Kentucky’s John Calipari, Tennessee’s Rick Barnes to honor Tom Konchalski with ‘TK playmaker board’

By ADAM ZAGORIA

Kentucky coach John Calipari and Tennessee coach Rick Barnes will honor the late Tom Konchalski during their SEC game on Tuesday.

Each coach will use a “TK playmaker board” that has a regular white board with the Thomas C. Konchalski Foundation logo on one side and a picture of Tom’s iconic yellow legal pad on the other. During a scouting career that spanned six decades, Tom religiously scouted players with a yellow legal pad in hand in gyms up and down the Northeast before he passed after a battle with cancer on Feb. 8, 2021 at 74. The Thomas C. Konchalski Foundation helps needy students and also promotes Tom’s candidacy for the Naismith Hall of Fame. The game will air on ESPN at 9 p.m..

Tom Konchalski was a saint who did so much for so many people. He took over Howard Garfinkel’s scouting service and did and incredible job helping coaches.

Tom passed away a year ago and his foundation is carrying on his mission to help others: https://t.co/ZaOHbktIU8 pic.twitter.com/RrN6bLnzV9

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) February 15, 2022

Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski and Notre Dame’s Mike Brey previously honored Tom with the board on Jan. 31, while Villanova’s Jay Wright, Georgetown’s Patrick Ewing and UConn’s Dan Hurley are expected to follow suit in coming weeks.

Said Steve Konchalski, Tom’s older brother: “To have coaches from two of our nation’s most prestigious institutions recognize Tom in this way is a testament to the legacy he left to the game of basketball.”

For more on Tom, Kevin Armstrong’s feature in The New York Times is excellent, and I shared my own remembrances of him in a piece entitled The Last Handshake on Forbes.

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