

 

[hthusky74]

Agree on Baily, a heck of a player. Left school though, grades I think? He had a very good pro career playing in Europe. One of my favorite players from Calhouns early years was Lyman Depriest, that guy had talent and he played with heart.

Lyman DePriest was the Jamelle Elliott of the mens basketball team. He was a real tough sob that worked his butt off. He usually got the toughest defensive assignments and also was sort of an enforcer on the court. He was from Detroit, and my friends and I would always refer to him as the Motown Hit Man. Someone whose stats showed you little, but his game was often the most valuable on the court just like Jamelle. To this day when we see opponents go to the hoop against us unmolested we often go "Where's Lyman? Where's the Motown Hit Man? They wouldn't do that shat against him!!!" One of my all time favorite players.

 

[hthusky74]

Here is an article on the show http://ecreditdaily.com/2014/04/fas...1967-firebirds-connecticut-garage-big-profit/

Of course, the guy they are shaking hands with in the UK cap over one of the Firebirds is Chuck Aleksinas (aka the Morris Montain). I wonder if he's wearing a UConn cap after we trashed UK?

 

[UDann]

Of course, the guy they are shaking hands with in the UK cap over one of the Firebirds is Chuck Aleksinas (aka the Morris Montain). I wonder if he's wearing a UConn cap after we trashed UK?

Ironically I was out in Litchfield yesterday before I came home to read the Boneyard and saw the post. No sightings of Chuck though. Having graduated in '81 and grad school in '82 Chuck took a beating in the school newspaper and overall. For a big guy his presence was not as much on the court as one would have hoped. It was probably so easy for him in Class S basketball that the new Big East was a challenge. The point being he took a lot of criticism and I am not sure his time at UConn was the happiest for him. That said seemed like a nice guy.

 

[Waquoit]

It was probably so easy for him in Class S basketball that the new Big East was a challenge.

C'mon with that nonsense. He played all the time for an NC winner the year before he came to UConn.

 

[huskyrob1]

Lyman DePriest was the Jamelle Elliott of the mens basketball team. He was a real tough sob that worked his butt off. He usually got the toughest defensive assignments and also was sort of an enforcer on the court. He was from Detroit, and my friends and I would always refer to him as the Motown Hit Man. Someone whose stats showed you little, but his game was often the most valuable on the court just like Jamelle. To this day when we see opponents go to the hoop against us unmolested we often go "Where's Lyman? Where's the Motown Hit Man? They wouldn't do that shat against him!!!" One of my all time favorite players.

Here's some video of him scoring over Shack, UCONN vs LSU…..

 

[CL82]

I graduated in 82 and was big fan then. Corny had great year freshman year and maintained that level against improving big east. As a team we did not improve and everyone focused on stopping corney so he got better. Rest of team did not and Perno could not get them to play hard. Biggest problem was our guards - Hobbs, Dulin and Vern hiscomb could not shoot and other teams just sagged on our bigs. Mckay and corney were studs , alexinas was a 7 ft jump shooter who played zero defense and did not have heart

Giscombe was a decent shooter. Hobbsy was a better floor general, better defensively and had a better BBIQ.

 

[Waquoit]

Giscombe was a decent shooter.

Probably the highlight of my sports career was when he hacked me in an adult league and didn't argue the call. Made one of the FT's.

 

[mauconnfan]

Where is Vern these days? Met him through my buddies way back when he was working the HCC and went to the "disco's" down the street where JC's restaurant was……….thought he was going to have a pretty good gig at the HCC

 

[whaler11]

Lesson learned...never hire a coach with a last name starting with "P" at UConn (as in Perno, Pasqualoni).

Funny but the baseball fans will be upset.

 

[Hoophound]

Lyman had more skill than I remember. He made some nice moves to the basket in those highlights. He just didn't look for his offense much at all.

 

[4UConn]

Funny but the baseball fans will be upset.

That clearly falls under the P-E-N exception to the rule!

 

[hthusky74]

C'mon with that nonsense. He played all the time for an NC winner the year before he came to UConn.

Actually he didn't play all the time for KY which is why he left.

 

[Danzz]

Hobbsy and Vern were freshman correct? Vern could certainly shoot it but Perno never used him correctly……

Vern hated playing for Perno. Perno used to say don't worry about missing a shot then would yank Vern after his first miss. The UConn guards (Hobbs especially) would bring the ball down then turn and play with their backs to the basket; pretty hard to be an effective passer playing that way. Vern (who was from NYC) told me McKay was one of the best shooters he has ever seen. Those Perno UConn teams should have won a lot more games than they did.

 

[Danzz]

Where is Vern these days? Met him through my buddies way back when he was working the HCC and went to the "disco's" down the street where JC's restaurant was……….thought he was going to have a pretty good gig at the HCC

I also knew him when he was with the HCC. Last I heard he was out west somewhere working for a civic center like complex. Vern was a sharp kid who got his degree at UConn and told me he would have loved playing for Calhoun.

 

[Mark S]

I joined here for the simple reason of stating a few facts that you wont see printed on a Uconn forum regarding Chuck . I was a friend of his for most of his career and into the 90s,and played with him at Pearl St summer league for many years , I lived in litchfield county , then i relocated and lost touch with him. I took the time to look up all the stats to ensure I wasnt speculating like most here

1] Chuck averaged more points,rebounds,and minutes his sophmore year at UK than the starting center he backed up on the NCAA champ team[Mike Phillips]did in his senior season

2]Chuck did not leave KY for playing time ,he was the STARTER and second leading scorer on the team.

3]Had Chuck not lost 3/4 of his sophmore season he would have been a 1000 point scorer career wise in college ,and also despite very limited playing time as a freshman

4]he shot over 63 % from the floor his junior year shooting jumpshots ....that stat alone is incredible,and i say this being a former player. name one player anywhere.anytime,any size at any level that equaled that feat of 63% that wasnt a garbage man,and/or a dunker Okafor broke that record almost 30 years later as a dunker,put back guy Despite this shooting percentage he only shot 8 per game,no wonder he always complained about shots . And I suspect[ok ,I know firsthand] he looked past uconn while he was still there I will admit that one poster on one forum had it pegged that Chuck needed to get the ball to assert himself on defense etc . Lets face it, he was a big time scorer unlike many uconn centers ever were, without getting the ball he was just an average player.

5]Chucks rookie season he played 16.1 minutes,and started 6 games. How many of uconns best centers all time averaged 16.1 minutes per game in the NBA for an entire season.?? The list is much smaller than you think.

6]Chuck left the NBA for huge money in europe ,and guaranteed money, not again because he didnt play or wasnt good enough.

7]not many people [none that I know of left KY as a starter] and not many people left the NBA for europe unless they coudnt make it. In these 2 instances Chuck was an anomoly. You all assume he left KY for time,and the nba for ability. Youre wrong on both counts. Hee admits both were mistakes,despite a huge career in europe,he could have been a decent backup for 10 years in the nba.

8]Chuck was either the leading scorer and rebounder or in the top 3 in both categories , every year he played in Europe, and the opposing players were gusy like Darryl Dawkins.[hes always gloated in the summer league games on how he scored 40 on Dawkins] James bailey,Marcus Johnson, Artis Gilmore etc etc . He was a career 27/11 guy in italy from what I could gather on doing internet searches

9]Chuck never wanted to go to uconn, as he never visited the school while in high school, NOR did he visit after he left UK. He choose Uconn beacause he took too much time deciding and feared being ineligible 2 years . Hes said this on many occasions in print.

10]I was in Italy watching Corny dominate for his team in the late 80s,while on business Corny was one of my favorite players in the area, he always had a smile on his face and was a nice unselfish guy to play with at the Pearl St summer league When people knew I was from CT,they told me that the team wanted to sign Chuck the next year ,who was in Spain as they thought the 2 would know each other well being teammates at uconn. They said if he signed, those 2 would be the best pair of americans EVER to play in Europe. Pretty strong statement since alot of aging hall of famers called Europe thier home for the ends of thier careers .

11] To me I believe Chuck had a great career prior to and after uconn. He made it in the NBA as a true backup center and not a bench warmer , not because of Uconn but despite uconn. I really believe he would have been a different player at uconn specifically had they used him to his strengths, the teams after uconn got to see what he was capable of . Sorry for the long rant.