It’s almost unfathomable to conceive that Hudson County would lose two athletic legends in the span of just 10 days.
It’s almost even more unbelievable that the two legends would come from the very same family.
On July 30, we bade farewell to George Waddleton, the first-ever 1,000-point scorer in St. Peter’s Prep basketball history. George Waddleton was a three-sport standout at Grand and Warren who went on to have a great basketball career at the College of Holy Cross, where he played with Union City’s Tom Heinsohn. George Waddleton eventually became a member of the Hudson County Sports Hall of Fame. He was sick for several years and died at the age of 77.
George Waddleton left an imprint on a lot of people, but none bigger than the influence he had on his younger brother, Danny.
“When I was a kid, sports meant everything to me,” Danny Waddleton once said. “My older brother George was my role model. I used to follow him around wherever he went. I wanted to be like him. And having sports as our outlet, playing in that little playground on 16th Street [in downtown Jersey City], I was able to make choices that I never would have been able to make. Basketball made it all possible.”
Danny Waddleton didn’t remember much about the day that changed his family’s life forever. After all, he was only 4 years old when his father died suddenly, leaving a family of nine children.
“My mother was pregnant with my youngest sister when my father died,” Danny Waddleton once recalled. “We lived in the projects, Holland Gardens, near the tunnel. We didn’t have much, but there was one thing my mother instilled in all of us. She never let us feel sorry for ourselves.”
No one will ever know if George’s eventual passing had something to do with Danny’s health, but the little brother went to meet with his role model and idol last week. Danny Waddleton suffered a stroke and died, just 10 days after his older brother passed away.
One of the best basketball players of his era, Danny Waddleton played for St. Michael’s of Union City and was the first player in Hudson County history to play in four consecutive HCIAA championship games. He played on the same team with former National Football League commissioner Paul Tagliabue.
Waddleton also participated in the famed East-West All-Star game that was played at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City (1960) and featured such players as Connie Hawkins, John Thompson, Jeff Mullins, Joe Caldwell, and Paul Silas, all major basketball legends in pro and college.
“I held my own that day,” Waddleton recalled. “I scored 11 points. That was an awesome night, to play at Roosevelt Stadium. There was a fine mist falling, so it made it hard to run on the floor. So many people came up to me that night, telling me how proud they were of me to be in that game. I was so pumped to play that game.”
After high school, Waddleton went on to play at St. John’s University for the legendary coaches Joe Lapchick and Lou Carnesecca (1961-1964).
“Carnesecca came to my house and promised my mother that I would get a degree,” Waddleton said. “They were great coaches, but more importantly, they helped to shape my life.”
Waddleton was the captain of the 1964 Redmen and was on the team that was the runner-up to Dayton in the 1962 NIT.
Waddleton later became a teacher in the Jersey City school system, eventually working as an alcohol and drug abuse counselor. He was also the head basketball coach at Dickinson for four years (1977-1981) and was a Jersey City Councilman, representing the Heights, under Gerry McCann’s second administration, from 1989 through 1993. Later in life, he served as an assistant coach at both Secaucus and McNair Academic.
Mike Reilly, who was one of Waddleton’s closest friends, basically got involved with Jersey City high school sports because of his association with Waddleton.
“I was working in Summit at the time [Oak Knoll] and I was looking for something else to do,” Reilly said. “I hung out with some people from Jersey City. I went to a bachelor party in 1977 and I met Danny there for the first time. He had just taken over at Dickinson as the head coach and without a doubt, we hit it off and became great friends. If I hadn’t met him that night, I never would have come to Jersey City.”
Eventually, the two lived in the same exact building in the Heights.
“Same building, same floor on Hutton Street,” said Reilly, who just retired after 30 years of coaching at McNair Academic. “That would have been one great reality show.”
The two lived in the same building for 15 years.
“It’s really amazing how much he turned my life around,” Reilly said. “I’m just so grateful to have had him as a part of my life. Danny was a character who was filled with character. He was always a positive person. I think he taught me how to be competitive. How you can’t win all the time, but you can be competitive. I’ve always tried to live by that. He was such a positive person and cared about so many people. He loved Jersey City and loved basketball.”
Added Reilly, “It showed by the different people who came to his funeral. People from all walks of life were there. He just touched so many people.”
One of those in attendance was his former coach Carnesecca, perhaps the most beloved and recognized coach in all of New York metropolitan basketball.
“But there were so many people from Hamilton Park as well,” Reilly said.
After George fell ill, Danny Waddleton would visit the patients at the nursing home facility on a regular basis and sing to them.
“He did karaoke every week,” Reilly said. “The patients couldn’t wait for Danny to come. Danny was the one guy you never expected anything would happen to, because he was so positive and upbeat all the time.”
Another of Waddleton’s closest friends was fellow basketball legend Mike Rooney, another Hudson County Hall of Famer. Rooney and Waddleton were inseparable and the stories of the two together are nothing short of legendary.
“I’d always tell Danny, ‘Hey, we made it through another week together,’ ” Rooney said. “As we got older, I’d say we made it to the two-minute warning. This is a big loss. I feel like I lost my brother. He was my brother.”
Danny Waddleton was Jersey City’s brother. We’ll all miss him dearly. A simple conversation with Danny that started off as being a simple greeting would eventually turn into a half-hour discussion, debate and comedy routine. I wish I had his many back-and-forth moments with Rooney on videotape to enjoy forever. He was one of a kind and there will always be this empty feeling now that he’s gone.
To think, the Hudson County sports world lost Bill DeFazio, Ed “The Faa” Ford, Roddy Maffia and the Waddleton brothers in the span of nine months. That’s some cast of characters all together. We all won’t be the same without them. – Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.