Rucker Park - Harlem USA
120 Years of NYC Basketball
From The Playground to The Garden
Board Members
of the
NYC Basketball History Project
Still Under Conctruction
These individuals have motivated and inspired "The Project" even before it began! Their collective knowledge, wisdom, and experience have made a profound impact on New York City Basketball. Their collective contribution to "The Project" is helping to elevate the legacy of basketball in New York even higher!
NATE ARCHIBALD
Really needs no introduction. Born in Harlem in 1948, but grew up in The Bronx, he played his baskeball at powerhouse DeWitt Clinton High School, earned All-City honors and moved on to play at Texas Western University. He was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1970 NBA draft and eventually became the best point guard to ever play the game of basketball. During the 1972–73 season, Archibald led the NBA in scoring and assists (with 34 points and 11.4 assists. A record that still stands today! He has an NBA Championship ring which he earned as the playmaker on the Boston Celtics Championship team during the 1980-1981 season.
Nate earned a Master's Degree in Education from Fordham University and still looks forward to earning his PhD. Nate has always been a passionate and dedicated contributor to the improvement and growth of the underserved youth in New York's urban communities.
ALEX WOLFF
Alex was born on February 3, 1957 in Princeton New Jersey. The family later moved to Rochester NY where he became the captain of his basketball team at Brighton High School. He earned a B.A in History from Princeton University with honors in 1980. Just before that he took off for a season to play basketball for a team in Lucerne, Switzerland. Back in the USA he landed a job at Sports Illustrated Magazine and spent 36 years covering basketball at all levels.
Till now, he has written 7 books about basketball. "The In-Your-Face Basketball Book"; "Raw Recruits", a New York Times bestseller; "Big Game, Small World: A Basketball Adventure", which won a 2002 New York Times Book Review Award; and "The Audacity of Hoop: Basketball and the Age of Obama". In 1996, he collaborated on "Team of Broken Dreams", an Emmy-nominated documentary about the Yugoslav crisis facing basketball players from the Balkans. The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame honored him in 2011 with the Curt Gowdy Award for journalistic contributions to the game. As president of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, he helped found the USBWA’s Full Court Press journalism scholarship and seminar program.
JOEL BERGER
Joel Berger was born in The Bronx New York and from 1968-1971 attended DeWItt Clinton High School. A recreation basketball player in his Riverdale neighborhood, he had a baptism by fire when he became team manager of Clinton' s powerhouse basketball team. Players like Tom Hemderson, Leon Howard, John Moody, Ron Behagen, Steve Shepard, and legendary Coach John Wyles became his daily companions!
During the !984-1985 season Joel served as an Assistant Coach at Scottsdale Community College, in Arizona, a junior college powerhouses of that era.
He taught Physical Education Teacher in the Roosevelt School District, in Phoenix, then in Glendale Arizona from 1995- 2008.
Back in New York he became a Phys. Ed teacher, at the Saint Simonf Stock School, in The Bronx, NY.
Retired, Joel acts as the CFO of the organization.
RALPH MENAR
Ralph was born in 1955 and raised in Staten Island, NY. He won back-to-back CYO City Championships as a kid. At St. Peter’s HS, he led his JV team to an undefeated season, wwon a CHSAA State Championshipas a sophomore and went undefeated in New York as a junior but lost to John Thompson's St. Anthony's HS in the Knights of Columbus Tournament in Washington DC.
He was an All Star in every tournament he played in high school, a Street and Smith Honorable Mention All American, and MVP in the United States Youth Games leading NYC to a National Championship.
He played for Hall of Fame Coach, Lou Carnesecca at St. John's Universty.
He had a 13-year career playing in the Puerto Rican Professional League (BSN) and was a member of the Puerto Rican National Teamle and played for coaches such as Gene Bartow, Rollie Massimino and Lou Rossini.
Back in NYC, he was Director of the Special Education Drug Program, the PAL, the Children's Aid Society and Riverbank State Park. He coached the 16 and under All City PAL team that won championships in Russia, Philadelphia and Washington DC. and assisted hundreds of youth high school and college scholarships. He is currently an assistant coach for Moe Hicks at Cardinal Spellman HS in the Bronx.
PAT MARRINAN
Pat Marrinan was born in The Bronx but traveled downtown to attend Rice High School in Manhattan.
An avid, if not fanatic playground basketball player growing up as a youngster, he did not get an opportunity to play at powerhouse Rice.
Still, he was offered a scholarship to play briefly at Dominican College in Orangeburg, New York.
Pat finished his education and became a telecommunications specialist, but maintained his deep love of the game, playing in various leagues around the city against some of the best competition New York had to offer!
A die-hard Knick fan with a heart that also beats for the Boston Celtics, and first cousin of Manhattan University All-American,
Bill Campion, he has never quit the game and still plays two nights a week in a recreation league at the age of 71.
Pat is the Marketing Officer for the group and brings, his expertise, commitment, creative ideas and his network to our team at the NYC Basketball History Project! Pat lives in Carmel, New York. His contribution is priceless! We are proud and lucky to have him with us!
THOMAS LOCKHART
Tom was born in Harlem NY, in 1953, and from the age of 10 lived in The Bronx. He attended The Bronx High School of Science and then Manhattan University, where he studied communications and urban sociology. He was a High School All-City selection and an Honorable Mention All-American at Manhattan in 1976.
Tom played and coached for 30 years in Europe and learned to speak French, German, Dutch and Italian, while working in corporate communications for various major international companies like Philips Medical Systems, Roche Pharma, General Electric - Power & Energy, Deutsch Telekom, Syngenta, Vibro-Meter, and Qiagen Instruments. Tom is the Founder and Communications Officer of The Project and sees this endeavor as a gift to New York City and the basketball community that raised him. He has lived in Europe over 50 years, but has never forgotten his roots in New York City!
STEWART DAVIS
Stewart V. Davis was born in Teaneck, NJ and raised in Laurelton Queens, New York. Grew up playing in basketball tournaments at PS156, Montibello Park, Brookville Park a played CYO for St Clare’s in Rosedale. He attended August Martin High School, and then Queens College.
In the summer of 1981 he joined the EACH ONE TEACH ONE Program at Rucker Park where he learned all functions at the scorers table.
First worked at Hunter College for men’s and women’s games, CUNY championships and PSAL Girls playoffs from 1987-2000.
In 1992 he was hired to work the scorers table at the "World's Most Famous Arena - Madison Square Garden!" Since then he works the New York Knicks , New York Liberty, NBA and WNBA All-Star games, The Big East Tournament, tip-off tournaments, the Big 10 Tournament, NCAA and Regional finals .
Stewart does PSAL championships, McDonalds and Jordan Classic All-Star games and The Harlem Globetrotters Westchester Knicks, The Brooklyn Kings (coached by Kenny Charles) Westchester Wild Fire (Coached by John Starks) and PRIMETIME (coached by James Ryans) of the USBL.
He retired last year from the Social Security Adminitration after 43 years of federal government service.
Now Stewart whistles while he works, refereeing, scoring and timing basketball games all over the city, not only from the best seat in the house, but the best seat in the world - at Madison Square Garden!
Stewart has a finger on the pulse of NYC basketball at every level and vantage point. We are proud to have him with us here at "The Project."
Dr. JAMES C. JAMISON
Mr. Jamison is a native of Brooklyn NY, attended Music & Art High School in Manhattan played various instruments professionally, and is an accomplished graphic artist. And the beat goes on as he evolved into an IT Professional System Specialist supporting Information Systems, Project and Innovative Management. He has 50 years of experience supporting enterprise infrastructure, commercial, and federal information systems. Healthcare systems process optimization expert-level technical support for commutive systems and clinical applications, including VistA (Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) and CPRS (Computerized Patient Record System).
He served as IT Dirctor at the US Department of Veterans Affairs, Van Cleef & Arpel, Graff Diamonds, and was loaned out on many occasions to head high level IT and other technology projects for the US Navy. A veteran of the Navy himself, he was an instructor of Avionics Electronics for the Tomcat jet fighter.
He holds a Master of Science Degree in Information Technology as well as a Masters in Healthcare Systems Technology, including others.
James has agreed to join us too maximize the potential of our social media, our website and to keep the NYC Basketball History Project in touch with the latest technology advancements to help us acheive our goals and aspirations! We welcome Dr. James Jamison as a Board Member to the NYC Basketball History Project.
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RUSSELL SHULER
Youth Education Through Sports (Yes Inc.)
Russell Shuler was born and raised in Harlem NYC. A former basketball player, Russ created the organization known as Youth Education Through Sports, Inc. a Harlem-based not-for-profit, tax-exempt, 501 (c) (3) entity, 45 years ago in 1980.
It is one of the longest functioning organizations dedicated to the well-being and education of youth through sports in New York. One of the hardest-working people in the business of empowering at-risk youth , Shuler has established numerous impactful programs over the years, including YES International, but none more powerful than his SMARTBALL initiative.
Shuler, CEO of YES Inc. created SMARTBALL along with the Institute for Urban and Minority Education at Teachers College, Columbia University to prepare student-athletes to score competitively on the college admission tests (SAT & ACT) and NYS Regents exams with the goal of meeting freshman eligibility requirements to become a NCAA college student-athlete. Once that is achieved, the next goal is to graduate from college as they also prepare for successful careers in life.
Over 500 student-athletes participate in SMARTBALL programs annually, representing high school varsity programs, middle school, community, and AAU teams in the 5 NYC boroughs, plus Long Island, Westchester, and New Jersey. 90% of participants graduate from high school on time, and 75-80% go to college!
One of Shuler's prodigies said “Mr. Shuler has been a consistent mentor for me throughout my career, so much so that I have taken on a career in education with sports as a vehicle to impact youth.” Another said, “Mr. Shuler is not accepting “no,” he’s demanding YES.”
Hats off to Russell Shuler, a highly functional contributor to the history of the New York City basketball community!
LEW ZUCHMAN
Mr. Zuchman, grew up in The Bronx New York and attended City College and Columbia University in Manhattan.
As a 19 year-old student in the turbulent 1960's he felt a deep inner calling to help change the racial inequality in America and joined The Freedom Riders movement, South to protest!
They were met with the fury and hate of Southern whites and incidents of mob violence in Alabama and Mississippi, aided by local police. Many Freedom Fighters were beaten severely, spent weeks in prison. Some were even murdered. They were black and white and hispanic, Jewish, Catholic and Protestant, voyaging together into the belly of the beast to confront the consciences of the most racist and violent spiritsIN America. Lew was beaten, shackled, and imprisoned, while the judge who sentenced him spat on him!
After his return to New York he gave his life to leveling the playing field between the races.
Some of his early work in the 1970's began with his basketball program. As coach, he organized games, entered his players into tournaments and held weekly meetings in a small meeting room above the Stone Gym in west Harlem.
He had literally "scanned" the city for high-IQ basketball players into hs program. He is responsible for helping dozens of NYC high school players into Ivy League schools like Columbia, Princeton, Penn and more!
Fast-forward: Since 1987 Zuchman served as executive director of SCAN-Harbor, a non-profit organization that offers integrated support to children and families in Harlem, East Harlem, and the South Bronx serving over 7,600 children and teens and 1,000 adults and families across 23 program sites.
After-school programs, early childhood education, family services, healthy food and nutrition, a performing arts academy, workforce development, youth education, violence prevention, and support for recent immigrants.
Lew Zuchman is still freedom fighting for the under-priveledged, disadvantaged citizens of the city. Lew Zuchman, will always be remembered by those who know of his work.
DAVID GOLDBERG
Davids bio will be available shortly!!!
