Tom Konchalski Legendary High School Basketball Scout by Jonathan Hock

Rest in peace Tom Konchalski, and thank you for being there for me with encouragement, insight, and kind words, when I was a young promising basketball player at Ascension School in Elmhurst, Queens, New York City.

The Last Handshake: Remembering Legendary New York Basketball Scout Tom Konchalski
Born in Manhattan on January 8, 1947 (also my birthday but in 1958), Tom and his brother Steve moved with their parents to East Elmhurst Queens and then Elmhurst (where I was brought up and knew Tom well in the mid 1960s to early 1970s) in the 1950s. “There are basketball Gods, and they send down angels to do their work,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewksi told filmmaker Jonathan Hock about Tom before his passing. “He’s one of them. It’s not about him, it’s about those kids and the game. And the game of basketball is better as a result of Tom Konchalski.”
by Adam Zagoria
https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamzagoria/2021/02/08/the-last-handshake-remembering-legendary-new-york-basketball-scout-tom-konchalski

Five-Star Basketball Camp (Video Aired On June 20, 2014)
Pioneers in the high stakes world of high school basketball Tom Konchalski and Howard Garfinkel talk about the scouting process and Garfinkel's Five-Star basketball camp.
by Charlie Rose
https://charlierose.com/videos/4553

Tom Konchalski Made Basketball Better. The Sport Won’t Be The Same Without Him.
Tom, who was without question the most trusted and respected high school basketball talent scout ever, died Monday at 74 after a long, difficult bout with cancer. To say his death will be mourned in the basketball world is a monumental understatement.
by John Feinstein
https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/02/08/tom-konchalski-high-school-scout-dead

Tom Konchalski: Living Legend (Text and Audio)
Tom’s word is Golden in the world of High School basketball. Many college coaches around the country still use his scouting service HSBI (High School Basketball Illustrated) even though it only comes in hard copy form. Tom doesn’t own a smartphone and you won’t find him emailing his report to anyone. He does things the old school way and lives by mantra if it isn’t broken don’t fix it. He’s been around for so many years establishing relationships and evaluating players so his technique works for him. Tom is a living legend in the basketball world and you can still see him doing his thing. He is a very modest guy and doesn’t like much attention but he deserves all the praise for his endless contributions to the game. Although he never flourished as a player himself, he found a way to become one of the most important figures in the game. Salute Tom Konchalski.
by Cal Griffin
https://www.allthingshoops.com/tom-konchalski-living-legend

The Secret Tennis Past Of A Basketball Lifer
Tom Konchalski still keeps a close eye on the courts where he once worked. At 71 and self-employed, Konchalski is best known as the publisher of High School Basketball Illustrated, a scouting newsletter for coaches that he produces, in large part, from his home on the 19th floor of a Queens high-rise. What many people don’t know about Konchalski is that he was once a linesman at the United States Open and that nostalgia is the reason he moved into this apartment three decades ago. Hints of his life in tennis dot the crowded space. He keeps a Dunlop Maxply Fort, the wooden racket his hero, Lew Hoad, used when he played, amid the reams of paper documenting onetime basketball prospects like Connie Hawkins, Michael Jordan and LeBron James.
by Kevin Armstrong
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/07/sports/tennis/us-open-tom-konchalski.html

Tom Konchalski, The Ultimate New York Basketball Scout And A Low-Tech Fountain Of Knowledge, Dies At 74
The sport of basketball lost one of its better angels on Monday when Tom Konchalski passed after a battle against cancer at the age of 74. There are countless people - basketball players and coaches and their families over the course of many decades - who encountered Konchalski and saw their lives made better for it. Professionally, he was an extraordinary evaluator of basketball talent and the editor and publisher of High School Basketball Illustrated, a must-read for coaches at every level of college basketball.
by Roger Rubin
https://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/tom-konchalski-obituary-jay-wright-tim-cluess-1.50147146