Cornelius Joseph "Neil" Cohalan (July 31, 1906 – January 22, 1968) was an American
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
coach. He was the first coach of the
New York Knicks
The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...
and has the distinction of being the winning coach of the first game played in the
Basketball Association of America
The Basketball Association of America (BAA) was a professional basketball league in North America, founded in 1946. Following its third season, 1948–49, the BAA absorbed most of National Basketball League (NBL) and rebranded as the National Ba ...
(BAA), the forerunner to the modern
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
(NBA). The game, a November 1, 1946 contest between the Knicks and the
Toronto Huskies
The Toronto Huskies were a team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which was a forerunner of the National Basketball Association (NBA), during the 1946–47 season. They were based in Toronto. The team compiled a 22–38 win–loss r ...
played in famed
Maple Leaf Gardens
Maple Leaf Gardens is a historic building located at the northwest corner of Carlton Street and Church Street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The building was initially constructed in 1931 as an arena to host ice hockey games, though it has sinc ...
, was won 68–66 by the Knickerbockers.
Prior to his pro career, Cohalan was the head basketball coach at
Manhattan College
Manhattan College is a private, Catholic, liberal arts university in the Bronx, New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Christian Brothers) as an academy for day students, it was la ...
from 1924 through 1942, where as a student he played basketball and
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
.
Cohalan died on January 22, 1968.
References
External links
NBA.com. The first game*
1906 births
1968 deaths
American football quarterbacks
American men's basketball players
New York Knicks head coaches
Manhattan Jaspers football players
Manhattan Jaspers basketball coaches
Manhattan Jaspers basketball players
Sportspeople from the Bronx
Players of American football from New York (state)
Basketball coaches from New York (state)
Basketball players from New York City
{{1900s-US-basketball-bio-stub