Bob Hurley
Photo by Lonnie Webb
Bob Hurley of
St. Anthony (Jersey City, N.J.) will become just the third high school coach to gain entrance to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame tonight in Springfield, Mass.
The Jersey City legend will join Morgan Wootten of DeMatha (Hyattsville, Md.) and Bertha Frank Teague of Byng (Ada, Okla.) as the only inductees that coached exclusively at the high school level. Ernest A. Blood of Passaic (Passaic, N.J.) and St. Benedict's Prep (Newark, N.J.) made his name in the high school ranks, but also coached at a pair of colleges.
With 984 wins, three mythical national titles and 25 state titles (23 as a head coach), Hurley is firmly embedded in the "greatest high school coach ever" conversation. His program has been the feature of a compelling book (The Miracle at St. Anthony by Adrian Wojnarowski) and documentary ("The Street Stops Here") in recent years, which profiled his direct, no-nonsense approach that has helped push players to the college level on an annual basis and produce five first-round NBA Draft picks.
Hurley will be inducted alongside Jerry Buss, Cynthia Cooper, Dennis Johnson, Gus Johnson, Karl Malone, Maciel Pereira and Scottie Pippen. The 1960 and 1992 United States Olympic teams will also be enshrined.
Hurley put on a free clinic for youth players Thursday at the Dunbar Community Center in Springfield.
Hurley to the Hall coverage
* Jack McCallum, SI.com: Prep icon Hurley impacts countless lives with his old-school mentality
* Steve Politi, Star-Ledger: Hall of Fame journey will end as it began, with family
Also...
* According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, defending Tennessee Class AAA champion Melrose (Memphis, Tenn.) could be the subject of an MTV reality series produced by Red Line films.
Filming could begin as early as next week for the Golden Wildcats, who went 37-4 in 2009-10 and finished No. 10 in MaxPreps.com's final national top 25.
Melrose senior Adonis Thomas, a 6-foot-6 wing, will be one of the most heavily-recruited seniors in the country next year.
* Jesuit (Portland, Ore.) forward Kyle Wiltjer has narrowed his list to seven schools. California, Georgia Tech, Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Texas and Wake Forest made the cut, according to OregonLive.com.
The 6-9 rising senior has led Jesuit to back-to-back Class 6A state titles and played this summer for the Drew Gooden Soldiers, who captured the Fab 48 championship in Las Vegas.
