On this day in Boston Celtics history, the Celtics’ first coach, Alvin “Doggie” Julian, was born in 1901 in Reading, Pennsylvania. Before landing the job as head coach of the nascent Celtics franchise, Julian would play football, baseball, and basketball at Bucknell, having a four-year pro career playing baseball for various teams between 1922 and 1926.
At various points in his life, he’d coach all three sports at the collegiate and high school levels but began coaching basketball at Muhlenberg College in 1936. In 1945, Julian started coaching at Holy Cross, winning an NCAA Championship there with future Celtic Bob Cousy, who would later join him on the Celtics in 1950.
The Reading native would of course leave Holy Cross for Boston in 1948 and would leave the pro ranks at the end of Cousy’s rookie season.