By River Mitchell
@rivermitchell27
It was a rainy day for Lindenhurst, N.Y., native and freshman at Lindenhurst High School, Greg Falcone. Falcone had just finished up his high school basketball tryouts, in hopes of either making the varsity or junior varsity basketball team.
While Falcone also played volleyball, basketball was his main sport. Many people who were at the tryouts expected him to either be a bench piece for the varsity team, or a starter for junior varsity.
Well, neither came to fruition. In fact, when Falcone walked out of the gym and all the way home in the pouring rain, it was at this moment he knew he was walking away from basketball for good.
After strictly committing to volleyball, Falcone went on to become a standout at Springfield College winning three national championships in four years, and is set to be inducted into the Springfield College Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, April 6.
“It is pretty surreal because on my recruiting trips, I remember walking around Blake Arena reading some of the plaques and my dad told me I’d be up there one day,” Falcone said. “I looked at him like he was crazy and laughed, but to see what he said come full circle is pretty special knowing I made him proud.”
While he didn’t realize it at the time, the series of events that transpired on that rainy day would be the best thing that had ever happened to him. His brother, who played high school basketball, would ultimately be a big reason as to why he walked away from the game entirely.
“My older brother played varsity basketball,” Falcone said. “Love my brother to death, but he’s very set in his ways. Long story short, it kind of was held against me [that] I didn’t make [any] team.”
Extremely hurt by what took place, Falcone decided he would walk home and not ride home in the car with his mother. When he arrived, he found his parents sitting at the kitchen table, and told them that he was done with the sport for good.
“I was like, ‘I’m playing volleyball, that’s it,’” Falcone said. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to play anything else.’ At the time I was so hurt by it, but it was a total blessing in disguise.”
By the time his senior year came around, Falcone found himself at a volleyball tournament that his club team was playing in. Unbeknownst to him, Springfield College men’s volleyball coach Charlie Sullivan was in attendance, scouting one of Falcone’s friends. However, after seeing Falcone play, Sullivan realized he was a guy that could really benefit the team.
To this day, Sullivan remembers talking with him on the phone, and quickly became very excited about the idea of having him on the team.
“I called him while my daughter was in a swim lesson and I was in the back of the pool,” Sullivan said. “[I] started talking with him [and] realized he wasn’t getting a lot of looks from Division I [programs]. We had a shot and I was very excited.”
It wasn’t just the fact that he wasn’t getting very much attention from Division I, either. Sullivan also saw Falcone as a huge body that the team needed at the time.
“At first sight, he’s very big,” Sullivan said. “At the time we were playing teams like Penn State and Ohio State, so we needed to match guys in size. He was just a big body that had good skills.”
After conversations with other schools and touring the campus, it became very clear to Falcone where he wanted to go. Not only did Falcone apply to Springfield, but he didn’t apply to any other school.
“Other coaches were talking about conference championships, he was talking about national championships,” Falcone said. “I came on campus, I loved the guys and the school is beautiful. I was like ‘Yeah, we’re in.’ I knew where I was going.”
Not only did Falcone completely buy into the culture Sullivan had created, but he thrived in it. During his time at Springfield, he won three national championships and was named a four-time AVCA Division III All-America recipient.
In his time with the Pride, Falcone also stood out as a guy that would do anything he could to help the team win, and this stood out Sullivan. On top of that, his determination to get better everyday was second to none, and perfectly meshed with the other personalities on the team.
“There’s never been a player that was more unselfish and wanted to do everything right for the team rather than himself,” Sullivan said. “He came to me and wanted to get better at something everyday. If I started practice at 4 o’clock and at 3:30 I didn’t have something for Greg to work on that day when he came to the office before practice, it would’ve been a total fail. Everyday he came in and asked what he could do better.”
“I know my teammates would tell you if I had zero kills and we won I really didn’t care,” Falcone said. “If you have a selfish bone in your body, you gotta find a new school. It’s just not going to work out for you.”
Over the years of Falcone competing for Springfield, him and Sullivan created a really close bond. Looking at Sullivan like a father figure, the two still keep in touch and have created a bond unlike any other.
“He was the first coach who really let me be me,” Falcone said. “My kids are born, and he’s talking to me about raising a daughter. After I graduated, he’s talking to me about basic investing stuff. If I have an issue and I need to call someone, he’s the first person I call.”
“I’m really happy [for him],” Sullivan said. “I think he’s very deserving and it’s great recognition for one of the best careers I’ve ever seen, because he just went about [it] the right way everyday.”
Since wrapping up his time at Springfield, Falcone is still involved in the sport that has given so much to him. He currently is the girl’s varsity coach for Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, and also runs all the volleyball programs for Kingsbury Club in Medfield, Mass. Falcone also teaches middle school physical education at Walsh Middle School in Framingham, Mass., where he’s been for the past 11 years.