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The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball's Most Improbable Dynasty
On the mean streets of Jersey City, St. Anthony High School is more than a tiny brick schoolhouse—it is a beacon of hope. Though the school constantly teeters on the brink of bankruptcy, it is held together by Felician nuns devoted to helping students overcome the scourges of poverty by preparing them for college educations and a brighter future. And each year from the student body of just over 200, Coach Bob Hurley forges an elite nationally ranked basketball team through hard work, his coaching genius, and the sheer force of his personality. In thirty-one years as a coach, Hurley has won twenty-two state championships, two USA Today national titles, and has sent all of his players to college except for one (including his son Bobby, one of the greatest players in college basketball history). Award-winning sportswriter Adrian Wojnarowski brings the stories of the St. Anthony 2003–2004 season to vivid life, as Hurley struggles to turn a troubled group of players into state champions and national title contenders again—while keeping the school he loves alive to continue its educational mission at any cost.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 131 reviews
December 14, 2011
I can’t remember ever finishing a book and immediately going online to donate money. I donated to a Catholic school no less when the most generous religious description of me would put me on the outskirts of agnostic. Not to mention, the son of this book’s subject is a basketball player I’ve always despised. I have changed my opinion.
Bob Hurley is the longtime basketball coach of a down-and-out Catholic school in sketchy Jersey City, New Jersey. This place is so bad even the associated church cuts its ties with it. It has something going for it, though: its basketball tradition and at the helm its coach Bob Hurley. To say the school survives only because of him is not an exaggeration. It is a fact. This man could’ve taken any number of lucrative higher level coaching contracts and he’s stayed. He is the best, the absolute best, at what he does. He’s mean and a tough son of a bitch but there is not a person who loves his job (or, really “calling”) more. There is not a person who has a bigger impact by simply doing his job.
It does get a little too detailed at times, even for this sports nut, and it’s a large cast of characters to keep track of. I did end up doing quite a bit of googling afterward (always a good sign) and had to laugh that the only person in this I didn’t root for eventually transferred to my alma matter to play basketball. This is ironic given the crappiness of my college’s team.
Overall this book is extremely inspiring, moving, and wonderfully done. Bob Hurley inspires more than just the players, it’s everyone around him. A big time lawyer leaves his job for less than a living wage just to be around him. And the basketball-loving nuns are great! Bob Hurley is one of a kind, as is this book. If I had a teenage son who played basketball I’d totally want him to go to St. Anthony, not to become a great player, but to become a great human being.
Bob Hurley is the longtime basketball coach of a down-and-out Catholic school in sketchy Jersey City, New Jersey. This place is so bad even the associated church cuts its ties with it. It has something going for it, though: its basketball tradition and at the helm its coach Bob Hurley. To say the school survives only because of him is not an exaggeration. It is a fact. This man could’ve taken any number of lucrative higher level coaching contracts and he’s stayed. He is the best, the absolute best, at what he does. He’s mean and a tough son of a bitch but there is not a person who loves his job (or, really “calling”) more. There is not a person who has a bigger impact by simply doing his job.
It does get a little too detailed at times, even for this sports nut, and it’s a large cast of characters to keep track of. I did end up doing quite a bit of googling afterward (always a good sign) and had to laugh that the only person in this I didn’t root for eventually transferred to my alma matter to play basketball. This is ironic given the crappiness of my college’s team.
Overall this book is extremely inspiring, moving, and wonderfully done. Bob Hurley inspires more than just the players, it’s everyone around him. A big time lawyer leaves his job for less than a living wage just to be around him. And the basketball-loving nuns are great! Bob Hurley is one of a kind, as is this book. If I had a teenage son who played basketball I’d totally want him to go to St. Anthony, not to become a great player, but to become a great human being.
February 9, 2010
I'm convinced that there has got to be another way to reach troubled inner-city teenagers than Coach Bob Hurley's preferred method of profanity-laced verbal dressing downs. His style is likely not what I would employ if thrust into a small basketball program in decaying Jersey City.
That being said, there is clearly a method to his madness. This book crescendos from a simply angry Hurley in the opening chapters for whom I felt no real affection, to a Hurley who has succeeded in bringing yet another senior class of basketball players to the pinnacle of High School Basketball. With each page I found myself rooting harder and harder for Hurley's team on and off the court and I started to appreciate that, while somewhat heavy-handed, Hurley's approach to coaching is effective in showing kids that there is in fact a world beyond the small housing projects that they have called home.
That being said, there is clearly a method to his madness. This book crescendos from a simply angry Hurley in the opening chapters for whom I felt no real affection, to a Hurley who has succeeded in bringing yet another senior class of basketball players to the pinnacle of High School Basketball. With each page I found myself rooting harder and harder for Hurley's team on and off the court and I started to appreciate that, while somewhat heavy-handed, Hurley's approach to coaching is effective in showing kids that there is in fact a world beyond the small housing projects that they have called home.
Read
August 14, 2011I'm a sucker for sports stories, but this is probably the best I've ever read. Not only is the writing phenomenal (definitely going to check out Wojnarowski's columns), but the story of Bob Hurley is incredible. The combination of Hurley's discipline, family values, the importance he places on a college education, and his loyalty to his students is unbeatable. I've always been attracted to strong disciplinary figures and situations, and the story has honestly given me a new perspective of competing interacting with the students I work with. Very inspiring, very moving; I teared up while reading the stories of Hurley's sons and at the end of the improbable undefeated season.
January 30, 2020
This is not just a book about basketball, it's a book about Jersey City and the life that entails. It's a book about poverty, class, values, and the ability/inability to obtain the American Dream. Through Bob Hurley's tenacity, we can all learn and be motivated in our daily lives, beyond basketball.
Upon finishing this book, I was truly sad to find out that St. Anthony had already played their last game as the school finally closed its doors this past year. St. Anthony, Bob Hurley, and its players will continue to live on.
Upon finishing this book, I was truly sad to find out that St. Anthony had already played their last game as the school finally closed its doors this past year. St. Anthony, Bob Hurley, and its players will continue to live on.
April 1, 2015
Until the last chapter, this was a 3 star book - it never really captivated me, but held my attention long enough to finish it. But the resolution I expected in the final chapter never came. 300+ pages of waiting to hear if these kids fixed their lives and the answer is TBD? Maybe the author should have waited a few years to publish so that there were answers.
March 19, 2008
Simply put, the best sports book I have ever read. Unprecedented access for Wojnarowski, and Bob Hurley, Sr. is as compelling a central figure as any author could hope to have. A must for any true sports fan, not just basketball.
May 13, 2019
I finished the Miracle of Saint Anthony. It really is a great read. Detaching myself from whether or not coach Hurley is a nice man, the book itself is an engaging, engrossing chronicle of a year when a bunch of (mostly) dysfunctional kids did something amazing. Because of him, naturally.
I guess for someone not living in the US, the chronology of High School life (what ages ARE these kids) is a bit confusing, as is the logic of what colleges they may go to based on their basketball prowess. Plus the expectation that the reader will understand college basketball and on to the NBA is a stretch for non-US readers.
However, no matter where it’s based and how dense the writing, any story about overcoming adversity can be rewarding, and this one certainly is. A few observations are inevitable. The levels of poverty and hardship these kids cope with is astonishing. Most come from dysfunctional homes in Jersey City, they have families without father figures and siblings are in jail, and their only tentative hope is to ‘get out’ through basketball. You have to wonder how their peers who are shorter in stature manage to do this, given that most of the guys in this book are six feet or taller.
Also the fact that some are still in High school and already a father is surprising. I kept thinking of Michael Lewis ‘The Blind Side’ where I was less taken by the (admittedly positive) storyline than the hopelessness of the American Education system for many kids. This book tells a similar story.
The pacing of the book is great, and the asides about the teaching nuns, and Hurley’s own sons are interesting and easy to read. As for the man himself – maybe he has to be that brutal to the kids to get them to buy into the rigid discipline that he needs to instil. It’s a warts and all book, and it’s better because of that. You don’t necessarily have to like the guy to respect what he does, and not just on the court. You can have great writing about people who are not your ideal – and in some ways that’s what this book is about. The coach is still alive, according to Wikipedia, but the High School closed in 2017. I think this book is a worthy epitaph to what they achieved.
It is, as the reviews had suggested, a great sports book (and maybe a bit more, about success against the odds). It’s definitely in my top 10 all time sports books, and maybe top three (since everything about basketball seems to be based on rankings). Worth a read.
I guess for someone not living in the US, the chronology of High School life (what ages ARE these kids) is a bit confusing, as is the logic of what colleges they may go to based on their basketball prowess. Plus the expectation that the reader will understand college basketball and on to the NBA is a stretch for non-US readers.
However, no matter where it’s based and how dense the writing, any story about overcoming adversity can be rewarding, and this one certainly is. A few observations are inevitable. The levels of poverty and hardship these kids cope with is astonishing. Most come from dysfunctional homes in Jersey City, they have families without father figures and siblings are in jail, and their only tentative hope is to ‘get out’ through basketball. You have to wonder how their peers who are shorter in stature manage to do this, given that most of the guys in this book are six feet or taller.
Also the fact that some are still in High school and already a father is surprising. I kept thinking of Michael Lewis ‘The Blind Side’ where I was less taken by the (admittedly positive) storyline than the hopelessness of the American Education system for many kids. This book tells a similar story.
The pacing of the book is great, and the asides about the teaching nuns, and Hurley’s own sons are interesting and easy to read. As for the man himself – maybe he has to be that brutal to the kids to get them to buy into the rigid discipline that he needs to instil. It’s a warts and all book, and it’s better because of that. You don’t necessarily have to like the guy to respect what he does, and not just on the court. You can have great writing about people who are not your ideal – and in some ways that’s what this book is about. The coach is still alive, according to Wikipedia, but the High School closed in 2017. I think this book is a worthy epitaph to what they achieved.
It is, as the reviews had suggested, a great sports book (and maybe a bit more, about success against the odds). It’s definitely in my top 10 all time sports books, and maybe top three (since everything about basketball seems to be based on rankings). Worth a read.
March 3, 2019
This is one of the absolute best non-fiction sports books I've read. Right up there with Darcy Freys LAST SHOT or FINAL SHOT (I can never remember the title of that one.) Jersey City, tough school, great coach, great writing.
June 9, 2020
One man, Coach Bob Hurley, affected so many lives for the better. Of course this is his story, but it also a story of hope he provided so many of his Jersey City players at St. Anthony who came from nothing and accomplished so much with his structure and discipline. He was focused on the totality of his players, not just athletic ability. Men like Coach Hurley offered a way off the streets. The man is an inspiration.
February 25, 2025
Gotta read this if you like sports and determination
August 13, 2023
One of the most heartbreaking and inspiring books I have ever read. I can be cynical but it's a book that reminds you of the good in people, strongly reccomend
December 9, 2018
"The Miracle of St. Anthony" reminds me of "A Season on the Brink" by John Feinstein. While the books are about two basketball coaches, Bob Hurley and Bob Knight, driven to achieve excellence for their programs, Hurley of St. Anthony's emerges as the more human and altruistic. The books recount entire seasons with the coaches which enables you to be with the team through the ups and downs of a season and to live it with the players. But "Season" picks up players careers in college where much of the hard work is behind them and they have made their choices of where, in most instances, they wish to end their playing days. In "Miracle" the players are still works in progress. Sadly, most of these athletes are from the inner city where the basketball court and their skills are are the only means of escape from the poverty and gang violence of Jersey City. They must rely on Bob Hurley to be coach and, in some instances, parent to guide them through the many choices in life they face. Hurley doesn't sugar coat it for them. Many athletes do not have a male figure in their lives, certainly not one who will come down on them when they make the wrong choices and make them face the consequences of their actions. This builds up a love-hate relationship between player and coach but you keep rooting for the coach to keep doing what he's doing and for the player to hang on because the experience is worth it and rewarding. So "The Miracle of St. Anthony" is about basketball the way "Moby Dick" is about whaling.". It has a relatively happy ending this year and only for a handful of kids. But the humanity of Bob Hurley that shows through makes you understand why he is never satisfied with his team's progress in maturing as people and why he is nervous letting his seniors go each year. The lessons they learn in the gym will take them only so far. He hopes they have learned enough about taking responsibility for their choices to carry them through the hard part when basketball ends.
December 5, 2012
I have owned this book for quite some time now and finally decided to give it a read. I am so glad I took the time to read. It was a perfect read for me as I coached through my first year of coaching girls basketball.
I loved reading the struggles and ups and downs of this team as they worked their way to a perfect season. At the end of the day, this book reminded me that no matter where you coach or where you are from at the end of the day kids are kids. The difference is that they all come with many different factors, but when you can strip away all the stresses of life and focus on the game of basketball there is a sense of serenity.
Coach Bob Hurley is intense. He pulls no string and gets to the point. He has high expectations and has found a way for troubled youth to rise to the occasion.
I just really enjoyed reading the journey and getting into the lives of everyone involved. This book proves as a great reminder that there is more to a program and coach than the players and head coach. It really takes an entire community to make things happen.
This was an enjoyable read. Obviously, you are not going to learn drills and plays from this book, bu rather a story about how everything comes together to make magic happen. I look forward to finding another book to provide me some motivation and insight.
I loved reading the struggles and ups and downs of this team as they worked their way to a perfect season. At the end of the day, this book reminded me that no matter where you coach or where you are from at the end of the day kids are kids. The difference is that they all come with many different factors, but when you can strip away all the stresses of life and focus on the game of basketball there is a sense of serenity.
Coach Bob Hurley is intense. He pulls no string and gets to the point. He has high expectations and has found a way for troubled youth to rise to the occasion.
I just really enjoyed reading the journey and getting into the lives of everyone involved. This book proves as a great reminder that there is more to a program and coach than the players and head coach. It really takes an entire community to make things happen.
This was an enjoyable read. Obviously, you are not going to learn drills and plays from this book, bu rather a story about how everything comes together to make magic happen. I look forward to finding another book to provide me some motivation and insight.
February 26, 2014
As inspirational of a sports story as you will ever read! Wojnarowski follows around the St. Anthony basketball team as they try to find themselves, understand a coach who won't ever let them settle for anything but the best and live in a world that gives them nothing.
Coach Bob Hurley understands what it's like living in Jersey City, as he grew up there himself. But he also understands that these kids need to get out of Jersey City. For them, basketball is the way. Hurley is constantly on them, never letting them cut corners or take a day off. While some people might be turned off by how Hurley gets his results, the results none-the-less are very good. He motiviates the kids like nobody ever has, and in the end makes them better people for it.
Wojnarowski does a very good job telling the stories of Hurley and the two sisters who have kept St. Anthony going all these years. But also the past lives they have impacted that still comeback to them after all the years. Two of the players Sean McCurdy and Marcus Williams probably have the most fascinating stories of the team.
Coach Bob Hurley understands what it's like living in Jersey City, as he grew up there himself. But he also understands that these kids need to get out of Jersey City. For them, basketball is the way. Hurley is constantly on them, never letting them cut corners or take a day off. While some people might be turned off by how Hurley gets his results, the results none-the-less are very good. He motiviates the kids like nobody ever has, and in the end makes them better people for it.
Wojnarowski does a very good job telling the stories of Hurley and the two sisters who have kept St. Anthony going all these years. But also the past lives they have impacted that still comeback to them after all the years. Two of the players Sean McCurdy and Marcus Williams probably have the most fascinating stories of the team.
June 10, 2015
This book was a biography of Bob Hurley, but it was the best biography I ever read! It takes us into the inner city New Jersey where we learn to love a basketball team that I honestly never thought would win. Not only was this book a real page-flipper, but it also taught me some key values of life in an uplifting way. After every mistake a character in the book makes, they always find a way to get back up. At some points in the book I laughed, other times I cried, but I will always love this book. Thank you to Adrian Wojnarowski for a fantastic novel.
September 3, 2020
Great story, but unfortunately only the Hurley family has stood the test of time.
Despite finishing undefeated and ranked number 2 in country, none of the St Anthony’s players had notable college careers. Additionally, none of their opponents had big names either. Andrew Bynum and JR Smith were the only two recognizable players.
From that perspective the book dragged a bit and could have been tightened up. Basketball fans in New Jersey should read this book simply for the historical context.
Despite finishing undefeated and ranked number 2 in country, none of the St Anthony’s players had notable college careers. Additionally, none of their opponents had big names either. Andrew Bynum and JR Smith were the only two recognizable players.
From that perspective the book dragged a bit and could have been tightened up. Basketball fans in New Jersey should read this book simply for the historical context.
August 14, 2011
I loved this book, partly because I know the setting, but also because it tells a truly miraculous story. Back in the 1980s we lived in Jersey City, just a few blocks from this struggling parochial school where Bob Hurley was already working his magic. I'm no basketball fanatic, but I was hooked on this saga.
October 20, 2023
You read a book like this and realize what human beings are capable of. People who are selfless, people who are willing to work like animals, people who care - about their jobs, about their community, about people.
Bob Hurley is an amazing man.
He makes the world a better place.
Excellent, excellent book.
Bob Hurley is an amazing man.
He makes the world a better place.
Excellent, excellent book.
June 29, 2010
Hurley's story - and by extention, that of St. Anthony's - is amazing and inspirational but I found the book sort of long-winded and too repetative to really enjoy.
September 2, 2011
Great story about Coach Bob Hurley's successes at a small Catholic School with no money and players from disadvantaged areas of NJ. A bit long.
May 23, 2024
It's Halberstam's Breaks of the Game meets Full Metal Jacket.
The best and worst of this book could be summed up on the same page.
From page 96:
Eventually tiring of Ralph, Robert Bullock and Qaysir Woods butchering his practice at the far end of the floor, [Bob] Hurley instructed them to come watch the regulars run through plays on the opposite basket.
"Just sit down here," Hurley ordered, "If we didn't have our first game tomorrow, I would go over to one of the classrooms in the charter school, get some construction paper, some scissors, markers and we could make some Christmas decorations together.
"And then I could stick them up your asses."
Even the kids had to fight back laughter over that one.
Bob Hurley had an interesting way of doing things, and they would probably be deemed inappropriate and cruel in today's society. I won't judge his approach to things, I'm not in his situation. He decided on a method of instruction, accountability and tough love that he felt would best serve the kids of his community. I don't read many books on molding young men so maybe there is a more effective and gentle method out there. Almost every one of his kids graduated college though (or at least went to college, there's a lot of facts in here and I couldn't keep them all straight), and a lot of them make an appearance in this book to say that playing for coach Hurley was the most important/impactful experience of their lives.
Which brings me to what I disliked about this reading experience.
Also from page 96:
Early the next afternoon, on Saturday, the bus waited outside the school.
It's been a while since I've been in the classroom, but, is that even a sentence? Structurally speaking?
Because the next sentence is
Gamble had been inside the main office, talking to Sister Felicia about Lamar.
One sentence has nothing to do with the other and both are ambiguous in what they're trying to convey. Am I wrong? I'm literally asking a rhetorical question. I can't remember anymore. Its been a while since fifth grade grammar class.
In the afterword of the book Adrian Wojnarowski, a/k/a "Woj" says that there was a deadline for turning in the manuscript of this book. It really shows. I think the (lack of??) editing really hinders what could have been an exceptional reading experience. That said, I'll give it four stars. Mostly because I don't want to mess with Woj's goodreads ranking. Partly because it will probably be one of those books I'll think better of in time, even though the real time reading experience felt like a chore and burden that wasn't going to be worth it in the end.....
Wait...
oh Sh!t!!!....
Did I just get the Bob Hurley experience in book form?
The best and worst of this book could be summed up on the same page.
From page 96:
Eventually tiring of Ralph, Robert Bullock and Qaysir Woods butchering his practice at the far end of the floor, [Bob] Hurley instructed them to come watch the regulars run through plays on the opposite basket.
"Just sit down here," Hurley ordered, "If we didn't have our first game tomorrow, I would go over to one of the classrooms in the charter school, get some construction paper, some scissors, markers and we could make some Christmas decorations together.
"And then I could stick them up your asses."
Even the kids had to fight back laughter over that one.
Bob Hurley had an interesting way of doing things, and they would probably be deemed inappropriate and cruel in today's society. I won't judge his approach to things, I'm not in his situation. He decided on a method of instruction, accountability and tough love that he felt would best serve the kids of his community. I don't read many books on molding young men so maybe there is a more effective and gentle method out there. Almost every one of his kids graduated college though (or at least went to college, there's a lot of facts in here and I couldn't keep them all straight), and a lot of them make an appearance in this book to say that playing for coach Hurley was the most important/impactful experience of their lives.
Which brings me to what I disliked about this reading experience.
Also from page 96:
Early the next afternoon, on Saturday, the bus waited outside the school.
It's been a while since I've been in the classroom, but, is that even a sentence? Structurally speaking?
Because the next sentence is
Gamble had been inside the main office, talking to Sister Felicia about Lamar.
One sentence has nothing to do with the other and both are ambiguous in what they're trying to convey. Am I wrong? I'm literally asking a rhetorical question. I can't remember anymore. Its been a while since fifth grade grammar class.
In the afterword of the book Adrian Wojnarowski, a/k/a "Woj" says that there was a deadline for turning in the manuscript of this book. It really shows. I think the (lack of??) editing really hinders what could have been an exceptional reading experience. That said, I'll give it four stars. Mostly because I don't want to mess with Woj's goodreads ranking. Partly because it will probably be one of those books I'll think better of in time, even though the real time reading experience felt like a chore and burden that wasn't going to be worth it in the end.....
Wait...
oh Sh!t!!!....
Did I just get the Bob Hurley experience in book form?
October 13, 2025
The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball’s Most Improbable Dynasty by Adrian Wojnarowski (Gotham Books 2005) (796.32362) (4092).
This is a most excellent sports book about the high school basketball program at innercity St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, New Jersey and its hall of fame coach Bob Hurley, father of basketball coaches and former players at St. Anthony’s Bobby Hurley (Duke) and Danny Hurley (Seton Hall). In Coach Hurley’s 39 years as the coach at St. Anthony, the team won 28 state basketball championship titles.
St. Anthony’s was created as a school to serve Polish immigrant kids in the mid-twentieth century. As the years went by, the neighborhood changed, and the school’s student body became almost entirely Black and Hispanic with an enrollment of less than 250 students. The school and the neighborhood were desperately poor, and the school was led by a pair of nuns - and by Coach Bob Hurley.
Coach Hurley ran an astoundingly successful basketball program at a school that was so small and so poor that it did not even have a gymnasium. The team walked to practice each day after school at the nearby American Legion hall or a local armory. The team was voted national high school champions and was named on four occasions by USA Today as the mythical high school national champions.
Hurley ran his program with an iron fist. To this reader, Hurley’s often-nasty demeanor toward his players was nothing short of verbal abuse. Nevertheless players competed for a chance to play for Hurley because of St. Anthony’s success and the expectation of the reward of exposure and the chance to earn a college scholarship. In exchange for being treated inhumanely and in demeaning fashion by their coach, his dirt-poor players played for a chance to play in college and for the lifelong assistance of Bob Hurley.
The Miracle of St. Anthony’s follows the team through its undefeated 2003-04 season and another mythical national championship.
Could being cursed out daily by a fierce man with an explosive temper possibly be worth putting up with the abuse? Not to me. Read this book, and you can decide for yourself.
I purchased a used PB copy in good condition from McKay’s Books for $2.00 on 10/01/24.
My rating: 7.25/10, finished 10/12/25 (4092).
PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP
November 4, 2024
What Bob Hurley and the staff at St. Anthony achieved is truly remarkable, and yet dishearteningly obscure in the public consciousness. Following the team for one unbelievable season, Adrian Wojnarowski paints a vivid picture not only of a team, but of a program and a community searching for structure and purpose in an uncertain world. Hurley’s tactics will not be to everyone’s taste, and they are by no means infallible, but in this careful study, Wojnarowski reveals how this strict structure is not designed to tear men down, but to build them up by demanding more of them than anyone ever has before, including themselves, and by providing a consistent structure to lives that often have little or no structure at all, regardless of whether they come from privilege or strife.
Reading this in 2024 provides a kind of melancholic appreciation, knowing and seeing where so many of the people and places have gone since the end of the story. But it is impossible not to appreciate the incredible story of the entire team from top to bottom, and the full exploration of the world in which these young men existed. The story recognizes the changing face of basketball and the world, but always with a hopeful tint that leads everyone to wish the best for the kids running up and down that court, and their coach, dedicated to the small people, so often left behind, when he could have left for bigger and better things. This story is not easy, but it is real, and it perfectly exemplifies the meaning and impact of good, dedicated coaching, something that seems to slip away a little more each day. Excellent read.
Reading this in 2024 provides a kind of melancholic appreciation, knowing and seeing where so many of the people and places have gone since the end of the story. But it is impossible not to appreciate the incredible story of the entire team from top to bottom, and the full exploration of the world in which these young men existed. The story recognizes the changing face of basketball and the world, but always with a hopeful tint that leads everyone to wish the best for the kids running up and down that court, and their coach, dedicated to the small people, so often left behind, when he could have left for bigger and better things. This story is not easy, but it is real, and it perfectly exemplifies the meaning and impact of good, dedicated coaching, something that seems to slip away a little more each day. Excellent read.
November 12, 2024
The Miracle of St. Anthony is fun time capsule into early 2000s basketball while also serving as a revealing insight into one of the icons of high school basketball. I couldn’t think of a more optimal time to read this book with Woj’s retirement from ESPN and Danny Hurley’s back to back NCAA championships.
The narrative is straightforward, dubbed as the Friday Night Lights of basketball. It doesn’t draw as much emotionally for me as the football version, but let that not take away from a fantastic finish where Woj reveals the post-season catch-ups for each cast member.
The basketball isn’t the focal point as much as the backdrop of Jersey City and the even tougher backgrounds of the young athletes. It makes Bob Hurley out to be a saint which seems a little far-fetched given his coaching style and personality. But his commitment to the school and kids is admirable.
This is a fun read for basketball and non-basketball fans, as it provides many insights into the pitfalls of the hoops dreams that many players, parents, and coaches all succumb to. At its core, it is a biography of a committed and charismatic coach, but deeper, it serves as a metaphor for how basketball can be the distraction and ultimate escape from the reality of rough situations should you use it properly.
The narrative is straightforward, dubbed as the Friday Night Lights of basketball. It doesn’t draw as much emotionally for me as the football version, but let that not take away from a fantastic finish where Woj reveals the post-season catch-ups for each cast member.
The basketball isn’t the focal point as much as the backdrop of Jersey City and the even tougher backgrounds of the young athletes. It makes Bob Hurley out to be a saint which seems a little far-fetched given his coaching style and personality. But his commitment to the school and kids is admirable.
This is a fun read for basketball and non-basketball fans, as it provides many insights into the pitfalls of the hoops dreams that many players, parents, and coaches all succumb to. At its core, it is a biography of a committed and charismatic coach, but deeper, it serves as a metaphor for how basketball can be the distraction and ultimate escape from the reality of rough situations should you use it properly.
March 25, 2020
Not sure which makes this book better, a very compelling well-told sports story or the story of an incredible person. Coach Hurley is person every kid should have in his life when growing up, and the earlier the better. Unfortunately so few of us do have such a figure. Hurley, by sheer force of personality and faith, even getting the kids so late when they are so emotionally formed already, still saves the vast majority, making their futures as happy, self-fulfilled members of society, at least a possibility.
It is hard enough for parents to have that kind of effect even when they have kids from birth but Hurley takes high school kids and turns them around.
It's a shame that one of the billionaires buying 100 million dollar apartments in New York didn't read this book and give the school and coach enough money to continue the mission.
It is hard enough for parents to have that kind of effect even when they have kids from birth but Hurley takes high school kids and turns them around.
It's a shame that one of the billionaires buying 100 million dollar apartments in New York didn't read this book and give the school and coach enough money to continue the mission.
June 18, 2022
This book was OK. I thought I would like it more. It’s a good look at a high school team in a very rough area fight against all odds to have a great season. The coach is very much a super tough coach and not something the current public would probably accept. He screamed and threatened his players a lot. He was a probation officer working with tough luck kids so it’s hard to say how appropriate the conduct was but there is no questioning his results. His teams over achieved and his record was stellar. He also worked hard to create a good future for these kids.
My biggest issue was that I never became truly attached to any of the kids or coaches. I liked a lot of them but I didn’t love or hate anyone. It was just a decent story that I didn’t truly enjoy. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great.
3.5/5 (rounded down to 3, couldn’t give it a 4).
My biggest issue was that I never became truly attached to any of the kids or coaches. I liked a lot of them but I didn’t love or hate anyone. It was just a decent story that I didn’t truly enjoy. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great.
3.5/5 (rounded down to 3, couldn’t give it a 4).
September 23, 2020
1-2-3- HARD WORK
That's the cheer from the St. Anthony players breaking out of a huddle. I agree with that. Hard work can bring about the greatest success. Coach Bob Hurley drove his players and sons extremely hard. So much that I was turned off by the negativity, language and talking down to his players. Yes, maybe those players reacted as they did due to their own personal circumstances and desire to succeed, but I would not have remained a player.
The book focused on the team as they strived for perfection and a championship. As I recall from one of my favorite movies, (Remember the Titans) the team can be perfect even if individual players are not....lots of ups and downs in the lives of these boys.
Phew! Took over a year to read this book - it was a hard slog through many of minute details.
That's the cheer from the St. Anthony players breaking out of a huddle. I agree with that. Hard work can bring about the greatest success. Coach Bob Hurley drove his players and sons extremely hard. So much that I was turned off by the negativity, language and talking down to his players. Yes, maybe those players reacted as they did due to their own personal circumstances and desire to succeed, but I would not have remained a player.
The book focused on the team as they strived for perfection and a championship. As I recall from one of my favorite movies, (Remember the Titans) the team can be perfect even if individual players are not....lots of ups and downs in the lives of these boys.
Phew! Took over a year to read this book - it was a hard slog through many of minute details.
October 7, 2022
A wonderful look back on a storied high school basketball season. Bob Hurley's reputation and record as one of the most successful high school basketball coaches in the US are well known the numbers reflecting that success speaks for itself. The Miracle of St. Anthony takes the reader inside one season of those numbers, with Wojnarowski getting an inside the locker room perspective of how Hurley operated. On the surface one could come away thinking that Hurley was simply a high school level Bobby Knight, brash, demanding, even verbally abusive of his players. But that would be a shameful and narrow view of a man who set out to save lives of young men from the life challenging streets of Jersey City. Unlike Knight, who was indeed abusive to his players and coaches and anyone else who crossed his path (read John Feinstein's A Season Inside), Hurley's focus was on his team's success and its potential influence on directing his players toward a better life. It was rarely a gentle guidance, but there was always long term appreciation for Hurley's influence. The Miracle of St. Anthony is a terrific sports story, but it's also an impactful insight into one man's mission to positively change lives.
March 24, 2019
As good a book about basketball as has ever been written and one that goes well beyond the court. Bob Hurley is a legend in high school basketball but his real legacy is the value he has placed on staying in one place to transform lives for 50 years. "Miracle" is not really a miracle but the telling of old values that still matter in a world that has changed and keeps changing. What does not change is Bob Hurley teaching hardened kids to play man-to-man defense better than any coach at any level that has ever blown a whistle.
July 16, 2023
Not the book I expected. I enjoyed learning about Bob Hurley, his family, and St. Anthony High School. I got a sense of how difficult it is to make the NBA. You need to have the talent, the work ethic, the grades, and the right exposure. Hurley's coaching style impressed me as effective, but a way that is no longer acceptable, putting a coach's job at risk. It also solidified my view that although a coach wants to win the championship, a good one wants to see their players succeed in the future. I hope to emulate some of my new understandings into my own coaching.
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