"Doggie" Julian, Master Coach

WE won it! We won it! We're five and one! I can't believe it! We're five and one!" It was after the first game at the Annual Kodak College Basketball Classic in Rochester, N.Y., last December. The excited, bubbling coach was Dartmouth's own Alvin H. "Doggie" Julian. His Indian basketball team had just scored an upset victory, 70-68, over host Rochester University in the first round of tournament action.

"Let's find some dynamite," he urged, "and blow that court up before tomorrow night." He joked briefly with his friends and fellow coaches before retiring to his room, early by his standards, because he had not felt well during the day.

That night he suffered a stroke which partially paralyzed his body, closing the final chapter in his long and illustrious coaching career, begun more than forty years previously. He was in the midst of his 17th season with the Indians.

Though the Big Green, directed by Coach Tony Lupien, lost to Georgetown in the second and final round of the Kodak Classic, Doggie had led his "boys" to a second-place berth in the tournament, and to a winning record. Nothing could have made him happier, for as friend and coach, Doggie Julian had for three decades found his life and his enjoyment in helping college athletes achieve the most they were capable of, and to become, inside and out, true sportsmen.

Characterized as "the coach who could spot a mistake almost before it happens," Julian began his college coaching career in 1927, spending two years with Schuykill (Albright). Following nine seasons and national fame with Muhlenberg, he led the Crusaders of Holy Cross into the collegiate spotlight over a three-season period. He directed the Big Green for the past 17 seasons.

During a span of 31 seasons Julian sent his teams into action 728 times, winning 386, while losing 342. His teams at Muhlenberg, Holy Cross, and Dartmouth have been in five NCAA championships and two NIT tournaments. Doggie's biggest court prize was the 1947 NCAA title won by his Crusaders.

A native of Pennsylvania, he graduated from Bucknell in 1923. He starred for the Bisons in football, basketball, and baseball. Starting his professional playing career with Reading of the International League as a catcher, he injured a finger, and switched to football with Pottsville (Pa.) before joining the college coaching ranks. He later coached the Reading (Pa.) Keys pro football team and brought Ashland (Pa.) High School's football team a state title. At one time he was also a leading basketball official.

Doggie switched to Muhlenberg as football and basketball coach in 1936. With the Mules he compiled a 128-71 court record, including two trips to the N.I.T. over the course of nine campaigns.

At Holy Cross, a college with little basketball history at the time, he went on to win 65 and lose only ten contests over the next three seasons. His 1947 team with Bob Cousy, Joe Mullaney, George Kaftan, Frank Oftring and Co., won the national championship. This Crusader club is generally regarded as the impetus for the modern success of basketball in the Boston area.

Signing with the Boston Celtics in 1948, Coach Julian guided the pro five during two "growing" seasons in the NBA before returning to college action with the Big Green at Dartmouth in 1950. Having found little time for his family while in the hectic professional ranks, Doggie thought Dartmouth might give him more opportunity to enjoy both his family and his coaching. The move turned out to be to everyone's advantage. Though basketball was at a low point in Hanover, Doggie took things in hand and gradually improved the teams. His first big season was 1954-55 when the club's 18-7 record ushered in a new era of Dartmouth basketball success. Doggie's fast-breaking Indians won the Ivy League title and entered NCAA championships in 1955-56, 1957-58, and 1958-59. One of the standout back-court men then was Julian's son, Toby, who captained the Green five as a senior.

There is hardly a base the veteran Indian Chief hasn't touched in his long association with college and professional athletics. New wrinkles in football or basketball he regarded as "new twists on old basics," though he was always eager to learn new tricks. Building from rock bottom was nothing new to him, and he always attacked the climb up with gusto. He often mixed football and basketball. At one time he was backfield coach at Holy Cross and an assistant with the Boston Yanks, while tutoring the Crusaders on the court. He handled a variety of football coaching assignments along with his basketball at Dartmouth.

Doggie is one of the Top Twenty hoop coaches in America, based on number of victories and percentage, and is the winningest mentor in New England.

Always a popular after-dinner and impromptu speaker, he wrote a notable book on his favorite subject: Bread andButter Basketball.

Current president of the American Basketball Coaches Association, Doggie was highly honored this past winter when it was revealed that the annual Boston Garden Christmas holiday basketball tournament will bear his name.

Doggie was due to retire from the active coaching ranks at the end of the 1967 season. He underwent therapy at the Gaylord Hospital, Wallingford, Conn., partially recovering from the effects of his December 29th stroke, and is now at the Brookside Nursing Home, Wilder, Vt.

Coach "Doggie" Julian pictured duringthe 1955-56 season with his son, Toby, aguard, who captained the team to an IvyLeague championship and an NCAAtourney bid.