New Releases by Gus Alfieri

THE HEART OF A CHAMPION


The Heart of A Champion trumpets the Golden Age of Long Island Basketball, from the late-1950s through the mid-1980s, producing 25-30 Division I players. Coach Gus Alfieri took his 1973-1974 St. Anthony's High School Basketball Team and used it as a microcosm of the era. In this memoir, he describes how he got into basketball, what inspired him to become a high school coach, and how he turned an inexperienced and struggling program into the #1 high school in New York State, #1 Catholic School in the country and the fifth best overall team in the nation. The climax of the book centers around St. Anthony's defeating Lutheran High School in the first unofficial state tournament, held at Hofstra University before 6,500 basketball enthusiasts. This climatic game was labeled by Larry Sherman of the Long Island Press as, “The Super Bowl of High School Basketball.” Besides giving St. Anthony's national attention, the victory over Lutheran was the 39th straight win on its way to a 49-game winning streak.