First Posted: 1/13/2015
YATESVILLE — Gene Guarilia put his stamp on Greater Pittston back in the 50s and 60s. At the end of the month, his stamp will be put on the floor at Thomas R. Kelly gymnasium, literally.
The court at Pittston Area High School will be dedicated and named after Guarilia, who won four NBA Championships with the Boston Celtics, during a game on Friday, Jan. 30. Guarilia’s signature decal will be placed on the court.
“I’m honored that they are doing this,” Guarilia said. “It’s been a long time since I coached. It almost revives my coaching career. There’s a lot of people I have to be thankful for doing this, including the school administration.”
A Duryea native, Guarilia was the Patriots head coach for eight years in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also taught at the school from 1966 to 1993 as a physical education teacher.
Guarilia graduated from Duryea High School in 1954. After that, he spent a season at Potomac State College in Keyser, W.Va. He broke the freshman scoring record in the state conference by scoring 595 points in 1955.
Following his time in West Virginia, Guarilia played the 1956-57 season for George Washington University — he was a senior when former Pittston Area football coach Bob Barbieri was a freshman. In February 1957, Guarilia was averaging 17.1 points a game and was sixth in the NCAA in rebounding. Guarilia was selected to the all Southern Conference team in February of 1958.
In the 1959 NBA Draft, Guarilia was selected by the Boston Celtics in the second round. He appeared in 129 games over four seasons, averaging 3.2 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. He won four NBA Championship rings in his brief career.
During his entire career in the NBA, Guarilia was coached by the famed Red Auerbach.
“Those guys were fantastic,” Guarilia said. “I learned a lot when I first went up there. I thought I was the cat’s meow until we had our first scrimmage. Then you realize how much better they are.”
Guarilia’s roommate with the Celtics for the first two years was Gene Connelly. Connelly is best known as one of two people to win a championship in two of the four major American sports — the other is Otto Graham. Connelly won a title in basketball and football.
Following the 1962-63 season, the Celtics inquired about trading Guarilia to Cincinnati. However, Guarilia wanted a “no-cut” clause in his contract, which Cincy didn’t agree to. Guarilia was given options from the Boston coaching staff. They told him he could stick around Boston teaching until another spot on the team opened up, or he could go home. Guarilia came home.
“I decided to come home and start my teaching career,” he said.
Guarilia was a coach at Northeast High School from 1963-66. He was then hired when the schools merged as the very first Pittston Area head boys basketball coach.
In 1968, the Patriots were one of the best teams in the Wyoming Valley. Then led by player Charlie Turco, who is now the current Pittston Area Athletic Director, the Patriots finished unbeaten to win the Lackawanna League before falling to Nanticoke in the District 2 title game.
“He was very good coach,” Turco said of Guarilia. “He knew his basketball. He was a little older than us but everyone fit right in.”
Following four seasons at the helm for Pittston Area, Guarilia retired from coaching to pursue a career in the band called Side Streets. He was a bass player. After that didn’t pan out, Guarilia returned to the sidelines in 1974 at Pittston Area.
In 1978, the Patriots won their only District 2 championship. They beat Wyoming Valley West for the Wyoming Valley League title. Then, the Patriots beat Scranton Central and Valley West again for the District 2 championship.
Player George Aldrich was the catalyst on that team, which proved to be Guarilia’s final season on the sidelines.
“We were really lucky to have someone with his background to coach us,” Aldrich said. “He’s definitely an old school type of coach and he was intimidating. You knew when he walked into the gym it was time to show up and pay attention.”
Guarilia stepped away from the game for good following that 1978 season. He continued to teach at the school until he retired in 1993.
The floor in which Guarilia’s name will be placed is housed in the Thomas R. Kelly gymnasium. While at Duryea High School, Guarilia played under Kelly. Kelly was the principal at Duryea and the assistant superintendent. Duryea only lost three games in three years when Guarilia was playing for them.
“He was tough,” Guarilia said of Kelly. “He was a conditioning and fundamentals coach. We were pretty good, but we could never capture the elusive state title.”
While Pittston Area’s boys basketball team still looks for its most recent championship, they’ll always remember Gene Guarilia’s teams from the 1960s and 70s when his name appears on the floor. Guarilia’s signature, along with his No. 20 and a pair of Celtic shamrocks, will be part of the decal placed on the hardwood.
Guarilia and wife, Liz, whom he met in college, continue to live on Main Street in Duryea and are expected to attend the ceremony this week.
“His coaching career at Pittston Area and his reputation playing with the Celtics speaks for itself,” Turco said. “He was probably the best basketball player in the area. There were some good ones. But he was the best.”
