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Fred Shabel said he didn't know what to expect when he accepted the UConn men's head basketball coaching job in 1963.
Shabel had been a Duke University assistant basketball coach for six seasons when UConn hired him at age 30. Shabel said the coaching staff at Duke strived to compete on a national level by attracting the nation's top prospects.
He arrived at UConn with a clipboard filled with Duke-influenced offensive and defensive plays designed to have a significant impact on UConn's hoop program, he said.
Shabel said he never felt intimidated or experienced any additional pressure when he replaced UConn's legendary coach Hugh Greer, who had died Jan. 13, 1963, a few months before UConn hired Shabel in April 1963.
Shabel recently had said he hoped to build on what Greer established and to elevate the UConn program from a regional power to national prominence.
But, shortly after arriving, Shabel found several obstacles he hadn't planned on - including an administration more focused on its academic reputation than on improving its athletic standards, he said. In fact, throughout his four-year stay at UConn, from 1963 to 1967, Shabel routinely clashed with the school's administration over its unwillingness to commit greater financial resources to athletics, Shabel complained years later. Shabel said, years later, that UConn administrators never bought into his concept that the university needed modern amenities and more money to compete on a national level.
"J.O. Christian (UConn's then-athletic director) wanted Wes Bialosuknia to wash his own socks," said Shabel, referring to one of UConn's greatest basketball players. "Wes Bialosuknia washing his own socks."
In Shabel's first year, UConn officials initially refused to provide any full scholarships for any incoming players, Shabel said a few months before he died, on Feb. 26, 2023, at age 90, at his winter home in Clearwater, Florida.
UConn officials later relented, he said.
In Shabel's first season, UConn provided Shabel with four full scholarships for incoming freshmen Bialosuknia, Bill Holowaty, Ron Ritter and returning junior Bill Della Sala. ( Freshman basketball player Tom Penders had received a baseball scholarship.)
One of Shabel's biggest disappointments came when then-UConn President Homer Babbidge declined an invitation to play in the NIT in 1966 without consulting him, he said.
Shabel and several of his former players said they believed UConn could have advanced in the tournament and received national recognition if the team had competed in the post-season tournament.
"It was the most disappointing moment in my sports career," said Penders, who played baseball and basketball for UConn from 1963 to 1967.
And Shabel said he was routinely confronted by Babbidge and Christian, who pointed out the contrasts between Shabel and Greer. Shabel took the UConn job after the untimely death of the 58-year-old Greer, who coached at UConn for 16 seasons, from 1946 to 1963. Greer was considered to be "The Father of Connecticut Basketball." Supporters of Greer often described him as "kind," and a "soft-spoken gentleman."
In other words, Greer was portrayed as the opposite of Shabel, who admitted to being loud, opinionated and not fearful of going against the grain, especially when promoting the university or its basketball team. Shabel brought the Duke entertainment model in creating the university's pep band, routinely decorating the field house with colorful signs and using pre-game pump-up music to motivate his players and fans.
Unlike Greer, who mostly coached while sitting on the bench, Shabel often paced the sidelines and yelled and barked instructions to his players.
Shabel's UConn teams won four Yankee Conference regular season titles and three NCAA Tournament berths. After four years, Shabel left UConn with a 72-29 record - a 71.3 % win percentage.
Many of Shabel's former players and supporters had long believed Shabel's winning record and accomplishments planted the early seeds of UConn's Huskymania.
Shabel also expressed his frustration and disappointment that he was not included in the university's hall of fame. Although Shabel never lobbied for his own induction, several of his former players and supporters had appealed to UConn officials over the years to include Shabel in the "Huskies of Honor," a recognition program equivalent to a hall of fame.
It wasn't to be.
Shabel's died four months later.
In a 2022 interview, Shabel talked about his UConn career and his proceeding days as a Duke player and coach. In a four-part series Shabel spoke on topics that included his move from Duke to UConn, efforts to persuade UConn officials to offer more scholarships to recruit better players, his sometimes contentious relationships with Babbidge and Christian and why Babbidge refused to offer him the athletic director job in 1967.
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Негізгі бет Спорт Fred Shabel Steps into the Shoes of UConn's Basketball Icon, Hugh Greer | Part 1
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