Bob Hurley
Basketball coach
Born: July 31, 1947, in Jersey City, New Jersey
New Jersey Hall of Fame, Class of 2012: Sports

Basketball is a numbers game and the numbers clearly document Bob Hurley’s remarkable achievements as a coach at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City. In 39 years as a coach, Hurley amassed 26 state championships. His teams won more than 1,000 games. More than 150 of his players earned full scholarships to Division I basketball programs.

But Hurley was more than a great coach. He was a man dedicated to the betterment of his players.

“To the people that Bob’s come into contact with over the years, he was a teacher, a father-figure, an advisor, a mentor, and a friend,” said fellow coach P.J. Carlesimo, upon inducting Hurley into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2012.

Hurley’s story began in the Greenville section of Jersey City. The son of a police officer, Hurley attended St. Peter’s Preparatory School and St. Peter’s College, both in his hometown. As a college sophomore, he was cut from the varsity basketball team. Undaunted, he began volunteering as a coach for a local Catholic Youth Organization team.

At age 20, Hurley began coaching at St. Anthony, a school run by Felician Sisters. Despite a small student body, Hurley’s teams became consistent winners. His teams emphasized speed, defense, and ball-handling – a good recipe for success.

Five of Hurley’s teams at St. Anthony never lost a game. The undefeated 1989 team was ranked No. 1 in the nation by USA Today and featured three players who were first-round NBA draft picks, including Hurley’s eldest son, Bobby Jr. The undefeated 2003-04 team was ranked second in the nation and is the subject of a best-selling book, “The Miracle of St. Anthony.” The 2007-08 team, also undefeated, was ranked No. 1 and featured six seniors who received Division I basketball scholarships.

Over the years, Hurley received many offers to coach at the college level but declined them all. “He chose to always stay here,” Carlesimo reminded the audience at the Hall of Fame induction. Remarkably, Hurley was never a teacher at St. Anthony’s. Rather, for most of his career he was employed as a probation officer.

Hurley retired from coaching after the 2016-17 basketball season, when St. Anthony shut down due to declining enrollment and a lack of funding. By then, Hurley had been inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, making him only the third high school coach so honored.

After retirement, Hurley remained active through the Hurley Family Foundation, which runs free basketball programs for Jersey City youngsters. Meanwhile, his son Bobby Jr., an All-American point guard at Duke, went on to become the head basketball coach at Arizona State. A second son, Dan, is a two-time national champion as head coach at the University of Connecticut.