Tom Konchalski

Thomas Coman Konchalski (January 8, 1947 – February 8, 2021) was an American high school basketball scout. Konchalski published a well-known newsletter called High School Basketball Illustrated. In 2023, he was elected to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame as a contributor to the game.

Early life Thomas Coman Konchalski was born on January 8, 1947, in Manhattan. He grew up in Elmhurst, Queens, with his father, Stephen, a general foreman for the city's Parks Department and semi-professional baseball player, and his mother, Marjorie, a homemaker turned cashier. Konchalski's uncle, John, was a tennis umpire. Konchalski was an altar boy at his local church, which was a few blocks away from where he played pick-up basketball. Konchalski attended Archbishop Molloy High School, where he covered for the school's newspaper and learned basketball from the school's coach, Jack Curran, but never played.

Career After graduating from Fordham, Konchalski taught math and social studies at a Roman Catholic school in Queens. Konchalski graded from a scale of 1 to 5, with a 1 meaning Division II or Division III talent and a 5 meaning an expected major contributor to a nationally ranked Division I program. Konchalski prepared his reports every three weeks and would mail out his reports in hard copy only.

Konchalski was renowned for his prescience in scouting high school basketball players. When LeBron James played at Five-Star in 2000, Konchalski urged The Sporting News journalist Mike DeCourcy that he had to watch him play. Konchalski also said of James, in his junior year of high school, that the latter had a better feel for the game than Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady. Konchalski called future NBA All-Star Kenny Anderson the "greatest high school point guard of all time." He also predicted that the career for highly coveted prospect Lloyd Daniels would not pan out as many expected due to the latter's turbulent life outside of basketball.

Konchalski retired from publishing his newsletter in 2020 due to health concerns.

Personal life Konchalski was known for not using many pieces of modern technology in his work. A New York Times article recounted how Konchalski could quickly remember players he scouted from decades before and at what event he scouted them. Konchalski was admitted to Mount Sinai West in 2021 with complications from his illness.

Legacy Konchalski's scouting was admired and respected by many basketball coaches. John Calipari called Konchalski, "one of the best human beings I have ever come across in my lifetime." Following his death, Konchalski was posthumously nominated to the Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA) Hall of Fame in 2022, the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023, and the NYC Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024. In 2023, Konchalski posthumously received the John Bunn Award from the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, which commemorates an individual who has contributed significantly to the sport of basketball. Konchalski also had the Thomas C. Konchalski Foundation established after his death by his friends Dunleavy and Rohrssen along with his brother Steve. In 2022, Konchalski's alma mater, Fordham, announced the first iteration of the annual Tom Konchalski Classic, a tournament which was later condensed into a single game honoring Konchalski's legacy.