Remembering Garry Nelson and when the Dukes were kings of Pittsburgh
Submitted photo
Barry Nelson and Garry Nelson pose for a photo with Duquesne coach Red Manning.
Submitted photo
Garry Nelson
The Western Pennsylvania basketball community suffered a tragic loss when news broke on Monday, June 5 that former Duquesne star Garry Nelson had passed away.
My mind transported me back to when I was a young basketball fan and the Duquesne Dukes were top dogs in the City of Pittsburgh.
Garry and twin brother Barry were part of a great period in Duquesne basketball history.
In high school they led Fox Chapel High School to WPIAL section championships in 1966 and 1967. Garry and Barry were known locally and nationally as the 鈥淣elson Twins.鈥� They led the Dukes to the NCAA Tournament in 1969 and 1971, an NIT berth in 1970 and overall record of 59-16. In those days Duquesne basketball was a must-see event at the Civic Arena.
鈥淏ack in the day in the late 60s and early 70s Duquesne had the same winning percentages as North Carolina and Kentucky, they were in that echelon,鈥� former Duquesne teammate Jack Wojdowski stated.
The news of Garry鈥檚 death hit his former teammates hard.
鈥淚t was a shock to all of us,鈥� former Duquesne standout Jarrett Durham said. 鈥淗e was a good guy and one of my closest friends.鈥�
鈥淗e was a great teammate,鈥� former Duquesne guard Bill Zopf stated. 鈥淎 good team player, just a great teammate, on and off the court.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a shame,鈥� Wojdowski said. 鈥淕arry and his girlfriend on the way back to Pittsburgh from Florida about a year ago stopped in to see us. We had a great visit. It鈥檚 sad losing him.鈥�
Garry averaged nearly a double-double for his career: 12.8 points and 9.6 rebounds. He totaled 958 points and 722 rebounds while leading the team in field-goal percentage for each of his three seasons, and rebounding as a sophomore and junior. He was chosen as a member of Duquesne鈥檚 All-Century Team.
鈥淭he Nelson twins鈥� personalities were totally different,鈥� Zopf recalled. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a little irony there, Garry was the gentle giant, but if you pushed the wrong button Garry could show another side. In other words, he could get tough, he didn鈥檛 take any crap in a basketball game. Barry was more aggressive and was like that all the time. He was more physical, but, like I said, if you poked the bear, Garry could respond.鈥�
鈥淕arry was a gentle giant, but on the court that could change depending on the situation,鈥� Wojdowski said. 鈥淕arry and his brother Barry, they were formidable. If you were a shooter it was great running your defender off of them on a pick and you tried to do it as often as possible.鈥�
鈥淭he Nelson twins were a force on the court, 鈥� Durham ezplained. 鈥淕arry was a big physical guy and he had nice touch from 10 to 15 feet, he wasn鈥檛 bad. He was a good competitor and always gave his all. Barry was more of a power forward in the day and didn鈥檛 shoot much from the perimeter and was very aggressive on the offensive boards and was very athletic for his size.鈥�
Garry Nelson鈥檚 name came up last month when former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher, speaking at Duquesne鈥檚 commencement, talked of traveling from his hometown of Crafton to the Civic Arena as a teenager to watch Duquesne basketball games.
Duquesne teammates recalled the success on the court during the era of 鈥淭he Nelson Twins.鈥�
鈥淥ur best year with them was my junior year which was their sophomore year,鈥� Zopf offered. 鈥淭hat year Barry would come off the bench as a sixth man. That was the year we lost to North Carolina by one in the 68-69 year. My junior year we got as high as No. 5 in the country. That year we beat a number of top 20 teams. We beat St. Bonaventure and Bob Lanier twice, we beat St. John鈥檚 twice with Billy Paultz, we beat Villanova. It was unbelievable how many ranked teams we played that year. It was a really a good memory, that year.鈥�
Garry Nelson was a fifth-round draft choice of the NBA鈥檚 Buffalo Braves in 1971. He also was selected in the second round of the ABA Draft by the Dallas Chaparrals.
He played professionally in Italy before returning to the U.S. and Duquesne to earn a law degree. He graduated from the Duquesne Kline School of Law in 1982.
Nelson worked in the Allegheny County District Attorney鈥檚 office, and later he joined the firm Grogan, Graffam, McGinley and Lucchino. He also spent much of his career as a contract attorney and solo practitioner.
鈥淕arry was an all-around good guy,鈥� Zopf said. 鈥淗e was the one as we got older and people got married and started to have families he was probably the linchpin in terms of keeping all the alumni in touch. He would send emails around especially during basketball season about the current Dukes and how they were performing. I think when the program went downhill he was one of the few former players that even attended some of the games. He sort of kept in touch with all the players that played during his era.鈥�
鈥淗e was big and physical on the basketball court, but he was quite the gentleman off the court,鈥� Durham said. 鈥淓ven before he became an attorney he was smooth and pleasant, he was easy to approach.鈥�
Nelson died Sunday, June 4 in Florida after a fall. He was 73.
鈥淚t鈥檚 sort of scary, I was just looking at a picture the other day and there were 11 guys in the picture, all players,鈥� Zopf stated. 鈥淲e used to have picnics after we graduated for the first 10 or 15 years. It鈥檚 sad to say looking at that picture of those 11 guys five of them have past. Garry will be missed that鈥檚 for sure. We just lost another guy who was a year ahead of me who started on that NCAA team when Gary Major passed away and that was not long ago.鈥�
Wojdowski revealed another side of Nelson that not many people knew about.
鈥淥ne thing nobody realized about Garry and I discovered this maybe 15 years ago,鈥� Wojdowski said. 鈥淗e鈥檚 a prolific writer, he would write stories for magazines. You would only know it if you got to see his articles. He enjoyed writing and he and his brother were big into motorcycles and he would go on bike trips and he would write about the bike trips, and it was pretty good.鈥�
A gentle giant has left us. RIP Garry Nelson.
George Von Benko鈥檚 鈥淢emory Lane鈥� column appears in the Sunday editions of the 缅北禁地. He also hosts a sports talk show on WMBS-AM radio from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturdays.