Greenberg Has Support to Help With His Grief

Ralph Greenberg’s youngest son learned much about basketball from others. He listened well to all of his coaches, from junior high to college.

And although strangers taught Seth more about X’s and O’s than Ralph, his dad taught him what was most important. He taught him to love basketball.

“In a way, I’m living out part of his dream,” said Greenberg, Long Beach State men’s basketball coach. “That makes me feel good, because I think a lot of sons are close to their fathers. I know I was.”

The week began with the phone call Greenberg dreaded. He expected it for almost a year, but he would never be ready.

At 5:30 a.m. Jan. 15, the 49er coach learned that his father had died of cancer in upstate New York. That moment triggered the most traumatic week in Greenberg’s life.

“He was a great man,” Greenberg said. “You know what he was? He was just a tough old Marine.”

Tears come daily to Greenberg as his father’s memory dominates his thoughts.

“I have a great support system,” Greenberg said. “My wife [Karen] has just been incredible, I couldn’t have gotten through it without her. But everyone has just been very supportive, and that’s meant so much. Being [at Long Beach] now has helped me a lot.”

Long Beach assistant coach Clyde Vaughan and Greenberg have known each other since Vaughan was a high school All-American in Mount Vernon, N.Y., and Greenberg was a young assistant at Columbia. Greenberg coached Vaughan at Pittsburgh and they have been close friends since.

“Knowing Seth, and knowing his father when I was younger, I know what he’s going through,” Vaughan said. “I’m just trying to be here for him as a friend and an assistant coach.”

Long Beach President Robert Maxson and Athletic Director Dave O’Brien talked with Greenberg throughout the week.

“Seth is a street fighter,” O’Brien said. “When things get tough, no one fights back better than Seth.”

Ralph Greenberg died Jan. 14 at a nursing home in Liberty, N.Y. He was 71.

A retired furrier who worked in New York City’s garment district, he was diagnosed with lung cancer Feb. 24, 1995. That was the same day that Seth and Karen’s third child, Jacqueline, was born. The cancer metastasized rapidly throughout his back and brain.

Brad Greenberg, a former NBA executive, phoned with the news of their father’s death. They also have another brother, Dean.

Seth and Karen attended the funeral service Jan. 18 in Queens, N.Y. They returned in time for Greenberg to guide Long Beach to an 80-73 Big West Conference victory over Utah State that night at the Pyramid.

“Every time the phone rang I wondered if that would be the call,” Greenberg said. “The hardest thing was not being able to say goodbye. My dad introduced me to the life I’m living now.”

Ralph played basketball at Long Island University and ignited a passion for the game in Brad and Seth. Basketball is helping Greenberg through his pain, Karen said.

“In a way, it was good therapy for him,” she said. “Seth is probably the most sensitive of the brothers, but he doesn’t do well sitting around and grieving with the family.

“It really helped that he had something to direct his energy into. He’s been holding up pretty well.”

Understandably, Greenberg is eager to move on.

“It’s been hard, but I know my dad would want me to keep going,” Greenberg said. “I know my dad would want me to do what I’m doing.”

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Hello, Ike: Former UCLA center Ike Nwankwo, who is transferring to Long Beach, will be welcomed by his new teammates. “Ike is going to fit in just fine,” power forward Akeli Jackson said. “He’s a big guy and that’s what we need. It’s real exciting.”

Nwankwo, a 6-foot-11, 234-pound junior, will enroll at Long Beach in time for the start of the spring semester, beginning Monday. Nwankwo, whose parents are from Nigeria, can join the team at the end of the next fall semester. He can practice with Long Beach immediately.

Long Beach was among several schools interested in Nwankwo, including Loyola Marymount and San Francisco. Nwankwo played sparingly at UCLA, but Big West coaches believe he might be a force in their conference.

“We tried to get into the mix, but we didn’t have a scholarship,” UC Santa Barbara Coach Jerry Pimm said. “I was sorry we didn’t get him because he’s going to be good for them.”