Archbishop Molloy's Jack Curran still coaching 2 sports at 80

Former student and long-time friend Tom Konchalski calls Jack Curran the "JoePa of high school basketball."

Upon hearing that statement, the 80-year-old Curran said, "Joe (Paterno, the ageless Penn State football coach) is a great guy. He played football at Brooklyn Prep. He's a little older than me."

Konchalski points out that Curran "is the gold standard of high school coaches in New York City. He's won five city titles in basketball and 17 in baseball. He's a coach for all seasons. He's great at teaching fundamentals and team play."

When Curran saw an advertisement and considered applying for the head basketball coaching position at Archbishop Molloy (Queens, N.Y.), he called legendary college coach Clair Bee for advice. Bee told him to go for it. He succeeded Lou Carnesecca and the rest is history.



If you get the impression that Curran has known a lot of great coaches and been around for a long time, you're absolutely correct.

Since 1958, Curran not only has been the Stanners' head basketball coach, but also the head baseball coach. During his phenomenal career he has compiled more major-sport victories than any other coach in high school history.

Now in his 53rd campaign, he has posted 931 basketball victories, which puts him in a 15th-place tie nationally. His spring baseball record of 1,123 victories places him No. 4 all-time. However, he also has coached fall baseball – which the National High School Federation does not count in its record book – to give him a total of 1,658 victories.

That's an incredible total of 2,783 victories and counting! He has won 75 percent of his games.

Curran has sent nearly 500 players to colleges on athletic scholarships and six of them – Kevin Joyce, Kenny Anderson, Jim Larranaga, Kenny Smith, Robert Werdann and Sundiata Gaines – reached the NBA. The testimonies from his former players speak volumes when his impact is assessed.

Joyce, who was a first-team Parade Magazine All-American and graduated in 1969, gave Curran, perhaps, the greatest compliment he ever could receive when he told MaxPreps, "He was the one we judged against all the other coaches we played for and none ever matched up."



Joyce played for the great Frank McGuire and coached under him at the University of South Carolina, but he stands by his comment.

"My father died when I was 10 and he became a father to me during those years," Joyce noted. "He was very hard, very structured and tough, but I loved it. He always made us say yes sir and no sir and we had to wear hats during the season."

Larranaga, a 1967 Molloy graduate, said, "When I was in tenth grade, I decided I wanted to be a coach, so he was my role model. He was amazing. Just watching Mr. Curran coach you was so impressive. What a great teacher – how demanding he was. His success was based on not having great players, but developing them to the fullest. He was a father figure and you worshipped him.

"One of the things that separated him was that he was very much like John Wooden. He was very simple in his approach and really cared about his players. He helped them get jobs and they worked his summer camp. He was a major influence in my life.

"I've tried to emulate the qualities he has. I never heard him use a vulgarity in his life. He is a devout Christian and goes to church every day of his life."

Larranaga, who coached cinderella team George Mason University to the NCAA Final Four in 2006, pointed out, "If Mr. Curran recommended you, every college coach knew he was an expert on preparing kids for college. I have felt so indebted to him. He is very much a part of my accomplishments."



Kenny Anderson came to Molloy as probably Curran's most ballyhooed basketball player. TV cameras and big-city newspapers quickly descended on the school.

Anderson, a 1989 graduate and USA Today National Player of the Year who now lives in Florida, said, "The first thing I always do (when he comes to New York) is go to Molloy. He's gotten a little lighter. I sat there (watching practice) and thought ‘Wow!' He's great with them, but he's a lot looser.

"It was the greatest thing I ever could experience. He taught me work ethic and how to be a leader. Being as talented as I was, I could have rebelled. He taught me to buy into his system – not only in games but in life. He kind of forced me to work extremely hard at basketball and in the classroom. I did extra work and stayed after school. It was like I lived at school.

"I had respect for him – total respect for his dedication to the school and the kids. Kids need to see guys like that. It's an eye opener. Some guys just do a job for a check. This guy is not about that. He brought the best out of me. To this day I call him at least twice a month to check on him."

Curran is a 1948 graduate of All Hallows (Bronx, N.Y.) where he played football, basketball and baseball. He went to St. John's University on a basketball scholarship, but baseball was his best sport.

At St. John's he was named Metropolitan Baseball Player of the Year as a 6-foot-3 sophomore pitcher and he captained the team as a senior (1952). He also played three years in the farm systems of the Brooklyn Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies before going into sales.



The son of a New York policeman, Curran never intended to be a coach, but he always seemed to be coaching CYO and church teams in his spare time.

"I just fell into it," he admitted. "I guess I just love to do it. It's more of an avocation than a job."

Over the years, Curran has been offered college coaching jobs in both basketball and baseball.

The closest he ever came to leaving Molloy was in 1969 when Bob Cousy was retiring from Boston College. He was offered the basketball job (and Kevin Joyce was going to go with him). However, the timing was not right because he was taking care of his mother - who had suffered a stroke - preparing for a city-championship game and was given only 24 hours to make his decision. Circumstances forced him to decline.

The veteran coach calls Kevin Joyce "the most dominating player we've ever had. His senior year he averaged 33 points and 18 rebounds and he never played a full game. He was 6-3 and played all over. He jumped center (due to a 42-inch vertical jump)."

Curran calls Kenny Anderson "our most exciting player. He was MVP as a freshman in the city-title game. He sat out the first quarter of every game that year."



Surprisingly, Curran says that 5-11 guard Billy Lawrence, a 1961 graduate, "Probably had more skill than anybody. He could do everything. He was the quickest thing in sneakers and the first player Dean Smith recruited (at North Carolina). He went (transferred) to St. John's for two years, but he refused to go to class. He could have played in the NBA."

Lawrence, who is a retired New York City transit policeman now living in Spring Hill, Fla., says, "It's hard to describe (Curran). I don't think he's changed over the years. He's a very decent human being who never degraded anybody."

Lawrence averaged 26 points as a senior and was named a high school All-American. However, when he reached college he injured his knee and admits, "I was a bad boy. All I wanted to do was party and play ball. It probably cost me a lot of money (by not reaching the NBA)."

Despite having coached so many great players, Curran never overlooked the ones with less talent.

"I try to make sure they all get placed where they have an opportunity to play," he explained. "You probably do more for them (the non-stars) than the really good ones. I've done that for kids from other schools, too."

Curran concedes it's a little harder now to coach two demanding sports.



"It's more physically tiring now," he admitted. "When I was younger, it didn't matter. I used to pitch batting practice for an hour and a half. I did that until 10 years ago."

The legendary coach has won numerous state and national honors, belongs to nine halls of fame and even plays his home games now on the Jack Curran Court, which still is somewhat embarrassing to him.

"They announce it (the name of the court) every game and I stand there," he said humbly. "I've always been against stuff like that. I always figured the game was for the kids."

Despite all of his personal honors, Curran's greatest thrill probably would surprise most people.

"We've won 27 national tournaments," he said proudly. "A lot of them were at Myrtle Beach (the Beach Ball Classic at Myrtle Beach, S.C.)."

When the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame began giving a Lifetime Achievement award in honor of another legendary coach, Morgan Wootten of DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.), Curran was the first recipient.



"It was a great honor, because I have great respect for Morgan," Curran said.

Wootten, now retired, returns the compliment.

Wootten said, "Not only is he a great coach, but a great human being. He's a real gentleman – a guy who really cares about his kids, a guy you want your sons to play for. Look up class in the dictionary and you'll probably see Jack Curran's picture there. He's the total package. He's touched a million lives."

Wootten still hasn't forgotten a 112-88 beating given to his team by Molloy in the 1969-70 O'Connell Christmas Tournament. He calls it probably the worst defeat one of his teams ever suffered.

Everyone mellows somewhat with age and Curran is no different, according to Brother James Vagan, who has been his assistant coach in baseball for 26 years.

"He was very, very tough when he was younger, alumni have told me," Vagan said. "In all my years he certainly has mellowed a great deal. He's like a grandfather to the kids. He's really an icon in New York sports."



Vagan's favorite story is about Molloy‘s 1994 baseball team, which posted a 44-2 fall-spring record and sent every starter to a Division I college. The Stanners were losing, 3-2, in the ninth inning with two on and two out and their No. 5 hitter, Frankie Battista, at the plate against underdog Holy Cross (Flushing, N.Y.). It was expected that every hitter would check the signs with Curran before each at-bat.

This time, however, the frustrated coach yelled at Battista, "What are you looking for a sign for? Just hit the ball out of the park and win the game!"

Like a dutiful student, Battista did just that and Molloy took home a 5-4 victory.

Mike McCleary, Molloy athletic director and Curran's long-time assistant coach in basketball, says, "He's basically set the standard for our whole athletic program since I've been here and still does it today. He still runs the show and we try to help him out with whatever he needs. To be honest, it doesn't look like he's lost a step at all."

In recent years, Curran has shrugged off two bouts of skin cancer. Last summer he received a pacemaker and he soon will begin dialysis three times a week for a kidney problem. Still, like the famous Energizer Bunny, he just keeps on ticking. He has no plans for retirement and there appears little or no sentiment to force him to quit.

"They like to keep me here because I'm kind of a cash cow," he explained. "Alumni connect me to the school."



Curran has more friends than he can count.

Even though it's now much tougher academically to enroll students at Molloy (Curran said some with 93 averages are turned down), he apparently has his next great player waiting in the wings on the freshman team.
He calls C.J. Davis "as good as anybody we have had. He's an outstanding student – the whole package. He really knows how to play the game. He is 6-1 now and strong."

He's not ready to head for the pasture yet, because he has Davis on the way and this year's team is off to a strong 7-0 start.

Morgan Wootten, who is one of just two high school coaches enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame says with conviction,"Jack Curran should be the next guy to go."