Just this past week as this year's inductees were announced for the Basketball Hall of Fame, most of us coaches eagerly waited for Bobby Hurley Sr.'s name to come up only to be disappointed yet again. To be sure, Michael Jordan, David Robinson, Jerry Sloan, John Stockton, and C. Vivian Stringer are each deserving of the honor. But one has to wonder if Coach Hurley will ever get his shot, and what kind of message this sends about amateur basketball.
Most coaches know who Coach Hurley is -- the long-time head coach of the St. Anthony Friars of Jersey City with 950-plus wins, 24 state championships and a career 90% winning percentage, the subject of a New York Times Bestselling book "Miracle of St. Anthony," and father of famous Duke player Bobby Hurley Jr. Steve Politi of the New Jersey Star-Ledger has the story. His argument is that the Hall of Fame is biased against high school. Of the 81 coaches inducted, only two high school coaches have ever made it, Morgan Wooten and Bertha Teague.
At a time when the game of basketball is facing a crisis of legitimacy at the grassroots level in the United States, it seems extremely short-sighted to have once again overlooked what Coach Hurley, and the thousands of high school coaches and teachers have contributed and continue to contribute to the game.
In his Final Four press conference Roy Williams said, "Bob Hurley is a Hall of Famer -- period. It's going to happen. It's just a matter of when." I certainly hope so. Enjoy the Easter Weekend y'all...
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