Bob Hurley

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This article is about the high school basketball coach. For his son, the college coach and former pro player, see Bobby Hurley. For other people with similar names, see Robert Hurley.
Bob Hurley
Biographical details
Born (1947-07-31) July 31, 1947 (age 77)
Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1972–2017St. Anthony HS
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
4 national
26 state (1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1983–1991, 1993, 1995–1997, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2016)
Awards
USA Today National Coach of the Year (1989, 1996, 2008)
Best Coach/Manager ESPY Award (2017)
Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted in 2010 (profile)

Robert Emmet Hurley (born July 31, 1947)[1] is an American basketball coach. At the now-closed St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, Hurley amassed 26 state championships[2] in 39 years as a coach. On February 2, 2011, Hurley became the tenth coach in high school history to win 1,000 games.[3] Five of his teams have gone undefeated.

On April 5, 2010, he was announced as the only coach to be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame that year and only the third high school coach in history to be so honored;[4] he was formally inducted on August 13 of that year.

Hurley is the father of Bobby Hurley, an All-American point guard and 2x National Champion at Duke and the head basketball coach at Arizona State, and Dan Hurley, a 2x National Champion as the head coach of the University of Connecticut.

Biography

Early life

Hurley was born and raised in the Greenville section of Jersey City and grew up in St. Paul parish, in an era when neighborhoods identified with their parishes, later attending St. Peter's Preparatory School.[5][6] His father was a police officer. Hurley attended St. Peter's College, but was cut from the varsity basketball team in his sophomore year. He began volunteering as a coach for a Catholic Youth Organization grammar school team in his parish.

Career

Hurley began coaching at St. Anthony in 1967. The school, run by Felician Sisters, had one of New Jersey's smallest student bodies, most of whom lived below or near the poverty line during the latter portion of Hurley's career.

Hurley produced over 150 players to Division I basketball programs, all on full scholarships. Hurley has coached six first-round NBA draft picks, including his own son, Bobby Hurley. Hurley's undefeated 1989 team, which featured Jerry Walker, Hurley's son Bobby, Terry Dehere, and Rodrick Rhodes, was ranked first in the nation by USA Today. Three of the players on that team – Bobby Hurley, Dehere and Rhodes – were first-round choices in the NBA draft. That team won New Jersey's first Tournament of Champions and amassed 50 straight victories in a two-year span. It is generally considered one of the best teams in American history.[7] Hurley has also produced a total of six first-round NBA draft picks: his son Bobby, Dehere, Rhodes, David Rivers, Roshown McLeod and Kyle Anderson.

Hurley's 2003–04 team, also undefeated and ranked second in the nation, is the subject of The Miracle of St. Anthony,[8] a best-selling book by Adrian Wojnarowski. The book chronicles how the team marched to an unbeaten season, state title, and number 2 national ranking despite off-the-court crises and not having a single senior graduate to a Division I program.[9]

Hurley's 2007–08 squad was also undefeated, finishing with 32 wins and no losses and ranked number one in the U.S. even though no starter is taller than 6 feet 6 inches. The team had six seniors who had never won a championship at the high school, something that has never happened to one of Hurley's teams. They also won Hurley's 10th Tournament of Champions, winning its state tournament games by an average of more than 27 points per game. This is considered one of the greatest basketball teams in modern sports. All six of the seniors would eventually receive Division I basketball scholarships, including Mike Rosario (Rutgers; he would later transfer to Florida), Tyshawn Taylor (Kansas), Travon Woodall (Pittsburgh), Jio Fontan (Southern California) and Dominic Cheek (Villanova).[10][11][12] The Street Stops Here, a 2010 documentary narrated by Harry Lennix, reviewed Hurley's impact on St. Anthony's basketball and captured several compelling moments that season.[13] It premiered nationally on PBS on March 31, 2010, and was released on DVD.[14]

For a number of years, Hurley's teams were challenged for supremacy in the state by Saint Benedict's Preparatory School of Newark, which was coached until 2010 by his son Dan, who played for him at St. Anthony before going to Seton Hall University.[15][16] In 2008, when Hurley's team was ranked number 1 in the nation, Dan's St. Benedict's squad was ranked number 2, and only a 3-point loss kept St. Benedict's from an undefeated season and a number 1 ranking of its own.[17][18]

St. Anthony won 30 state championships, more than any other school in U.S. history. Hurley was the coach for 28 of those teams and an assistant coach on the other two. His teams are known for their speed, defensive intensity, and precise ball movement. Every senior to graduate from his program has won at least one state championship, with many winning several.

Over the years, Hurley has been offered a number of college coaching jobs, but has declined them all. He is also one of just a few high school coaches to be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Hurley is considered a top 10 high school basketball coach in the history of the United States.[19]

He remained at the school through its final basketball season of 2016–17. Shortly after that season, the school announced it would close at the end of that school year.[20]

He was never a teacher at St. Anthony's (though during his final years there he served as president). For most of his career, the coach remained employed as a probation officer (he retired from that role in 2008[21]). Thereafter, he worked for the Jersey City Recreation Department, but has since retired from that position as well. He was instrumental in the restoration of the historic Jersey City Armory to a modern sports arena.[22]

Post-retirement

Currently, Coach Bob Hurley continues his mission of developing children's potential in life through the game of basketball via The Hurley Family Foundation. The Hurley Family Foundation runs a free basketball program for students in 3rd through 12th grade in Jersey City. Over 400 unique athletes participate in the clinics and each session is packed with over 75 players.

Personal life and family

Hurley and his wife Christine have three children: Bobby, Dan and Melissa.[23]

He gained national attention when his son Bobby graduated and became a four-year starter and All-American at Duke University.

  • His undefeated 2003–04 season was featured in a 2005 book by Adrian Wojnarowski entitled "The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball's Most Improbable Dynasty".
  • He is featured in the 2010 documentary The Street Stops Here.[24]
  • He is featured in the 2017 six-part documentary Legacy: Bob Hurley that chronicles St. Anthony High School's 2016-17 basketball season as the school faces financial trouble.[25][26]

References

  1. ^ "Robert "Bob" Hurley, Sr". Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on February 15, 2011. Retrieved August 14, 2010.
  2. ^ "New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association State Championship history" (PDF). New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-02. Retrieved August 29, 2013.
  3. ^ The Hurleys Build a Dynasty by Grant Glickson, The New York Times, February 1, 2004. Accessed February 12, 2008.
  4. ^ "Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Announces Class of 2010" (Press release). Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. April 5, 2010. Archived from the original on April 9, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2010.
  5. ^ "The Catholic Directory - Catholic Churches in Jersey City (Hudson County), New Jersey, United States on Page 1". TheCatholicDirectory.com. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
  6. ^ Hague, Jim. In company of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird Legendary JC Coach Hurley talks about Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction, The Hudson Reporter, August 22, 2010. Accessed July 9, 2018.
  7. ^ "St. Anthony Takes Title to End at 32–0". New York Times. March 20, 1989. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
  8. ^ Wojnarowski, Adrian (February 17, 2005). The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball's Most Improbable Dynasty. Gotham. ISBN 1592401023.
  9. ^ "A Basketball Miracle". Forbes.com. April 1, 2005.
  10. ^ "A Step Closer to Perfection by Kevin Armstrong". Sports Illustrated, March 6, 2008. March 6, 2008. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
  11. ^ "St. Anthony Captures T of C Crown". The Star-Ledger, March 18, 2008.
  12. ^ "For St. Anthony, a State Title Would Be the Perfect Ending by Zachary Braziller". The New York Times. February 27, 2008. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
  13. ^ "Bob Hurley and St. Anthony: 'The Street Stops Here'". USAToday.com. Retrieved April 11, 2017.
  14. ^ "The Street Stops Here". April 6, 2010. Retrieved April 11, 2017 – via Amazon.
  15. ^ "The King and Prince of High School Sports". The Wall Street Journal. January 24, 2007.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ "Family first: Danny Hurley has built St. Benedict's into a power by Kevin Armstrong". Sports Illustrated, December 16, 2006. December 15, 2006. Archived from the original on July 18, 2012. Retrieved April 26, 2010.
  17. ^ "Men's Basketball". University of Rhode Island. Archived from the original on December 28, 2017. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  18. ^ Marshall, John (2023-04-02). "UConn's Dan Hurley adding to storied family legacy". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2023-04-04.
  19. ^ "A Coach Who Likes Just Being in the Present by Dave Anderson". The New York Times. February 22, 2007.
  20. ^ Borzello, Jeff (April 5, 2017). "Hall of Famer Bob Hurley Sr. says St. Anthony High to close". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  21. ^ Lieber, Jill (October 7, 2002). "On defense at St. Anthony's". USA Today.
  22. ^ Hague, Jim (January 15, 2006). "Historic sports palace restored Jersey City Armory enjoys grand re-opening after 4-million facelift". Hudson Reporter. Archived from the original on December 3, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2011.
  23. ^ Prajapati, Salim. "Bobby Hurley Three Children and Family Members". Sportslulu. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  24. ^ The Street Stops Here, 23Films.com, Kevin Shaw, 2010. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  25. ^ "Legacy: Bob Hurley - Full Cast & Crew". TV Guide. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  26. ^ "LEGACY: BOB HURLEY". Showtime. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
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