Paul Procopio — Legend
Paul Procopio, hired to coach, but spent his brilliant career shaping men of character. They also won plenty of basketball games.
By Paul Culpo — Head Basketball Coach at Castelton State University in Castelton, VT
PITTSFIELD — Paul Procopio was born to play sports.
From the time he could walk he was an athlete. He was always on the run, and he was fast. He had exceptional eye-hand coordination and such a great ability to jump. But more than that, he was a fiery, driven competitor to achieve every possible win he could. Those traits made him a winner in many aspects including sports such as baseball, basketball, football, and even past that as a coach.
Procopio was enshrined in the New England Basketball Hall of Fame in 2015 as both a player and a coach. He left St. Joseph High School in 1963 as the school’s all-time scorer with 836 points. A few players may have passed him in scoring, but no one passed him in heart or competitiveness. During Procopio’s 24 years as head basketball coach at St. Joe, his teams went 381–150, won 13 league titles, 7 Berkshire County titles, 6 Western Massachusetts titles, and a state championship.
“Paul had all the intangibles,” said Dick Faulkenbush, a life-long friend and basketball co-captain with Procopio in their senior year at St. Joe. “It wasn’t just basketball. He was a star on the baseball and football teams. He was a tough competitor with a burning desire to win.”
Alex Pires, a star on the 1981 Crusaders, said Procopio had tremendous influence on him not just as a player but as a person. He saw Procopio as more than just a coach, he also saw him as a father figure. When Pires got married, he asked his coach to be best man. Who else?
“As a coach he had the innate ability to challenge his players,” Pires said. “He was a fierce competitor and that rubbed off on his players. We played like he coached. But above everything he was always a great counselor for his players. You could talk to him.”
Not every great player becomes a great coach. Procopio succeeded in this transition because he never forgot that as a player you are always learning something at every stop and every step and above all, he never lost his passion for sports, especially basketball.
After high school, Procopio spent a year at Cranwell Prep in Lenox where he continued to excel in athletics, even adding a fourth sport — track. He set the school records by scoring 42 points in a game and 22 points in a quarter. He caught the eye of the basketball coach of American International College (AIC) in Springfield, Bill Callahan.
At AIC, Procopio played on some great teams. In his senior year he was part of a team that made it to the Division II Elite Eight. His teammates included Henry Payne, Frank “Moose” Stronczek, and Jim Calhoun, who would later be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame for his tremendous coaching career that included three national championships at UConn.
“Paul was a great athlete on a great team, but Paul was really the glue for our team,” Calhoun said. “Paul was willing to do whatever was needed for the team to succeed. He truly understood how to organize people. That is part of why he became such a great coach. He has a love and passion for the game.”
It was all of that, plus the love of high school sweetheart Cathy King, that kept him well-rounded, balanced, and focused. Cathy and Paul were married soon after college. They were the perfect couple. She rarely missed a game whether he was playing or coaching.
In conversations with his former teammates and players, Cathy Procopio came up a lot.
“I enjoyed his coaching style right away,” said Peter Clark, the youngest of the Clark brothers all great athletes from Pittsfield’s East Side. “He had that hard-nosed competitiveness and enthusiasm. He and his wife, Cathy were great people. They had a huge impact on my life. They were mentors for me.”
Cathy passed away in 2011, but she lives in the memories of Coach Procopio and many St. Joe basketball players.
“I was around 11 or 12 attending summer basketball camp and coach was a counselor,” said Mickey Mahoney, one of Procopio’s first stars at St. Joe. “I recall coach emphasizing the importance of doing things the right way. He would demonstrate the correct way to box out, the correct way to set a pick, the correct way to cut to the basket. We would then do drills over and over until we did the drill correctly.”
Later that same year, Mahoney got a chance to watch his counselor play at AIC.
“We had all heard that coach was a great ballplayer,” Mahoney said. “I will never forget the game. I couldn’t take my eyes off coach as he was playing, and he was doing the exact things on the court that he had taught all of us the previous summer.”
Mahoney, one of the best players ever at St. Joe and a scholarship player at Siena College, is also a member of the New England Basketball Hall of Fame. He credits his coach with having a positive impact on his life.
Bill Heaphy, the very successful coach at Taconic High School in Pittsfield, was one of Procopio’s early stars at St. Joe and a captain of the 1977 team. He was impressed by Procopio’s toughness and like Mahoney he noted the incredible emphasis he put on fundamentals. Heaphy, also a NEBHF member, followed Procopio to AIC.
“When I got to college, I was playing with some guys who were better than me, but no one was better at the fundamentals and I have coach Procopio to thank for that,” Heaphy said. “I always knew that hard work, toughness and fundamentals would lead to success. I learned that from coach and that is how I coach now.”
Procopio took over as head basketball coach at St. Joe just before Clark’s junior year. “We had really small teams, but he got the most out of us. We were always competitive no matter how big the opponents were,” he said.
In fact, Procopio is a great speaker, a motivator extraordinaire if you will. The bigger the opponent, the longer the odds, the more eloquent his pre-game and half-time speeches. Several players mentioned that even when the Crusaders had no chance of winning, they left the locker room convinced that they would win.
From his first year as varsity coach at St. Joe, Procopio made it his mission to help get his players into college. His first captains, Mark Murphy (AIC) and Terry Caden (Niagra) set the tone. They were followed by Peter Clark (Western Maryland College), Tim Connolly (Assumption), Peter DiNicola (Coast Guard Academy), and Mickey Mahoney (Siena). Mark Tucker (Northeastern), Mike Galliher (Westfield), and Dan Brazeau (Villanova) were managers at St. Joe and benefitted for Procopio’s help.
There were players who Procopio helped get into college who then followed in his footsteps and went on to be successful high school and college basketball coaches: Rick Naughton (Nichols), Billy Heaphy (AIC), Matt Stracuzzi (Southern Vermont), Paul Culpo, (St.Michael’s), and Chris Unsworth (Salve Regina). Tom Doyle, a standout at St. Joe and AIC, was just a few years behind Procopio, but he was mentored by Procopio and Doyle became a successful high school coach as well.
Others include Rick Hebert (LeMoyne), Jimmy Wager, (Suffolk), Lloyd Nolan (AIC), Matt Masiero (Indiana State), Dave Harte (Western New England), J.T. Carroll, (Berkshire Community), Vinny Patricelli (North Adams), Marc Kanalas (Tri-Star), Greg Sukiennik (UMass), Vernon Percy ( Westfield), Kipp Steinman (North Adams/Westfield), Brett Steinman North Adams/Westfield), Armond Borden (Western Connecticut), Shane Steinman (AIC), Frank Scago III (Trinity), Keith Tierney (Amherst) and Andy Unsworth (Salve Regina).
Jim Ruberto, a year behind Procopio at St. Joe, was always in awe of Procopio’s athletic prowess. His friend was a star athlete. He was also a smart kid and a math wizard.
Some Pittsfield people in the 1960s thought there was more than one Paul Procopio because he seemed to be involved in, and excelled in, everything. As if starring in three sports and maintaining a high grade-point average weren’t enough, Procopio found time to run for student council president and won.
“Paul endorsed me to take his place on the Student Council and I won,” said Ruberto, who would serve eight years as Pittsfield’s mayor. “It was my first political win.”
Later, Procopio served as Ruberto’s campaign manager.
In conversations with guys he played with, played against, and coached there was a lot of common ground. Procopio was a man who excelled in sports, in teaching, and in coaching. He changed people’s lives for the better and had a tremendous impact on his hometown. Former Mayor Ruberto probably summed it up best.
“Paul is a guy who leads by example,” he said. “He is kind and straight forward. His influence on all those players over all those years contributed in a positive way to the city itself.”
