Suffolk University Alumni Magazine 2008/2009 - (Page 33) Below Right: Jim Nelson, playing for Boston College in 1965, during a game at Roberts Center against traditional rival Holy Cross College. “those special two hours–when you are on the floor teaching—unfettered it is a sanctuary time.” ball boy for those same Celtics, and picking up a game whenever he could. eventually, the dream shifted, the goals changed. Contract disputes forced Nelson home from Greece after just six months and he resumed his role at Suffolk, helping other athletes pursue their dreams, practicing with the Suffolk team on that same court at the Cambridge yMCA. for three decades at Suffolk, coaching was his passion. Taking over the head men’s basketball coaching position from Charlie Law in 1976, Nelson switched from “making suggestions to making decisions.” “Those special two hours,” Nelson recalls of game days, “when you are on the floor teaching— and it is truly a teaching experience—you are unfettered by telephone calls, emails, pink message slips. …It is a sanctuary time.” As a coach, he offered his athletes a sage approach. “he’s not the ‘in your face’ kind of coach,” says Leo fama, who played basketball under Nelson from 1982 to 1986. “he’s more of an even-handed, teaching kind of guy.” fama remembers in particular a game against Plymouth State, who posed an even matchup with the Suffolk rams. fama scored 45 points, and at the end of the victory, Nelson was pleased. “And then he looks at me and says, ‘But you know what? you should have had 52—you missed seven free throws,’” fama says with a chuckle. But it was important: Coach wasn’t just focused on the victory, fama says, but on how they could improve that win. he was stern in a fatherly way—a familial metaphor several former student athletes use when they speak of him. for former hockey player Jim Gilpatrick, this takes on an almost literal meaning. “he really is a second father to me,” says Gilpatrick. Their bond was sealed on a January night in 1996 when Gilpatrick lost the use of his legs and his right arm after colliding with a goalpost in a hockey game. Nelson visited him in the hospital, called him on the phone, and helped him get back to his studies. Gilpatrick and Nelson grew close. “I never expected SUFFOLKARTS+SCIENCES//2008/2009 www.suffolk.edu [33] http://www.suffolk.edu
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