FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM FEBRUARY 18, 2021 • THE QUEENS COURIER 17
Archbishop Molloy mourns loss of legendary hoops scout
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Th e Archbishop Molloy High School
community is mourning the loss of
Stanner Hall of Famer and class of ’64
alum Th omas Konchalski, a Forest Hills
native and legendary basketball scout who
died at the age of 74 on Monday, Feb. 8.
Konchalski had been battling metastatic
cancer for the past two years. Last week,
he was moved to the Calvary Hospital in
the Bronx, a nonprofi t institution specializing
Counterfeit face masks seized in raid of LIC warehouse: DA
BY JACOB KAYE
jkaye@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Law enforcement offi cials seized more
than 1.7 million counterfeit face masks
from a Long Island City warehouse earlier
this week, Queens District Attorney
Melinda Katz announced on Th ursday.
Th e manager of the warehouse, Zhi
Zeng, a 33-year-old from Dyker Heights,
Brooklyn, was taken into custody aft er
investigators from the DA’s fraud bureau
stormed the warehouse, located at 5-06
51st Ave., on Tuesday, Feb. 9.
Operators of the warehouse, which the
DA described as “dirty and dusty,” allegedly
purchased the masks from an international
seller and then packaged them
to appear to be N95 masks disturbed
by 3M. Th e masks were then sold for
around $2.95 to $3.25 a piece — nearly $2
more expensive than their suggested retail
price — to individuals, organizations and
health systems in the U.S., Katz said.
One health system in the south, which
the DA would not identify, is believed
to have purchased around 200,000 of the
fake 3M masks for $700,000, and later distributed
them to its health care workers.
Th e fraudulent masks’ eff ectiveness
against preventing the spread of COVID-
19 is currently being analyzed, according
to the DA.
Th e warehouse operated as a shipping
and receiving station as well as a packaging
station, Katz said. Investigators found
boxes, shipping labels and bar codes
manipulated to look like they were built
by 3M, in addition to the masks, which
Katz said “look and feel like the real thing.”
Th e investigation into the warehouse
began when the DA’s offi ce received a tip
from a member of the public and sent
undercover investigators to purchase the
masks. Aft er purchasing the masks, the
DA’s offi ce contacted 3M, which confi
rmed the masks were counterfeit.
Th e investigation into the fake masks,
which is being led by Katz’s offi ce and federal
law enforcement partners, including
a section of the Department of Homeland
Security, is ongoing.
Investigators are still trying to determine
who the masks were sold to and
if they are still in circulation. Th e warehouse’s
employees are also under investigation.
in hospice and palliative care.
For more than 40 years, Konchalski
established himself as one of the most
knowledgeable and respected high school
basketball scouts in New York City.
Molloy’s President Richard Karsten said
Konchalski was an excellent talent scout
who evaluated and helped nurture many
of the brightest stars in New York City
basketball.
“Th e breadth of his knowledge and
expertise laid a foundation that many
have celebrated and emulated with a great
deal of respect. Beyond his legendary
career, Mr. Konchalski was an even better
friend to so many people, not only in
our school community, but throughout
the world of basketball,” Karsten said.“He
was also a faith-fi lled man who believed
in the power of prayer and compassion
for others. We at Archbishop Molloy High
School pray that Konchalski is now at
peace in God’s care.”
In May 2020, Konchalski announced
his retirement aft er over four decades
of infl uential work as a renowned high
school basketball scout, but not before
carving out an inspiring legacy that will
continue to impact the sport of basketball
for years to come, especially in his hometown
of New York City.
“A loyal Stanner, Mr. Konchalski attended
countless basketball games in the Jack
Curran Gymnasium as well as many of
Molloy’s alumni events. Each visit to his
alma mater was marked by conversations
with friends, former players, alumni and
fellow scouts, all of whom routinely marveled
at his recollection of players, stats
and moments,” Archbishop Molloy said
in a statement.
Michael McCleary, Molloy’s athletic
director and head basketball coach,
said they “lost a legend in basketball,
but just a great human being.”
“He was always a gentleman with
class and is really just an angel here
on earth,” said McCleary, who remembered
Konchalski as his eighth-grade
math teacher. “He treated everyone with
respect from the highest level basketball
coach to the lowest level basketball
coach. He made sure he knew
everyone’s name and paid attention
to every detail; he could sum
up a player and his abilities in the
most concise, clear manner.”
Th ose who have crossed paths with
Konchalski will miss his legendary handshake
that was fi rm and strong, according
to McCleary.
“He wouldn’t let go until you made contact
with him and he was fi nished with his
statement,” McCleary said. “He certainly
taught many young men and looked them
in the eye while making a strong physical
handshake.”
Konchalski is well known for his selfproduced
HSBI Report, a comprehensive
pamphlet circulated among New
York City’s basketball coaching community,
according to Archbishop Molloy. He
rated and evaluated thousands of basketball
players during his legendary career,
recognizing and touting many outstanding
players who went on to successful collegiate
and professional playing careers.
Among the players Konchalski scouted
are Kenny Smith ’83 (North Carolina, 2X
NBA Champion), Kenny Anderson ’89,
(Georgia Tech, NBA All-Star), Sundiata
Gaines ’04 (University of Georgia, NBA),
Russ Smith ’09 (Louisville, NCAA
Champion, NBA) and Moses Brown
’18 (McDonald’s All-American, UCLA,
NBA), among others.
Th e HSBI Report was written on
Konchalski’s typewriter, and was mailed
16 times a year to the more than 200 college
coaches who subscribed to it. Th e
report provided evaluations and rankings
for hundreds of prospects.Konchalski
never had a driver’s license, owned a
car, a cellphone, a computer or answering
machine. He took public transportation
everywhere if a coach or friend was
unable to give him a ride.
Ron Naclerio, a basketball coach at
Benjamin Cardozo High School in
Bayside, said people will remember
Konchalski’s generosity and kindness.
“He looked at you as a person and
knew so much about you, so you felt like
he really cared about you,” said Naclerio,
who met Konchalski in the fall of 1982,
when he was a sophomore playing JV
basketball for Cardozo High School. “I
don’t remember anything in my lifetime
as a basketball player or coach without
Tom being in my life. I was a 10th-grader
in Cardozo and he came into my life …
and now if we resume playing this year or
next year, I’ll fi nally coach and Tom won’t
be around.”
Aft er 49 years of friendship, Naclerio
recalled his fi nal moments with Konchalski
at Calvary Hospital the day before he
passed. Th ey had talked for almost an hour
when Konchalski gave his famous fi rm
handshake, one last time.
“Th e second I walked in, he looked up
and said, ‘Ron, so glad to see you. Please
sit down.’ He reached out, and you can
see how frail his hand is, and I turned my
head because I realized that was going to
be the last handshake he and I ever had,”’
Naclerio said.
As a coach gaining more knowledge,
especially during the pandemic, Naclerio
said, “one branch of him learning has
been ripped off the tree” now without
Konchalski and the late Howard Garfi nkel,
a legendary scout who founded the High
School Basketball Illustrated magazine
and sold it to Konchalski in 1984.
“I realized now that when I told him
I’ll be back tomorrow to see him, he said,
‘Ron, don’t waste your time.’ I think that
was a nice way of him telling me that he
won’t be here tomorrow,’” Naclerio said.
A lifelong bachelor, Konchalski is survived
by his older brother Steve, the
longtime basketball coach at St. Francis
University in Nova Scotia, his wife,
Charlene, and their three adult children,
Chris, Julianne, and Maria and one grandchild.
Archbishop Molloy High School will
share more information as it becomes
available.
Courtesy of
Archbishop
Molloy
Tom
Konchalski,
64’ alum of
Archbishop
Molloy High
School.
Photo courtesy of Queens DA’s offi ce
District Attorney Melinda Katz tours a Long Island City warehouse allegedly home to over 1.7 million
fraudulent face masks.
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