Williams College Basketball Coach Curt Tong Passes

WILLIAMS COLLEGE BASKETBALL COACH CURT TONG PASSES

Coach Curtis Tong of Williams College passed away in January 2017. Coach Tong had a vital connection to Garden City High School though his players Harry Sheehy’70, Gerry Kelly’75 and Dean Ahlberg’77. Back in 1975, Harry Sheehy broke Garden City High School graduate Bob Mahland’58 scoring record at Williams College. Coach Tong mentored Harry who later had a very successful coaching career at Williams College and is now Athletic Director at Dartmouth University. Coach Tong recruited both Gerry Kelly and Dean Ahlberg to Williams where they joined Harry as 1000-point scorers. Coach Tong went on from Williams to Pomona College in California where he was Athletic Director and mentored current San Antonio Spur Coach Gregg Popovich. Former Williams College player, Tim Layden’78, a reporter for Sports Illustrated, wrote an article on Coach Tongs amazing life journey (http://www.si.com/nba/2017/02/13/gregg-popovich-coach-mentor-curt-tong-williams-pomona-pitzer) When Coach Tong left Williams in 1982, 4 of the top five all-time scorers in Williams Basketball history were Garden City graduates. All of his former players treasured the time with Coach Tong during and after their careers at Williams. A memorial service will be held in Williamstown, MA for Coach Tong in June.