Rosemary Barboni Kelly: The shot clock monument, expected to be rededicated at the MOST in Syracuse, gives long overdue credit to Emil Barboni, Rosemary's uncle and a basketball pioneer. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current

For Rosemary Kelly, the shot clock monument in downtown Syracuse has always been a statement of both local genius and credit for a humble uncle, long overdue.

For that, in a big way, she can finally offer public thanks to John Marsellus.

Kelly retired as an assistant dean at Syracuse University’s University College. Her uncle was the late Emil Barboni, who served decades ago as a scout and administrator for the old Syracuse Nationals, an original franchise in the National Basketball Association. Barboni, who never had children, used to tell his nephews and nieces about the era when the Nats organization helped transform basketball into the game we know today.

Yet his larger role was forgotten, for too long. During World War II, Barboni served alongside Howard Hobson, who coached basketball at Oregon and Yale. Hobson was also the guy who first proposed a shot clock to electrify what in those days could be a low-scoring, tedious game.

He and Barboni became friends. While Hobson’s shot clock idea was rejected by the college game, it took on new life in Syracuse, where Barboni was close with team founder Danny Biasone. Nats general manager Leo Ferris and Biasone, frustrated by stalling tactics that slowed down their quick and talented team, convinced the NBA in 1954 to embrace a 24-second limit on how long a team could hold the ball, without shooting.

Historians say the rule change saved the league. The new emphasis on high-speed offense elevated the NBA into a coast-to-coast, multi-billion-dollar colossus. All of that was touched off in Syracuse, where the clock was first tried out for NBA executives in a scrimmage at Blodgett Vocational High School – and where Barboni was the bridge between Hobson’s idea and the Nats.

Basketball Hall of Famers (backs turned) Earl Lloyd, Dolph Schayes, John Havlicek and Bill Walton at dedication of the shot clock monument, 2005. Credit: Courtesy of Bob Haley

Seventy years ago last spring, the Nats won their only NBA title, helped by the shot clock to roar back and defeat the then-Fort Wayne Pistons in a come-from-behind seventh game. In 2005, a half-century after that championship, the shot clock monument was unveiled in Armory Square, above a plaque explaining the roles of Biasone, Ferris, Barboni and Hobson.

The name that went unmentioned: John Marsellus, who died last month at 86. He knew before his death how the shot clock monument had been temporarily brought down this year for restoration, and that it will soon move across Jefferson Street to the outdoor entranceway of the Museum of Science and Technology. A rededication ceremony in September will provide a community opportunity to publicly celebrate the role Marsellus asked us to keep confidential, while he lived:

It was his passion — and his donation — that brought this one-of-a-kind monument into existence.

“He swore us to secrecy until he left the planet,” said Dennis Brogan, who helped coordinate the project in 2005 as an aide to then-Mayor Matt Driscoll.

The death of Marsellus — whose family ran the renowned Marsellus Casket Co. until it was sold in 1997, six years before it closed — has freed many Central New Yorkers to speak openly of the civic generosity that Marsellus offered selflessly, with one condition:

Give the credit for each project to somebody else.

Syracuse Nationals stalwarts Dolph Schayes (left) and Paul Seymour (right) with John Marsellus, who as a child was a ball boy with the team. Credit: Courtesy of the Museum of Science & Technology

Otis Jennings, the former parks commissioner who worked closely with the late Francis Parks on a monument to famed folk singer Libba Cotten, said Marsellus was “instrumental” in the final Sharon BuMann sculpture. Natalie Clair Stetson, executive director of the Erie Canal Museum, describes Marsellus as not only “a major donor” but as a thoughtful and imaginative supporter whose precious family music box, which arrived in Syracuse via the canal, will be played in his honor on July 22 at the museum, during the 175th anniversary celebration of the opening of the Weighlock Building.

And Monica Merante, senior director of philanthropic services for the Central New York Community Foundation, calls Marsellus “a true partner” who was constantly thinking of ways to elevate the beauty and depth of the civic experience in Syracuse.

She spoke of his role, for instance, in bringing an electronic carillon system to the long-silent bell tower at City Hall. Marsellus insisted the real credit belonged to the Syracuse Rotary Club — though whenever Merante hears downtown music from the tower, she thinks of her longtime friend.

“He probably taught me more about philanthropy than anyone else,” she said.

With the shot clock, the tale goes like this: In the early 2000s, Syracuse talk radio and now-podcast host Jim Reith took a vacation and asked a few of us to sit in, as one-time hosts. Offered a segment, I did mine on the extraordinary basketball heritage of Syracuse. Among the guests was the late Dolph Schayes, the high-scoring Nats forward and all-time NBA great, who made a wistful proposal on the air:

He dreamed of a Syracuse monument to the city’s game-changing role — with a major element being an outdoor shot clock that eternally counted down from 24. The idea sparked many conversations, but John Rathbun — president at the time of the Syracuse Sports Corp., an arm of what’s now called Visit Syracuse — remembers one central and unsurprising challenge:

Money.

The problem was solved, Rathbun said, by the guy he still calls — out of appreciation and loyalty — “the anonymous donor.” John Marsellus always loved the Nats. As a child, he served as one of the ball boys at Nats games. After a chance conversation with Rathbun, Marsellus made a promise.

The shot clock monument and plaque, in City of Syracuse storage. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current

He would pay for it — but only if no one knew he was putting up the cash.

All of us honored the request. The amount he contributed went well beyond $50,000. The result was a one-of-a-kind piece of public art.

It was only after his recent death that Marsellus received public credit, in his obituary and in many statements of gratitude from friends liberated to finally say:

Thanks.

As Rathbun recalls, the original vision was to place the monument near the War Memorial, where the Nats won the 1955 NBA title, but state historical officials feared it would disrupt the architectural character of the site. Then-city parks commissioner Pat Driscoll, another key advocate, pivoted to an Armory Square “pocket park.”

While the nearby Armory was an early home for the Nats, the new location also generated debate about the highest public use. In the end, the shot clock monument — designed by architect Bob Haley to closely resemble an original clock that Biasone donated to Le Moyne College — was dedicated in 2005 before a big crowd on the same weekend that SU hosted the NCAA “Sweet 16” men’s regionals.

Rathbun recalled how the Sports Corporation — helped again by the “private donor” — brought in four Hall of Famers for the unveiling. John Havlicek and Bill Walton were there, as were Schayes and Earl Lloyd — a groundbreaking Nats legend who was the first Black player to compete in an NBA game.

The original architectural plans for the shot clock monument Credit: Courtesy of Bob Haley

To Pat Driscoll, the monument offers a lasting testament to how some unsung visionaries from Syracuse pushed through an innovation that became “an integral part of the game, on a world level.” That point echoes former NBA historian Bill Himmelman, who’s said there were two pivotal moments in basketball history: The day Dr. James Naismith nailed a peach basket to the wall, and the day the shot clock was first turned on, in Syracuse.

Marsellus — “in his unassuming, quiet way” — made sure that history received fitting public honor, Driscoll said.

Full disclosure: On Haley’s request, I wrote the inscription for the shot clock plaque. My mission, then and now, was making sure Biasone, Ferris, Barboni and Hobson all received the credit they deserve. Ferris, for instance, founded the team in Buffalo that became the Atlanta Hawks. As a National Basketball League executive, he was a central figure in the 1949 merger that created the NBA. In Syracuse, as general manager of the Nats, he helped build an NBA champion and played a key role in the birth of the shot clock.

For all too long, Ferris was basically forgotten.

Dolph Schayes with then-parks commissioner Pat Driscoll, shot clock monument dedication, 2005. Credit: Image courtesy of Pat Driscoll

“It means the world to see Leo’s name on the monument,” said his great-nephew and family champion, Christian Figueroa.

Over the years, as a simple Google search underlines, the outdoor clock became an iconic spot to visit in Syracuse, for anyone who appreciates basketball. But the monument is on the move again, according to city parks planner Josh Wilcox. It’s been temporarily taken down, and — if the Common Council approves — it will be cleaned up and restored by Toltec Works of Syracuse.

The city has given Crooked Cattle, a new Armory Square restaurant, the OK to use the pocket park as outdoor patio space — an idea that has again touched off debate about the highest community use of that space. Lauren Kochian, director of the Museum of Science and Technology (MOST) in the old Armory, heard about that plan at an Armory Square meeting and immediately said of the shot clock:

“I want it.”

Christian Figueroa with his son, also Christian, at shot clock monument that honors their great-uncle, Leo Ferris: Important affirmation for a hoops pioneer. Credit: Family photo

Kochian has always loved the story of how the Nats once played in what is now MOST exhibit space. She said the museum maintains a children’s “innovation station” that celebrates the role of brilliant local inventors, reminding girls and boys of their own potential to bring about great change.

The shot clock monument, Kochian said, matches perfectly with that idea, which will soon include an explanation of the shot clock. As for the monument, she said it’s “going to be right at our main entrance.” Marsellus and Kochian were friends, and they spoke about that plan, before Marsellus died. While he initially worried about whether the monument would retain an eye-catching outdoor presence, Kochian reassured him.

The MOST, she said, will treat it as a treasure — and Wilcox noted the flashing clock will now be visible to more Armory Square travelers at the busy crossroads of Jefferson and Franklin streets.

A slab of the Berlin wall, outside the MOST. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current

Of Marsellus, Kochian said: “His mark on our community is everywhere,” before she shared another example. Decades ago, through BettyAnn Kram — among the founders of the MOST — the museum brought a piece of the Berlin wall to Syracuse, after the two Germanies were finally reunited.

That slab is on public display on the south side of the Armory. Marsellus served in the Army, in the “Cold War” years after World War II. He was deeply involved in creating a “peace garden” around the remnant of the Berlin wall at the MOST, Kochian said. He also contributed toward an interpretative plaque that will soon allow visitors to fully understand what that slab represents, she said.

“He was one of the most generous people I’ve ever met,” said Kochian, who emphasized his death adds new power to an upcoming shot clock celebration, tentatively scheduled for September. The MOST intends to host a ceremony — 70 years after the Nats won their NBA title — to unveil the basketball monument, in its new location.

While none of the players or team executives survive from the 1955 champions, family members of anyone involved with the team will certainly be welcome. Rosemary Barboni Kelly and her family will be there, and she was pleased to learn a separate plaque will be added to include the name of John Marsellus, a guy whose deep civic legacy is built upon a credit-everyone-else approach.

“I love the humility of it,” Kelly said — which in a way speaks to the whole Syracuse story of the clock.   

Rosemary Barboni Kelly and her husband Tom, who is holding a photo of Emil Barboni, a key figure in creating the shot clock. Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current Credit: Mike Greenlar | Central Current

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Sean Kirst is a columnist with The Central Current. He has been an Upstate journalist for more than 50 years. He held his first reporting job as a teenager and worked for newspapers in Dunkirk, Niagara...