Hurley downplays St. John’s rumors; Hudson Hall of Fame announced
Last Friday, the airwaves at WFAN Radio were inundated with phone calls from listeners to the Mike & the Mad Dog show stating that St. Anthony coach Bob Hurley would be a perfect candidate to become the new head coach at St. John’s.
“I heard the comments on FAN,” Hurley said. “Then I started to get phone calls. I have not had discussions with anyone about coaching in college and I have absolutely no interest. There’s isn’t the money, the travel, the glamour of a college job that would get me interested. I love the college game. I just don’t want to coach it.”
Hurley said that there might have been a point in his life that coaching in college might have been an option. “But that window has been closed for quite a while,” Hurley said. “I have absolutely no interest at this point. At 56, it’s not the time to change directions dramatically. I have no need to change anything. There’s a lot of stress involved in coaching in college and I have no interest in doing it.”
So hopefully, that ends the speculation and the phone calls…
Hurley also said that he hopes that his former player, Elijah Ingram, is able to put this latest crisis behind him and move on to another school, away from St. John’s. Ingram was initially implicated in the sexual escapade involving a woman who tried to claim that six St. John’s players raped her in a Pittsburgh hotel room, but the woman was then found to be lying. However, Ingram is expected to get expelled from St. John’s for his involvement in the incident. The players were in a strip club past curfew.
“Someone has to know about Elijah’s character and realize that this [behavior] was not him,” Hurley said. “It was just a case where he did something really stupid. Hopefully, he can transfer someplace else and get on with his life.”…
The induction class for the 14th Annual Hudson County Sports Hall of Fame has been announced and it is a fine class of honorees, including former Snyder, Syracuse and NBA standout Rafael Addison, who is currently the head boys’ basketball coach at Snyder; the late Matt Piccinich, the former North Bergen and Seton Hall basketball great; North Bergen wrestling heroes John Bott and Allen Pascual, and legendary boxing trainer Al Certo of Secaucus.
Also, West New York Superintendent of Schools Tony Yankovich, who was a great coach during his heyday at Memorial; Bruce Naszimento, the current principal at Robert Waters School who was a football great at Union Hill, then Jersey City State College; Bayonne High School coaches Jeff Stabile and Bill Broderick; former St. Peter’s Prep and Holy Cross College football great Tim Hawkes; track greats Kevin Hennessey of St. Aloysius High School, and Peter Wilson of Bayonne High.
The Marty Seglio Memorial Community Service Award will be presented to the late Joanne Traina and to Joe Ward for their years of dedication toward the Hudson County Catholic Youth Organization. The induction dinner will be held Wednesday, March 10, at the Casino in the Park in Jersey City. For further information about tickets, contact the Hudson County Parks Department office at (201) 915-1386 during business hours… — Jim Hague