Jennifer Toland's college notes: Holy Cross hoops hero George Kaftan remembered as 'the key guy' from 1947 NCAA title team

The iconic photograph of 19-year-old George Kaftan, smiling brightly as his Holy Cross basketball teammates lifted him on their shoulders and carried him off the Madison Square Garden court, is among the most special snapshots of HC sports history.

Just minutes before the picture was taken, Kaftan scored 18 points to lead the Crusaders to an improbable 58-47 victory over Oklahoma and the 1947 NCAA Championship, which will forever be one of Holy Cross’ proudest athletic accomplishments.

Kaftan, HC’s 6-foot-3 sophomore center, averaged 21 points in three NCAA games at MSG, and was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

“I was part of 10 guys,” Holy Cross legend Bob Cousy, a freshman on the ’47 team, said, “but once we got to New York, George was the man. He was magnificent in all three of those games.”

Kaftan, a Holy Cross great in so many ways, passed away Saturday at age 90.

Kaftan, who lived in New Jersey, is survived by his lovely wife of 63 years, Helen, three daughters, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Kaftan passed away just two days after another well-known Holy Cross alumnus, Pulitzer Prize-winning sportswriter Dave Anderson. Kaftan and Anderson were both graduates of Xavier High School in New York.

Kaftan graduated from Holy Cross in 1949, and was inducted to HC’s Varsity Club Hall of Fame in 1962. On Nov. 16, 2008, his jersey and those of HC greats Cousy, Tom Heinsohn and Togo Palazzi, were raised to the Hart Center rafters.

“Holy Cross is a lifelong journey,” Kaftan said that day. “You become part of the Cross, the Cross becomes part of you.”

Kaftan maintained a strong connection to Holy Cross. His daughter, Georgette, and granddaughter, Natasha, are also HC graduates.

Kaftan, a two-time All-American, was named to the All-Time March Madness team when the NCAA marked 75 years of the NCAA Tournament in 2012.

“He played center at 6-3, so for the most part, he was giving height away,” Cousy said, “but he made up for it. He was a very fluid athlete for his size. He moved very smoothly and effortlessly on the basketball court. That and his jumping ability — he could dunk and that was unusual in the ’40s — are what I remember most about George.”

Kaftan played for the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and Baltimore Bullets during his brief NBA career. In 1953, he enrolled in dental school at Georgetown. After graduating, he worked at the dental clinic at Mitchell Field Air Force Base on Long Island.

Kaftan worked in private practice for many years and also coached men’s basketball, and taught anatomy and physiology at C.W. Post (aka LIU Post) on Long Island, Brookville, New York.

Last year, on the 70th anniversary of HC’s NCAA Championship, Kaftan enjoyed reminiscing about that sensational season.

“All these years what has stayed with me,” Kaftan said, “is here was a team, Holy Cross, that won a national championship and we did not have a home court. Every game we played was an away game and then we managed to win a national championship. I think camaraderie had something to do with it. We were a bunch of young kids and we wanted to prove something and all the pieces started to come together.”

Cousy and Kaftan were not in regular contact over the years, but did run into each other occasionally at Holy Cross functions. Their wives, Missie and Helen, enjoyed hanging out together at those events, Cousy said.

Kaftan’s funeral will be held Thursday in Manasquan, New Jersey.

Cousy and Andy Laska are the living members of the 1947 team, which the NCAA ranked among the top 25 March Madness teams.

“I still look back on that Holy Cross accomplishment as one of the things I’m most proud of,” Cousy said. “I think that really lit the basketball spark in New England. Basketball was so far down the totem pole in 1946 in New England and it took little, old Holy Cross to accomplish that and George was the key guy.”

—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @JenTandG.