Tobey, David "Pep"

A member of the Basketball Hall of Fame and the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, Tobey was one of the greatest college referees in the first half of the twentieth century. Called the "Coach of Coaches," Tobey wrote basketball's first book on officiating, Basketball Officiating in 1944. From 1918-1925, Tobey refereed every important game in New York City.

Birth and Death Dates:
b. May 1, 1898 - d. Jan. 25, 1985

Career Highlights:
A member of the Basketball Hall of Fame, Tobey was born on the Lower East Side of New York City. His father died when he was a child and then he, his mother, and his two siblings moved from the Lower East Side to Brooklyn, just as Tobey was about to enter P.S. 62. This caused young Dave a great deal of distress because the school was considered the cradle of basketball on the East Side of Manhattan and was the alma mater of such greats as Nat Holman and Barney Sedran.

A few years later, Tobey's family returned to Manhattan and he entered DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx. A bit on the small side, he did not make the varsity team at Clinton. Tobey then entered the Savage School of Physical Education in 1916 and became the school champion in the sprints, pole vault, and high jump. He also played on the varsity soccer and baseball teams, but the sport he excelled in was basketball.

During the 1917 and 1918 seasons, Savage had one of the top college teams in the country. With Tobey and the great Nat Holman on the team, they won 32 games in a row, including all 22 contests during the 1917-18 season. During that season, they broke Seton Hall's 74-game winning streak at home. After graduating, Tobey played club basketball (which was popular at that time) with the Glencoe A.C. and led them to the city championship in 1919. The following year, he was the team captain and they returned to the championship game, but lost 48-26; Tobey scored all but two of his team's points.

While a club player, Tobey also played with professionally with the New York Knickerbockers in 1919, where he again teamed with Holman. They played throughout the New York City area and were considered one of the better squads of the time. Tobey played professionally until 1924 when he twisted his knee, but two years later, he was persuaded to join Lou Gehrig's All-Stars when the famous Yankee first baseman put a team together to make some extra money in the winter. Tobey said that Gehrig, "...couldn't throw the ball down a well." Neverthless Tobey and the All-Stars played the great Original Celtics in 1926 and Tobey scored the game-winning basket in a 31-26 All-Star victory.

During his career as a player, Tobey was also busy as a coach, referee, and athletic director at various institutions. He began coaching Kearney High School in New Jersey immediately after graduating from Savage and also served as its athletic director. He remained at Kearney for five years and doubled up as the basketball coach at Cooper Union College night team in 1922-1923. Then, in 1924, Tobey returned to Savage as the school's basketball coach and also became the basketball coach at DeWitt Clinton High School.

In these two positions, Tobey helped turn New York City high school basketball into a feeding system for college basketball. At DeWitt, he turned out countless stars during his brief tenure and led the team to the 1925 New York City championship. While at Savage, he taught future coaches the fundamentals of the game and the necessary skills to teach the next generation of players. He held his position of Savage coach until 1942, and after leaving Clinton in 1926, he coached at St. Ann's Academy in Queens from 1927-1942. During his coaching career, Tobey had a high school record of 367-130 and college record of 348-201.

Although Tobey was a fine basketball player and an excellent coach and teacher of the game, it was as a referee that he was most famous. He refereed every important game in New York from 1918 to 1925, when he was asked to officiate a match between Syracuse University and West Point in 1926. After this important and highly publicized face-off, Tobey was in demand as an official.

Over the next 20 years (1926-1945), Tobey was the referee everyone wanted for big games. He officiated the first college game to experiment with a three-man officiating crew (Georgetown vs. Columbia), the initial East-West Games, and many games at Madison Square Garden. After he left officiating, Tobey authored many books on basketball and officiating.

Origin:
New York City

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