IN: Robert Joseph Cousy (born August 9, 1928) is an American retired professional basketball player. Cousy played point guard with the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1963 and briefly with the Cincinnati Royals in the 1969-70 season. Making his high school varsity squad as a junior, he went on to earn a scholarship to the College of the Holy Cross, where he led the Crusaders to berths in the 1948 NCAA Tournament and 1950 NCAA Tournament and was named an NCAA All-American for 3 seasons. Cousy was initially drafted by the Tri-Cities Blackhawks as the third overall pick in the first round of the 1950 NBA draft, but after he refused to report, he was picked up by Boston.

Cousy took up basketball at the age of 13 as a student at St. Pascal's elementary school, and was "immediately hooked". The following year, he entered Andrew Jackson High School in St Albans. His basketball success was not immediate, and in fact he was cut from the school team in his first year. Later that year, he joined the St. Albans Lindens of the Press League, a basketball league sponsored by the Long Island Press, where he began to develop his basketball skills and gained much-needed experience. The next year, however, he was again cut during the tryouts for the school basketball team.  That same year, he fell out of a tree and broke his right hand. The injury forced him to play left-handed until his hand healed, making him effectively ambidextrous. In retrospect, he described this accident as "a fortunate event" and cited it as a factor in making him more versatile on the court. During a Press League game, the high school basketball coach saw him play. He was impressed by the budding star's two-handed ability and invited Cousy to come to practice the following day to try out for the junior varsity team. He did well enough to become a permanent member of the JV squad. He continued to practice day and night, and by his junior year was sure he was going to be promoted to the varsity; but failing his citizenship course made him ineligible for the first semester. He joined the varsity squad midway through the season, however, scoring 28 points in his first game. He had no intention of attending college, but after he started to make a name for himself on the basketball court he started to focus on improving in both academics and basketball skills to make it easier for him to get into college.  He again excelled in basketball his senior year, leading his team to the Queens divisional championship and amassing more points than any other New York City high school basketball player. He was even named captain of the Journal-American All-Scholastic team. He then began to plan for college. His family had wanted him to attend a Catholic school, and he wanted to go somewhere outside New York City. Boston College recruited him, and he considered accepting the BC offer, but it had no dormitories, and he was not interested in being a commuter student. Soon afterward, he received an offer from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts about forty miles (64 kilometers) west of Boston. He was impressed by the school, and accepted the basketball scholarship it offered him. He spent the summer before matriculating working at Tamarack Lodge in the Catskill Mountains and playing in a local basketball league along with a number of established college players.

Did he then make it on the team once the coach noticed him?

OUT: He did well enough to become a permanent member of the JV squad.


IN: Donnie Iris (born Dominic Ierace on February 28, 1943) is an American rock musician known for his work with the Jaggerz and Wild Cherry during the 1970s, and for his solo career beginning in the 1980s with his band, the Cruisers. He wrote the #2 Billboard hit, "The Rapper", with the Jaggerz in 1970 and was a member of Wild Cherry after the group had a #1 hit with "Play That Funky Music." He also achieved fame as a solo artist in the early 1980s with the #29 hit "Ah! Leah!"

Iris' first album, Back on the Streets, was released in July 1980 on the small Cleveland, Ohio-based Midwest Records. With the track "Ah! Leah!" receiving airplay in Boston, Cleveland and Pittsburgh, MCA Records took notice and quickly signed Iris to a five-album deal and re-released the album nationally in October. The first single "Ah! Leah!" peaked at #29 on the Billboard Hot 100 (and #34 in Australia) in February 1981 and became one of the most frequently played AOR tracks of the year, and the album reached #57 on the Billboard 200. In addition, the band launched a national tour to promote the album and its follow-up during the summer of 1981.  The follow-up album, King Cool, credited to Donnie Iris and the Cruisers, was released in August 1981 and garnered the band more AOR success, with "Love Is Like a Rock" reaching #9 on Billboard's Top Tracks chart. Two other songs from the album received significant AOR airplay; "My Girl" at #25 and "Sweet Merilee" at #31, charted on the Rock Tracks chart. In addition, he gained the nickname King Cool from this album in the later part of his career. However, the album itself charted less successfully, at #84. After the long tour promoting their two previous albums, the band continued songwriting and in the fall of 1982 released The High and the Mighty. The album contained the single "Tough World," but only charted at #180, marking a decline in his success, but the band still was determined to release new material.  Their next album one year later, Fortune 410, contained the hit single "Do You Compute?" which was used by their label MCA and the computer company Atari to form a cross-marketing promotion. Because the promotional partnership was secured prior to release of the album, it was possible to use the Atari 1200 XL Home Computer in poster photography, as well as in the video clip for "Do You Compute?", which aired on MTV. The title of the album is a reference to the trademark glasses Iris wears, Fortune 410's. The combination of marketing and the promotion for its hit single allowed the album to chart higher than its predecessor.  Despite Fortune 410 charting higher than The High and the Mighty, MCA was displeased that both albums didn't chart as high as Back on the Streets and King Cool had. The label suggested that the band allow them to bring in a new producer, displacing Mark Avsec, as well bring in new songwriters. Iris and the Cruisers, wanting to keep as much of their creative freedom and sound as they could, said no. As a result, MCA dropped the band in 1984.  Shortly after being let go from MCA, the band signed with the small HME Records label. Their next album, No Muss...No Fuss, released in 1985, continued the trend set by Fortune 410 by charting at #115 with the single "Injured in the Game of Love". Both of the aforementioned albums ended up being more critically acclaimed than The High and the Mighty.

Were there any other hits tht charted during this time?

OUT:
"Love Is Like a Rock" reaching #9 on Billboard's Top Tracks chart.