Cecil Mosenson was born in West Philadelphia on December 11, 1929. He attended Overbrook High School. Upon graduating from Overbrook, he attended Temple University where he played basketball for the varsity team. At the age of 22, he was named head basketball coach of Overbrook where he inherited the basketball star Wilt Chamberlain.
After fifteen years of high school teaching and coaching, he was named principal to the Tredyffrin-Easttown Junior High School in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. During his tenure there, the school was selected by the United States Department of Education as one of the top junior high schools in the country. Cecil was honored in the Rose Garden by President Ronald Reagan.
When he retired, he wrote a book entitled “Mr. Principal, Your Activity Period Sucks!” The stories in the book were written throughtout his tenure at this school. He subsequently coached 10 more years at William Tennent High School and then coached a United States Maccabi basketball team in Scotland and won the Gold Medal there. His new book "It All Began With Wilt" will hit the market place in April, 2008. He currently teaches at the Community College of Philadelphia.
A Legend Remembered
FIFTY YEARS - After winning three hundred varsity basketball games, after being a successful principal and as an instructor in the Philadelphia Community College and coaching ninth grade girls’ basketball at Archbishop Carroll High School, my mind still continually drifts back to that magical time when I coached Wilt Chamberlain.
My life took a dramatic turn in 1953 when I was appointed head basketball coach at Overbrook High School at the age of twenty-two. The wins and championships are somewhat blurred, but certain events during that time will never be erased from my mind.
In the fifties, Wilt was a youngster who was destined for stardom. He was 6’11 inches tall with a wing span of 72 inches. His hands from wrist to fingertip measured 9 1/2 inches so that his hand held a basketball as though it were a grapefruit. He was a prankster, and in his junior year, he had a strong dislike for authority. That junior year, not long into the season, we had our first run-in. It happened during the Frankford game. During the warmups, I was talking to the other coach and the officials when I happened to glance at Wilt. He had adorned himself with a golf cap, a shimmering white silk scarf and dark sun glasses. I called him over and told him very directly to get rid of those glad rags. We went into our pregame huddle, but he kept looking the other way and apparently not listening to me. The game was three minutes old when I realized what was happening. Wilt was angry and was refusing to shoot. I called time out and discussed the matter. I got no response so I pulled him out of the game. I gave him a few choice words at the half, but only got a sullen stare. I put him into the game and I yanked him out and this went on until the last few minutes of the game when he decided to score and we won the game although it was very close. I had a private session with him after the game and we had an understanding about what was expected. It worked because the next game he scored 71 points. This was the first of a few conflicts that established a better relationship between us. The dunk shot was scarcely known until Wilt came along. With his ability to go two and a half feet higher than the rim, and with his great strength, he could ram the ball down into the net with such force that sometimes he ripped the net. Since there was no goaltending rule, Wilt could roam the lane and swat the ball as it approached the basket. The crowds went wild.
The next year, Wilt scored 74 points early in the season and we all knew that we were going to play that same team a second time. The game was going to be in the Overbrook gym, which was very small and only seated 300 people. The Friday before the game, the practice was lousy since everyone was whooping it up for a new Chamberlain record. I called the team together and told them we were not going to humiliate the other team. Wilt fairly blazed with unspoken defiance. His belligerence was so obvious that it had to be dealt with. I whirled on him and said, ”If you don’t like the way I’m running the team, you can take a walk.” He got up and left the gym. I started practice again using plays that did not include his presence.
I went to the principal and said,” You better prepare a U. P. and an A. P. press release. I just threw Chamberlain off of the team.” I thought that he was going to faint. His response was,” Let’s wait until Monday and maybe something positive will happen.”
It was a long weekend. I realized that I had just thrown the greatest high school player in the country off of the team.