I overlooked this particular press release. I’m always happy to post a release from CBS News Sunday Morning. Tomorrow, Armen Keteyian profiles New Jersey high school basketball coach Bob Hurley. Yes, he’s the dad of former Duke point guard Bobby Hurley who was on two NCAA Championship teams in the 1990’s.
“PARENTS LET KIDS BE MEDIOCRE. TEACHERS LET KIDS BE AVERAGE…I’M HOLDING THEM TO THE TO THE HIGHEST STANDARD I CAN,” SAYS LEGENDARY HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL COACH BOB HURLEY
CBS NEWS CORRESPONDENT ARMEN KETEYIAN VISITS THE MAN AT THE HELM OF ONE OF THE GREATEST DYNASTIES IN HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS ON CBS SUNDAY MORNING, APRIL 5, 2009
Coach Bob Hurley has been hailed as a godsend, a saint… a beacon of hope. And what he has accomplished is nothing short of a miracle. Winning nearly one-thousand games, three national championships and a staggering 23 state titles in his 37 years coaching basketball at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, New Jersey, Bob Hurley is a hometown boy who turned his hometown team into one of the greatest dynasties in high school sports.
“Parents let kids be mediocre. Teachers let kids be average…I’m holding them to the highest standard I can,” Hurley tells correspondent Armen Keteyian this weekend on CBS News SUNDAY MORNING, anchored by Charles Osgood (9:00-10:30 AM, ET).
In an age when it can cost millions and require state of the art equipment to coach a winning team, 61 year-old Hurley has accomplished the same goal in a broken down building at a school with no gym of its own and a million dollar annual deficit. His tough love approach — “it’s a benevolent dictatorship,” he laughs — includes a contract that players must sign. “They don’t know if it’s really a legal document, but it gives everybody a chance to say, ‘Well I can’t do this because you know, my coach he crazy.’ That’s the phrase in Jersey City.”
On Monday, Hurley, who has seen all but three of his players go to college and five to the pros, stands to become only the third high school coach in history to be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
“Last year we were the best team in the United States. I was bored because we were so good.” Still, despite million-dollar offers to coach college teams, Hurley explains, “I can’t get myself out the door because as seniors that means there’s gonna be a new freshman class.”
CBS News Sunday Morning is seen at 9 a.m. ET. Check your local listing for the time in your area.
UPDATE, 4/5/09, 4:25 p.m. – Here’s the video of the story.
Thanks to CBS News for the link.
