by Wayne23 » Fri Apr 04, 2014 1:42 am
May 1, 1971
My name is Achilles Karabinakis. I am the son of immigrants but I was born here in the United States in 1927- three days after my parents arrived. They settled in the little northeastern CT town of Willimantic and immediately went to work in the factories. I was left in the care of my grandmother who accompanied them here. I grew up speaking Greek and only learned English when I began school. I still speak both languages. As you will find with all Greeks I am very proud of my heritage. I am also very proud to be American.
My parents were short and stocky but something about the American diet or climate or whatever made me quite different. I grew to be 6’ 6”, 265 pounds. I have always been very strong.
When I entered Windham High School in 1941 the football coach saw me and wanted me on the team badly. I was not interested in American football. The school did not have a soccer team (what we in Europe have always called “football”- the REAL football) but I knew a little something about basketball and thought I would give it a try. The coach of that team was overjoyed to have me, again, due to my size, certainly not because of any ability, since I had none at that point. Coach Piotrowski was a hard man and a true task master but he was a good teacher, and over my four years with him I learned an enormous amount, enough so that the University of Connecticut, in the neighboring town of Storrs, CT, offered me a full four year basketball scholarship.
Attending university was a dream come true for me and even more so for my family, so I accepted the scholarship gratefully. From 1945-’46, through 1948-’49, I was a UConn Husky, and there was never a man who wore the uniform with more pride.
In those days there were not many players of my height and bulk and so I think it is fair to say I was an asset to my team. I was never a scorer but I learned to be a very good rebounder and an even better defender. Coach Hugh Greer, a man who has always been a god to me, taught me with great patience and endless knowledge. He gave me the great compliment of repeatedly saying that I was the best defensive player he had ever coached. If that is the case it is entirely due to his tutelage.
Upon my graduation Coach Greer helped me to secure the position of history teacher/ head basketball coach at New London High School, on the CT shoreline. I remained in that position for eight years, learning my trade and improving bit by bit. In 1957 I was offered the position of assistant coach at the University of Vermont, again, through the graces of Coach Greer. I accepted, and served there, learning from a very good head coach, until 1963, when, following the tragic sudden death of Coach Greer, new coach Fred Shabel took me on as his assistant at the University of Connecticut. I stayed at UConn, through the Shabel, Burr Carlson, and early Dee Rowe years until, just recently, I was offered the head coach job at Akron, here in Akron, Ohio. So finally, at age 44, in 1971, I am a head basketball coach at a Division I university. I will chronicle my adventures in this new position in this journal. I believe that keeping records is important.
A little bit about my personal life. I have been married to Maria Casavetes Karabinakis, since 1953. We have a son, Achilles, Jr., age 15, born in 1956, and a daughter, Maria, who is 12, born in 1959. My wife Maria is a traditional Greek housewife. She does not work but stays at home with the children. She is an excellent cook and housekeeper and the perfect partner for me. I cannot imagine life without her and am grateful to have her in my life every single day. My children are good students and they make me proud. There is never hint of trouble from either of them. Young Maria wishes to become a veterinarian, and studies very hard. Achilles is an accomplished football (soccer) player on his high school team, and is already sought after by many colleges. His academic interest is in the sciences, especially physics. He hopes to become a physics professor someday. My parents, unfortunately, both died young, but my wife’s parents are a treasured part of our lives and they make their home with us. Tradition is important and they provide us with a richness of the past from our native country, to which we return- all of us, every other year.
As I arrived at the campus to begin work I was struck by how fortunate I am to be here on this beautiful campus in this fine American community. Life has been very good to me. I will work very hard to deserve my good fortune.
All three assistant coaches chose to leave at the end of last season so my first task is replacing them. I want to spend a bit of money upon a recruiter since recruiting is vital to success. I will save money on the other two positions. I am most fortunate to hire Roy Baker as my #1. He is very highly regarded in the Midwest. He will recruit for me and I feel he will be a great asset. I have him for three years. John Lewis will be my #2, my scout. In our interview he showed me great analytical skills. I asked him to break down some film which he was seeing for the first time, and he saw everything I had hoped he would see. #3 is Pat Johnson, who will be my practice/bench coach. He is indeed a strategist. Naturally there will be some overlap of duties with the staff. We will meet formally twice each week but I intend to work very closely with my staff at all times. As a long time assistant myself, I know what good assistants have to offer and I intend to avail myself of all of it.
This is perhaps a good time to state that I have waited a very long time to become a head coach. For the past several years I have applied for positions throughout the country, and I was repeatedly disappointed by the meager response. I feel my credentials are impressive, my recommendations were of the highest, and I was mystified that opportunity so regularly passed me by. I began to wonder if there were an issue of bias due to my ethnicity, but there is no way to determine whether that is the case. I mention this only to state that I am more than ready. I enter the ranks of head coaching with a wealth of experience and knowledge, far beyond that of most first time coaches. I am very confident of success but then we Greeks are a confident, proud people.