Bob Hurley and St. Anthony: 'The Street Stops Here'
USA Today * March 25, 2010


Jersey City St. Anthony High basketball coach Bob Hurley is profane, self-righteous and a bit of a dictator.

That is probably why the 62-year-old coach is such a beloved figure at the school and looked on as a bit of a saint.

A new documentary, The Street Stops Here, examines the impact of a coach who has won 25 state titles and been USA TODAY's national Coach of the Year three times.

The documentary details the history of St. Anthony and its annual struggle for survival. The film follows Hurley's 2007-08 team.

The film will be broadcast shown nationally by PBS on Wednesday, March 31 (10 p.m. ET ).

Hurley, a former probation officer, has been offering safe haven and a route to college for hundreds of kids who otherwise may have fallen through the cracks.

But as the documentary shows, "safe haven" can be a tricky word when it comes to playing for someone as demanding as Hurley.

"It is hard to say that it didn't happen when it's a documentary," said Hurley with a small chuckle. "Sometimes there are things you think are taken out of context but they've only got 80 minutes to decide what to do with 400 hours."

Two of his players were his sons, Bobby and Danny. Bobby would win two national titles with Duke and Danny is now one of the most successful high school coaches in New Jersey.

The film details a school that is struggling to keep its doors open while profiling Hurley's 2008 team that contained five Division I players.

Hurley talked to Game On! about his career at St. Anthony.

Did you like the film?

I thought it was good. They showed kids who are taking advantage of an opportunity to go to college.

What makes basketball a good fit for this type of situation?

The kids that go out for the team it becomes important to them. Many of them are dreaming the dream and there is nothing wrong with dreaming the dream as long as on the way you are securing an education. And there is a Plan B in your life and you can head in that direction having had an education. Because we have been doing this a long time and there is a tradition at the school, the basketball program and the school are well known. And fiscally it's the cheapest school in the Archdiocese of Newark. At $4,700 it is probably the best buy for a family that is giving thought to private school and maybe take advantage of the talent of a child in basketball or something else.

Can you explain your success on the basketball court?

We are in a very strong basketball area and I think in basketball, certainly more than football, you just need a player or two to develop in a class or school... If you are good early we are going to try to make you better, if you're not good we are going to keep working with you. And the sheer volume of playing that the kids do they will get better. I don't think there is a guy on my staff who has a hobby, who has golf clubs. Most of my guys have as little to do outside of their family life as I do.

You worked the streets as a probation officer and later for the Department of Recreation. How did that help you?

Sometimes the older you get there can be a disconnect with either the kids you are coaching or with society. I am certainly at the age now of a grandfather but I don't have any grandfatherly tendencies except with my grandchildren. I still have the same fire. I understand backgrounds of kids. The kids understand that I know who they are. I don't coach No. 11, I coach the person who is inside that uniform. The kids know that you care about them. I am urging them all the time to be better in school, stay away from the negative influences where they live. You play the game as long as you can but when you put the ball down you begin your other life. In urban areas, a lot of times there isn't a Plan B and if basketball doesn't work out the guy is just out of luck.

You have a big legacy at St. Anthony and a smaller one by having your son Danny also coaching. How good of a feeling is that?

He helped me for a year. Then he went to Rutgers University and worked for four years and then this opportunity presented itself over at St. Benedict's. With boarding it gave him a chance to almost simulate what goes on in a college program. So he took over eight years ago. Yes, I think there are similarities between the two of us. But he's a young man and he's on the floor and hands on. That is what I used to be able to do. I need the assistant coaches on the floor more but still have a sound understanding of things. Danny may not understand the kid's music but he at least knows who is singing the songs. His experience playing in the Big East and coaching college gives him a good pedigree for a young player now. He can take a kid like J.R. Smith, who as a sophomore in high school was known as a tight end in football, and three years later he is going into the NBA. He is as proud of the kids he's coaching as I am I've had at St. Anthony.

Will you know immediately when it is time to go?

I think if I am diminished I'll know. I've actually done a better job of delegating. I've done a better job of letting my assistant coaches do things at practice. Very much like a head coach in football would. It is me for the first time realizing that I have talent around me and utilizing that talent. I think when I find that I'm not still steering the ship and I'm not as emotionally involved (I'll go) At age 62, being off during the day, it gives me an opportunity to come to practice in the afternoon. I feel great and I would just like to do it for awhile.

Besides entertaining and educating people what do you hope is the future for his documentary?

I live in the present. I'm happy just with what were doing with the kids. I just think it was nice opportunity for people find out this basketball place they hear about that there is more to it than that. It probably opened some eyes that we are in a different situation than people might think.