FLUSHING, NY – The other day I was having dinner at Amore Pizzeria in Flushing, Queens where I heard four guys talking intensely about basketball. I was getting ready to leave when I noticed one of the guys wearing a blue and orange Cardozo varsity jacket. It was none other than Cardozo Judges basketball coach Ron Naclerio.
Naclerio was one win away from setting a NYS record with 973. He was about to break the mark set by the legendary Archbishop Molloy’s coach Jack Curran. Naclerio is a legend in his own right, who is the Rodney Dangerfield of coaches. He absolutely gets no respect from the honchos who are administrators of his alma mater.
A 1975 graduate where he starred in baseball, basketball and soccer, Naclerio went on to play baseball at St. John’s University. He got drafted by the Chicago White Sox as an outfielder, where he played two minor league seasons before an ankle injury curtailed his playing career.
He eventually became his high school’s basketball coach in 1981, where he got off to a 1 win and 21 loss start. Coach Ron turned it around immediately going 21-4 his next season and has been riding high since. His teams have won two championships in 1999 and 2014, and made six final appearances. Four of his former players have played in the NBA, Duane Causwell, Rafer “Skip to my Lou” Alston, Royal Ivey and James Southerland along with scores of others who have succeeded in other fields.
Everybody wants to play for Coach Ron, and that recently got him in trouble for recruiting violations. In the past, his office was flooded with a wall-to-wall time capsule of his achievements, which was taken from him and replaced by a ROTC program. It was in that office that he gave me a copy of a letter that hung proudly on the wall. The letter was sent to his father, Dr Emil Naclerio, who was a thoracic surgeon at Harlem Hospital. The letter, dated Jan 6, 1959, was from Martin Luther King Jr., thanking Dr Emil for saving his life during a two hour operation, after King was stabbed by a lunatic woman during a book signing. They both remained friends till King’s tragic death in 1968. Back in 2014, Martin Luther King, III visited Cardozo High School where he met Naclerio for the first time. He was so grateful to Naclerio’s late father for saving his own father’s life, which led to having him around for ten extra years.
Back at the pizzeria, I told Ron I couldn’t find the letter he gave me back then in his office. He then pulled out a white sheet from inside his jacket and gave me another copy. Having that letter back was better than the pizza and I am forever grateful to Coach Ron and wish him luck in his quest for 1000 wins.
Feel free to comment below and come back tomorrow for Jumpin’ Jake Sternberg.
