FOR YEARS, Gus Alfieri was just a social studies teacher and one heck of a basketball coach. A former St. John’s point guard, he passed down the lessons he learned years ago from of one of the game’s ambassadors, Joe Lapchick. Using what he learned from the Hall of Fame player and coach, Alfieri cultivated talent for once little-known St. Anthony’s and at the All-American Basketball Camp over a span of the last four decades.

Alfieri recently added another title to his resume—author. His memoir, entitled Lapchick: The Life of a Legendary Player and Coach and The Glory Days of Basketball (Lyons Press, $22.95), hit bookshelves last month, bringing fans young and old back to a hallowed hoop era.

A 500-page dissertation on literati Thomas Beer for a history class at Stony Brook laid the groundwork for what became a decade-long love affair for the Smithtown resident. “After that, I said ‘geez, if I can do this, I can write a book,’” said Alfieri.

And that’s just what he did. Choosing a subject was simple—Lapchick. “He was just a decent guy and a wonderful guy to play with,” said Alfieri. “He was just a class act. He made it so easy to write the book. He was a great salesman for the game and the smartest man I ever dealt with in my life.”

The Knicks’ first head coach, Lapchick was larger than life, the perfect advocate for a budding game. Nobody knew that better than Alfieri. “He was John Wayne to me,” he said. Coming over from the Knicks, Lapchick guided the Johnnies for Alfieri’s final three seasons (1956-59). Together, they captured the 1959 NIT Postseason Tournament crown. Thereafter, the two remained in touch, with Alfieri setting off on his own coaching career.

On the sidelines, Alfieri did his best to teach like his mentor, at one point winning 49 consecutive games at St. Anthony’s and coaching the Friars to two state championships. In his book, he tells of Lapchick’s successes, both professional and personal. It took Alfieri roughly eight years to complete it, the likes of Wilt Chamberlain, John Wooden and Bobby Knight among the dozens of interviews he performed. Alfieri enjoyed every direction in which the book steered him, hearing and documenting stories from legends of the game about a legend of the game and one of his idols.

“Every time I interviewed somebody, I was like ‘wow,’” Alfieri said. “I was having a great time.”

But researching and writing were two entirely different tasks. Alfieri first sat down to write the book in September 1998, beginning with a proposal chapter on Lapchick’s role in the career of the Knicks’ first black player, Sweetwater Clifton. “Lapchick’s relationship and his whole handling of the situation,” Alfieri said, “it was so smooth, it was like floor wood.”

Forty-three pages on the Lapchick-Clifton relationship turned into more than 500 pages of manuscript. The stories kept on coming. He could have gone on and on. The end result was a 344-page chronicle that, since stores began selling the books on October 1st, has gained positive reviews. Alfieri got his deal with Lyons Press thanks in part to East Hampton-based agent Philip Spitzer, with whom he found out, half a century later, he had played summer league ball with alongside Rudy LaRusso and Lenny Wilkens in Queens.

“Sometimes when I talk to some of my spiritual friends, I think this book has been divinely inspired,” Alfieri said. “There are so many things that made the book become a reality. It’s pretty amazing.”

For a man who played such a vital role in his playing and coaching career in motion, honoring him was the least Alfieri could do. “In life, you meet all kinds of phonies,” Alfieri said, “and he wasn’t one of them.”

November 5, 8am
Running: ING New York
City Marathon,
It doesn’t take place on Long Island, but many of its inhabitants will be running the 26.2 miles. Many more will be watching at home or, better yet, along the path. www.nycmarathon.org.

November 10, 7:30pm
Pro Basketball: Strong Island
Sound vs. Brooklyn Wonders,
It’s the first home game of the season for Long Island’s ABA entry. Suffolk CC in Selden plays host to, as is typical of the league, a high-scoring affair. www.strongislandsound.com.

November 11
Heavyweight Boxing:
Derric Rossy vs. Shannon Miller,
Rossy, a Patchogue-Medford High School grad, tries to go 14-0 when he faces Miller (14-2) on the undercard of the Wladimir Klitschko-Calvin Brock showdown at Madison Square Garden.

November 24, 2pm
Hockey: New York Islanders
vs. Pittsburgh Penguins,
Got the day off? Spend it at the Coliseum, where the Islanders play a rare weekday afternoon game. With Marc-Andre Fleury, Sidney Crosby and Rick DiPietro, that’s three former first overall picks on the ice at once. No Mario, though, the first guy taken way back in 1984. www.newyorkislanders.com.

November 30, 7pm
College Basketball: Stony Brook
vs. Villanova,
Expect the rafters to be rockin’ when the Wildcats, fresh off an Elite Eight run in 2005, visit the Sports Complex. The Seawolves haven’t drawn more than 3,000 fans at home since St. John’s visited in November 2003. They ought to again here. www.goseawolves.cstv.com.