Hall of Fame
The man who was primarily responsible for the rise in popularity of basketball in New England, Alvin “Doggie” Julian became the college’s seventh coach after achieving great success at Muhlenberg College.
Julian played football at Bucknell and after graduating in 1923, played professional baseball until an injury forced him to the sidelines. He coached in his hometown of Reading, Pa., and at Albright College before starting a nine-year stint at Muhlenberg. His teams were 129-69 and earned two National Invitation Tournament berths, with the 1944-1945 squad going 24-4.
Holy Cross reached the pinnacle in Julian’s second year, defeating Oklahoma at Madison Square Garden for the 1947 NCAA Championship. The team won a record 27 games that year and went 26-4 in 1947-1948, giving Julian a 65-10 mark in three seasons.
He then took the reins of the Boston Celtics from 1948-1950 and concluded his career at Dartmouth, compiling a 386-342 mark from 1950-1967.
A former president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches, Julian was inducted into the Helms Foundation College Coaches Hall of Fame (1963), the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (1967) and the Varsity Club Hall of Fame (1986).
He passed away on July 28, 1967.
