:Bob Hurley

Hurley was born and raised in the Greenville section of Jersey City and grew up in St. Paul parish, in an era when neighborhoods identified with their parishes, later attending St. Peter's Preparatory School.{{cite web|url=http://www.thecatholicdirectory.com/directory.cfm?CurrentPage=1&fuseaction=search_directory&country=US&state=NJ&absolutecity=Jersey%20City&sort=alpha|title=The Catholic Directory - Catholic Churches in Jersey City (Hudson County), New Jersey, United States on Page 1|first=|last=|work=TheCatholicDirectory.com|access-date=April 11, 2017}}Hague, Jim. [https://archive.hudsonreporter.com/2010/09/01/in-company-of-michael-jordan-larry-bird/ In company of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird Legendary JC Coach Hurley talks about Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction], The Hudson Reporter, August 22, 2010. Accessed July 9, 2018. His father was a police officer. Hurley attended St. Peter's College, but was cut from the varsity basketball team in his sophomore year. He began volunteering as a coach for a Catholic Youth Organization grammar school team in his parish.

Hurley began coaching at St. Anthony in 1967. The school, run by Felician Sisters, had one of New Jersey's smallest student bodies, most of whom lived below or near the poverty line during the latter portion of Hurley's career.

Hurley produced over 150 players to Division I basketball programs, all on full scholarships. Hurley has coached six first-round NBA draft picks, including his own son, Bobby Hurley. Hurley's undefeated 1989 team, which featured Jerry Walker, Hurley's son Bobby, Terry Dehere, and Rodrick Rhodes, was ranked first in the nation by USA Today. Three of the players on that team – Bobby Hurley, Dehere and Rhodes – were first-round choices in the NBA draft. That team won New Jersey's first Tournament of Champions and amassed 50 straight victories in a two-year span. It is generally considered one of the best teams in American history.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/20/sports/school-basketball-st-anthony-takes-title-to-end-at-32-0.html |title=St. Anthony Takes Title to End at 32–0 | newspaper=New York Times | date=March 20, 1989 | access-date=April 26, 2010}} Hurley has also produced a total of six first-round NBA draft picks: his son Bobby, Dehere, Rhodes, David Rivers, Roshown McLeod and Kyle Anderson.

Hurley's 2003–04 team, also undefeated and ranked second in the nation, is the subject of The Miracle of St. Anthony,{{cite book|title=The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball's Most Improbable Dynasty|first=Adrian|last=Wojnarowski|date=February 17, 2005|publisher=Gotham|isbn=1592401023|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/miracleofstantho00wojn}} a best-selling book by Adrian Wojnarowski. The book chronicles how the team marched to an unbeaten season, state title, and number 2 national ranking despite off-the-court crises and not having a single senior graduate to a Division I program.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.forbes.com/2005/04/01/cx_da_0401bookreview_miracle.html |title=A Basketball Miracle |magazine=Forbes.com | date=April 1, 2005 }}

Hurley's 2007–08 squad was also undefeated, finishing with 32 wins and no losses and ranked number one in the U.S. even though no starter was taller than 6 feet 6 inches. The team had six seniors who had never won a championship at the high school, something that has never happened to one of Hurley's teams. They also won Hurley's 10th Tournament of Champions, winning its state tournament games by an average of more than 27 points per game. This is considered one of the greatest basketball teams in modern sports. All six of the seniors would eventually receive Division I basketball scholarships, including Mike Rosario (Rutgers; he would later transfer to Florida), Tyshawn Taylor (Kansas), Travon Woodall (Pittsburgh), Jio Fontan (Southern California) and Dominic Cheek (Villanova).{{cite news|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/kevin_armstrong/03/06/st.anthony.friars/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604173221/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/kevin_armstrong/03/06/st.anthony.friars/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 4, 2011 |publisher=Sports Illustrated, March 6, 2008|title=A Step Closer to Perfection by Kevin Armstrong | date=March 6, 2008 | access-date=April 26, 2010}}{{cite web|url=http://www.nj.com/hssports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1205818513270600.xml&coll=1 |title=St. Anthony Captures T of C Crown |publisher=The Star-Ledger, March 18, 2008}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/sports/27preps.html |title=For St. Anthony, a State Title Would Be the Perfect Ending by Zachary Braziller |newspaper=The New York Times | date=February 27, 2008 | access-date=April 26, 2010}} The Street Stops Here, a 2010 documentary narrated by Harry Lennix, reviewed Hurley's impact on St. Anthony's basketball and captured several compelling moments that season.{{cite web|url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2010/03/bob-hurley-and-st-anthony-the-street-stops-here/1|title=Bob Hurley and St. Anthony: 'The Street Stops Here'|work=USAToday.com|access-date=April 11, 2017}} It premiered nationally on PBS on March 31, 2010, and was released on DVD.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003D7S9IW|title=The Street Stops Here|date=April 6, 2010|access-date=April 11, 2017|via=Amazon}}

For a number of years, Hurley's teams were challenged for supremacy in the state by Saint Benedict's Preparatory School of Newark, which was coached until 2010 by his son Dan, who played for him at St. Anthony before going to Seton Hall University.{{cite news |url=http://dackman.homestead.com/hurleyhoopswsj.mht |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=January 24, 2007 |title=The King and Prince of High School Sports }}{{dead link|date=July 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite news|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/the_bonus/12/13/hurleys/index.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120718054033/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/the_bonus/12/13/hurleys/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 18, 2012 |publisher=Sports Illustrated, December 16, 2006|title=Family first: Danny Hurley has built St. Benedict's into a power by Kevin Armstrong | date=December 15, 2006 | access-date=April 26, 2010}} In 2008, when Hurley's team was ranked number 1 in the nation, Dan's St. Benedict's squad was ranked number 2, and only a 3-point loss kept St. Benedict's from an undefeated season and a number 1 ranking of its own.{{cite web|url=http://www.gorhody.com/sports/m-baskbl/coaches/hurley_dan?view=bio|title=Men's Basketball|publisher=University of Rhode Island|access-date=December 28, 2017|archive-date=December 28, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171228172344/http://www.gorhody.com/sports/m-baskbl/coaches/hurley_dan?view=bio|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web |last=Marshall |first=John |date=2023-04-02 |title=UConn's Dan Hurley adding to storied family legacy |url=https://apnews.com/article/final-four-ncaa-tournament-uconn-hurley-487cf93857bf58d3258db507948d3cdc |access-date=2023-04-04 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}

St. Anthony won 30 state championships, more than any other school in U.S. history. Hurley was the coach for 28 of those teams and an assistant coach on the other two. His teams are known for their speed, defensive intensity, and precise ball movement. Every senior to graduate from his program has won at least one state championship, with many winning several.

Over the years, Hurley has been offered a number of college coaching jobs, but has declined them all. He is also one of just a few high school coaches to be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Hurley is considered a top 10 high school basketball coach in the history of the United States.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/22/sports/othersports/22anderson.html?scp=2&sq=st.+anthony+hurley&st=nyt |title=A Coach Who Likes Just Being in the Present by Dave Anderson|newspaper=The New York Times | date=February 22, 2007 }}

He remained at the school through its final basketball season of 2016–17. Shortly after that season, the school announced it would close at the end of that school year.{{cite news|last=Borzello|first=Jeff|date=April 5, 2017|title=Hall of Famer Bob Hurley Sr. says St. Anthony High to close|work=ESPN.com|url=http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/19086417/st-anthony-high-school-close-end-school-year|access-date=April 6, 2017}}

He was never a teacher at St. Anthony's, though during his final years there he served as president. For most of his career, he remained employed as a probation officer; he retired from that role in 2008.{{cite news|last1=Lieber|first1=Jill|date=October 7, 2002|title=On defense at St. Anthony's|work=USA Today|url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/preps/basketball/2002-10-06-st-anthonys-cover_x.htm}} Thereafter, he worked for the Jersey City Recreation Department, but has since retired from that position as well. He was instrumental in the restoration of the historic Jersey City Armory to a modern sports arena.{{Cite news|last=Hague|first=Jim|date=January 15, 2006|title=Historic sports palace restored Jersey City Armory enjoys grand re-opening after 4-million facelift|newspaper=Hudson Reporter|url=http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2407369/article-Historic-sports-palace-restored-Jersey-City-Armory-enjoys-grand-re-opening-after--4-million-facelift|url-status=dead|access-date=January 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203030828/http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2407369/article-Historic-sports-palace-restored-Jersey-City-Armory-enjoys-grand-re-opening-after--4-million-facelift|archive-date=December 3, 2013|df=mdy-all}}

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Currently, Hurley continues his mission of developing children's potential in life through the game of basketball via The Hurley Family Foundation. The Hurley Family Foundation runs a free basketball program for students in 3rd through 12th grade in Jersey City. Over 400 unique athletes participate in the clinics and each session is packed with over 75 players.

Hurley and his wife Christine have three children: Bobby, Dan and Melissa.{{cite web |last1=Prajapati |first1=Salim |title=Bobby Hurley Three Children and Family Members |url=https://sportslulu.com/bobby-hurley-children |website=Sportslulu |access-date=2 July 2023}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.thehurleyfamilyfoundation.com/ Hurley Family Foundation]
• {{Basketballhof|bob-hurley-sr}}

{{2010 Basketball HOF}}

{{Basketball Hall of Fame coaches}}

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Category:1947 births

Category:Living people

Category:Basketball coaches from New Jersey

Category:High school basketball coaches in New Jersey

Category:Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees

Category:Probation and parole officers

Category:Saint Peter's University alumni

Category:Sportspeople from Jersey City, New Jersey

Category:St. Peter's Preparatory School alumni