Fixture at Pearl River, Jerry Houston, who starred on MSG court, going to St. John's HOF

There was a time New York City college basketball was the game.

A time when a college doubleheader, which would draw 14,000, would displace the Knicks, who, routinely drawing less than half that, would be relegated to playing for the night at a Manhattan armory.

It was a time, Jerry Houston Sr. recalls, when the St. John's (then-Redmen) were the "darlings of New York" and their coach, Joe Lapchick, was no less than an "icon," beloved by the New York media.

It was also a time when the now-80-year-old, recruited by then-St. John's assistant coach Lou Carnesecca, who'd later become an icon himself, scribbled his name into basketball history.

The National Invitational Tournament, known simply as the NIT, was king. The tournament that would be held for 85 years between the old and current Madison Square Garden (vastly diminished, it's being moved this upcoming season) was bigger than the NCAAs. In fact, it wasn't unusual for teams to turn down NCAA invitations to play in the NIT.

And on that stage, Houston, a team captain but not the team's star, had two moments in time that would help define his collegiate career.

Saturday, there will be another.

Houston, who has lived in Pearl River for 46 years, is largely known locally for serving as assistant coach/consultant to both Pearl River High's varsity boys basketball team, coached by his son, Jerry Jr., and to its junior varsity, coached by his son, Kevin.

Houston is, according to Pearl River athletic director Artie McCormack, "a gem to have as part of the program" and someone akin to basketball "royalty."

If a crown came with that title, it would become more firmly affixed Saturday when the man who explains, "I was just proud and happy to be part of the St. John's team" is inducted into St. John's Athletics Hall of Fame.

Standing beside Houston to show support will be his longtime friend Carnesecca. Now 97, he had a front row seat on the St John's bench as assistant coach when Houston created indelible memories in games vs. Villanova and Michigan.

This was the 1964-65 season, Houston's senior year.

His sports since childhood

Houston was raised with a basketball in his hands in the Bronx.

"Basketball was (and is) part of the fiber of life ... the common fiber with my family," said Houston, who, although two grades younger, sometimes played on the same teams as his brother, William.

Recruited to play high school ball for LaSalle Academy in Manhattan, he scored 69 points in a game vs. Andrew Jackson High as a senior. That stood for 28 years as the single-game scoring record in the Catholic High School Athletic Association, then and now one of the best prep-school leagues in the country.

About a dozen collegiate programs pursued him, North Carolina among them.

Wanting to stay local, he entered St. John's as a prized recruit, a 6-foot-1 guard.

There's no accurate record of Houston's assists because assists were rarely recorded back then. But suffice to say, Houston's passes led to many St. John's scores.

And St. John's was good at scoring, good at playing.

It was especially good against Michigan and Villanova Houston's senior year.

When 75 years of college basketball was celebrated on the MSG floor, those two games were cited among the Garden's top 10 college hoops moments and Houston was on the court as one of the honorees.

Houston was more playmaker than prolific scorer, averaging 8.7 points and 2.3 rebounds over his St. John's career.

But the Yonkers native Lapchick, the game's first star big man when pro basketball was in its infancy and a man who sandwiched coaching the Knicks between two stints of coaching St. John's, had confidence in Houston's shot.

The Michigan game occurred in the final of the hugely popular and hugely publicized annual ECAC Holiday Festival at the Garden.

Michigan came in as the nation's No. 1 team.

Undefeated, it seemed likely it would remain just that. With eight minutes remaining, the Wolverines led by 16.

Then St. John's rallied.

When the buzzer sounded, St. John's had 75 points. Michigan had 74.

And Houston? Humbly, he now explains, "I was lucky. I scored the last three points."

In all, he had 10.

Later came Houston's last game for St. John's, which was also Lapchick's last, since, back then even iconic coaches at the top of their game were subject to St. John's mandatory age 65 retirement rule.

Both Houston and Lapchick would exit winners after St. John's made the NIT final to face Villanova.

Before the game, Lapchick, who earlier that season had surprised Houston by telling him because he was the team's leader on and off the floor, he was choosing him and leading scorer Kevin McIntyre to captain St. John's, surprised him again.

The coach gave Houston gold, NBA-insignia cufflinks.

An enclosed note spoke of him being proud to have been with him and thanked him for his contribution to the team. Then he told his player, "Make sure you go out there and bring your best game."

Houston did just that in a 55-51 win that gave St. John's and Lapchick their fourth NIT title, the first being in 1943.

It was Houston who iced the game.

St. John's led by just two points with seven seconds remaining when Houston was fouled. Before Houston went to the free-throw line, Villanova called time out.

As Houston was stepping back onto the court, Lapchick stopped him.

"He reached out and with a twinkle in his eye said, 'You can do this, Jerry. You can do this,' " Houston recalled.

Houston then sunk both free throws.

"He treated everybody with dignity and respect and brought out the best in his players," said Houston, who has tried to mirror that approach during his own decades of coaching.

Post-college, Houston, who would serve as an honorary pallbearer at Lapchick's funeral, worked in business for five years before a call from his old high school coach linked him with a coaching and teaching job at Sacred Heart School in Yonkers.

He spent a decade there, his kids often at his hip.

His love for the game rubbed off. His two sons and two daughters played for Pearl River High and his sons and daughter, Gina, built their own college hoops stories. Gina (now a teacher and Cornwall's modified girls basketball coach) played for Oswego. Jerry played for two years at Iona and two at St. Thomas Aquinas. And Kevin played for West Point.

During Kevin's senior year, he was the nation's leading scorer at 33 points a game and shot 93% from the line. During that season, he also poured in a West Point, single-game record 53 points against Fordham.

By that time, Jerry Sr., who served as a Fordham University assistant coach for two years when he was first also coaching at Sacred Heart, was back working in business to help foot college costs.

But his love for the game never waned.

After retirement, he took a couple of coaching jobs before going to Pearl River about 20 years.

For 12 years, he served as freshman boys coach while also assisting Jerry and then also subsequently Kevin, who became a coach eight years ago. All those hours on the hardcourt took their toll and he had one knee replaced in 2013 and one in 2018 but his only concession to that was giving up his freshman job between the two surgeries.

For both teams, he keeps very detailed stats and sometimes offers suggestions.

McCormack said, "He injects himself at the right moments," calling him a "sounding board" for his sons.

Houston quipped he's now "kind of riding (my sons') coattails."

But Kevin sees some things differently from his dad, especially where it comes to his dad's contributions.

He noted St. John's has identified his father as one of its all-time great point guards but his dad "could live to be 180 and would never believe it's true."

And he also underestimates his contribution to the Pearl River program.

"It's just enjoyable to see him in a position to make so much of a contribution to the success of my brother and to my own success," Kevin said, explaining their dad picks up on little things that can "change momentum or someone's confidence level."

"He sees some things we don't see," he said, adding his father's stat keeping also allows his dad to spot and identify trends.

Houston's role at Pearl River has allowed him to coach two grandchildren. Kevin's son, Luke, who went on to play for Southern Connecticut State, scored 49 points in a Pearl River playoff win over Spring Valley.

And Jerry's son, Ryan, is an up-and-coming eighth-grade player.

"I'm blessed I've had a lot of opportunities," Houston said.

And they continue.

"I couldn't think of any place I'd rather be than with my sons in a high school gym," Houston reflected. "I'm still on the bench and we go out for a sandwich or pizza after. It doesn't get any better than that."

Nancy Haggerty covers cross-country, track & field, field hockey, skiing, ice hockey, girls lacrosse and other sporting events for The Journal News/lohud. Follow her on Twitter at both @HaggertyNancy and at @LoHudHockey.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Jerry Houston Sr. of Pearl River enters St. John's Hall of Fame