Coach Bob Hurley: The Sage of St. Anthony

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St. Anthony's financial shortfall is $1.2 million each year and Hurley is the engine that propels the fundraising effort. He hits the speaking circuit, runs all year basketball clinics, with all of the proceeds going to the school.

"He's indispensible and in addition to helping us financially, he's a role model for the kids and a father figure. Because they know that he has stayed in the city, he hasn't left them. Money was not something that attracted him. He was here to help them and kids appreciate that, families appreciate that," Sister Felicia told Kroft.

"Would this school be here right now if it wasn't for Bob Hurley?" Kroft asked.

"Probably not," she replied.

Sister Felicia and the entire school were at Rutgers for the national championship game a few weeks ago, and it did not begin well for St. Anthony. St. Patrick and Michael Gilchrist roasted them in the first half.

But after trailing most of the game, St. Anthony's superior conditioning, poise and coaching, finally turned the tide.

They outscored St. Patrick 23-5 in the final quarter and won in a route. They closed out the season with their 24th state championship and fourth national title.

It was the perfect ending for the season, and for our story. The players' dreams had been realized, and the lessons well learned.

As for Coach Hurley, he's already plotting another championship season.

Sister Felica expects him to be around for another 15 years to coach his 20-month-old grandson Gabe.

In fact, he's already begun.

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by GrubStreetNM April 18, 2011 2:27 PM EDT: Mortensen should take a few bucks from his millions and give it to THIS school.; Reply to this comment


by polisigh March 29, 2011 7:13 PM EDT: The days of taking disadvantage JC kids off the street as they come in and making them into men is myth. Hurley recruits the best players wherever they are available.
Tuition of $5000. is also a mythical farce. That is the stated tuition. There is also a mandatory fundrasing goal of $10000. Wherever that money comes from, it is all tax-deductible, which tuition is not. Facts are often less uplifting than myths.; Reply to this comment


by scola1951 March 29, 2011 12:52 PM EDT: I know the Coach and his family for many years. Some years ago my company did some work on the high school, and in return Coach came to my hometown to run a clinic for the kids. When he spoke, people listen, I'll tell you that. He told the kids that when they watch basketball on T.V. to forget about the pros and watch a good college team, like Duke. He pointed out coach K can be seen still teaching the kids, even at the end of one of their numerous blowouts. He also said to watch a good womens' team, as they usually don't have a superstar and therefore must win using basic team effort and skill, which is what he's all about.Nice job, coach, and nice job by Steve Croft too.; Reply to this comment


by scola1951 March 29, 2011 12:46 PM EDT: I know the Coach and his family for many years. My company did some work at the school some years back, and in return Coach came to my town to run a clinic for the kids. When he spoke, I tell you, everyone listened.I learned more about basketball in those (2 ) clinics than I ever thought I'd know. He told the kids, among other things, when they watch basketball on TV to forget about the pros and watch a good college team, like Duke, because Coach K can be seen teaching the kids, even at the end of one of their numerous blowouts. He also said to watch a good womens' team because they often don't have superstars and therefore win using basic team skills, which is what he's all about. Nice job Steve Kroft.; Reply to this comment


by AvgMom2 March 29, 2011 10:24 AM EDT: I'm always in awe of someone like Coach Hurley. Why isn't he motivated by greed and self-promotion like so many people nowadays? What's in it for him to stick it out in place like St. Anthony? I'm glad 60 Minutes did a story on him. Coach Hurley deserves every accolade we can give him for his unselfish devotion to his students. My faith in humanity is restored!; Reply to this comment

by jerseynutmegger March 28, 2011 6:28 PM EDT

I am familiar with both St Thomas More and St Anthony, and with all due respect to Jeremiah Quinn and his coaching accomplishments, there is no comparison.

This story was not just about Bob Hurley, Hall of Famer and the most winning coach ever in high school history with 1,000 wins, but about his success given what he has to work with.

Bob Hurley does not recruit his players .... they come to him. Practically the whole student body lives below the poverty line. St Anthony charges $5,000 per student, when it actually costs $9,000 per student per year, so they start every year out with a shortfall. They have one standalone building and some trailers for a school. This school has no gym, no library, no weight room, and a parish church that abandoned it long ago. Its 240 students are inner city kids. Hurley's players travel up to two hours a day to come to school.

Boarding school St Thomas More, on the other hand, is located on 110 acres in beautiful rural CT. Its campus includes a lake, five athletic fields, a track, fully-quipped gymnasium, chapel, dorms, three classroom buildings, and library. Tuition for the 200 students representing 15 states and six countries is $41,400, plus $4,000 more for international students. The schools endowment is over $9 million.

While Mr. Quinn is a fine coach, and his team may consist of some boys who deserve a better chance in life, he is not faced with the incredibly limited --- I would say non-existent -- physical and financial resources that Bob Hurley has overcome every year for almost 40 years now.

That was the point of the story.

I am a Jersey City native, transplanted to CT nearly 25 years ago.

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by cthoopsfan March 29, 2011 4:45 PM EDT: Jersey,
have you ever visited St. Thomas More? It is nothing close to the rest of the preps that are in CT. The Loomis Chaffee's, The Choates, etc. It has a gym that has 3 rows of bleachers that floods every spring. The dorms and facilities are very old and in dire need of updating. The tuition has risen for the past years because of a dropping enrollment. It could service up to 200 young men but enrollment now is possibly barely above 100. They recruit the international students because they do pay more tuition and that extra money has to be used to cover the costs that a majority of the basketball players don't have to come to play there. They do offer "scholarships" but these are nothing compared to what the actual cost of room and board is.
There are possibly 4 athletic fields there if you want to count a baseball field that abutts the cinder track that surrounds the soccer field.
Coach Quinn does not recruit his players either. His reputation, as Coach Hurley's, brings the players to him. They both offer a unique chance to get these inner city young men to college for free. St. Thomas More has been in business for the under achiever since it's start so I would guess the young men that go there are a challenging bunch to deal with. Much like the "inner city" kids you say go to St. Anthony's.
I'm not trying to down play what Coach Hurley has done. His body of work is amazing. My point is that there are more than just him who work through adversity with kids from difficult back grounds to get them to be their best.


by jerseynutmegger March 30, 2011 6:39 PM EDT: Yes, I have been to St Thomas More. I know several boys who have attended there, all from very well-to-do families. None of them ever actually graduated from there. And none of them went on to college. Something you may be surprised to learn.

I was born and raised 8 blocks from St Anthony, attended numerous games there throughout high school, and know the Hurley family personally.

St Thomas More is a palace compared to St Anthony. At least they have a gym that floods! Practice space has been begged and borrowed by Hurley for years. Hurley's consistent ability to build something from nothing --literally -- is why the book was titled "The Miracle of St Anthony".

I understand your point that Bob Hurley is not the only one working with boys from adverse backgrounds. I couldn't agree more. But those who go to St Thomas More are actually removed from their environments to live in a peaceful setting. I do not "say" that Hurley has inner city kids ... he does. Believe me, people are not traveling from the 'burbs to go to St Anthony. They are traveling far, from other cities, and most return difficult environments every day.


by cthoopsfan March 30, 2011 7:31 PM EDT: Jersey,
I get your point. I think we may ba comparing two great coaches who are working towards the same goal. Where they do this work is different but the end result is the same. Take kids from an difficult environment with probably no chance of a college experience and put them into a situation where they can earn a scholarship.Our own personal biases may be clouding rational judgement here because I believe both men are doing amazing things. To say who is better at the job probably could be argues forever.
I am surprised to hear that the boys you knew didn't graduate from T-More when they have such a high college placement rate. But like most schools, they don't publish the rates of drop outs after that first semester away from all the structure. I am well aware that it is a school for difficult boys from well to do back grounds and that many do get kicked out and don't graduate. But many come there after being kicked out of other schools and do graduate and attend, or at least get accepted to college.
I also question that Coach Hurley is building something from nothing. I can't imagine he is getting JV players to travel that far to attend St. Anthony's. He has a pretty solid core of people and fund raisers that are out looking for the talent needed to keep that program at such a high level. The fact that they don't have a practice space is ridiculous.
I suppose my final question is why haven't these two teams met? Or why doesn't St. Anthony's travel to compete with the great prep programs in New England? I get that the all mighty dollar is probably preventing them from doing so but what an exciting time for basketball that would be. Or host a tournament in a college gym? Talk about a fund raising event. I would think that would attract people from far distances who were willing to pay to see the talent that would be show cased there.
Just a dream but we never know.
Cheers Jersey. We are on the same team.


by jerseynutmegger April 5, 2011 1:17 PM EDT: Hey Hoops,

You are right to say that we are pretty much on the same page. Two great men, two great teams, players with tremendous opportunities, etc.

You should get a hold of the award-winning documentary "The Street Stops Here", which aired on PBS last year. Watch it & you'll definitely see the fundraising challenges that even a "successful" basketball program faces ... it literally brought me to tears. I am certain you will enjoy it and completely understand my point of reference.

Also, I think you will see why these teams haven't met. They are .... literally... from two different "leagues" re: schools they play, consistent level of competition, location, etc., which I guess was my point more than anything else.

Coach Hurley has brought teams to the Basketball Hall of Fame (yearly, I believe for many years) during February vacation. You're close enough to check that out next year if you are so inclined. Maybe St Thomas More & St Anthony can work something out up there .... if they haven't already. I agree it would be wonderful.

Best Regards

The Jersey Girl


by jerseynutmegger March 28, 2011 6:19 PM EDT: Correction to my previous comment

St Thomas More's annual tuition is $41,400 .... not $14,400 as mistakenly typed; Reply to this comment


by jerseynutmegger March 28, 2011 6:18 PM EDT: Correction to my previous comment

St Thomas More's annual tuition is $41,400 .... not $14,400 as mistakenly typed; Reply to this comment

by jerseynutmegger March 28, 2011 6:16 PM EDT

I am familiar with both St Thomas More and St Anthony, and with all due respect to Jeremiah Quinn and his coaching accomplishments, there is no comparison.

This story was not just about Bob Hurley, Hall of Famer and the most winning coach ever in high school history with 1,000 wins, but about his success given what he has to work with.

Bob Hurley does not recruit his players .... they come to him. Practically the whole student body lives below the poverty line. St Anthony charges $5,000 per student, when it actually costs $9,000 per student per year, so they start every year out with a shortfall. They have one standalone building and some trailers for a school. This school has no gym, no library, no weight room, and a parish church that abandoned it long ago. Its 240 students are inner city kids. Hurley's players travel up to two hours a day to come to school.

Boarding school St Thomas More, on the other hand, is located on 110 acres in beautiful rural CT. Its campus includes a lake, five athletic fields, a track, fully-quipped gymnasium, chapel, dorms, three classroom buildings, and library. Tuition for the 200 students representing 15 states and six countries is $14,400, plus $4,000 more for international students. The schools endowment is over $9 million.

While Mr. Quinn is a fine coach, and his team may consist of some boys who deserve a better chance in life, he is not faced with the incredibly limited --- I would say non-existent -- physical and financial challenges that Bob Hurley has overcome every year for almost 40 years now.

That was the point of the story.

I am a Jersey City native, transplanted to CT nearly 25 years ago.

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