NEW YORK — Flooded out of their own gym in Jersey City, Bob Hurley and the St. Anthony Friars may soon be using the Nets’ practice facility in East Rutherford, N.J.
“I reached out to them [Friday],” Hurley told SNY.tv at the SNY Invitational where his Friars will seek their third championship since 2011 in Saturday’s championship game against Brooklyn Bishop Loughlin at the Nat Holman Gym at CCNY.
“They reached out to the [NBA] league office to see if there’s any restrictions on what they were able to do to help us. They were working on a plan and I have a feeling we can get a couple days a week in because we’re doomed.”
A Naismith Hall of Famer, Hurley has won 27 New Jersey state titles and more than 1,000 games despite the fact that St. Anthony doesn’t even have its own gym. The team utilizes the one at the CERC (Community Education and Recreation Center), but that gym is now unusable and requires $160,000 worth of repairs.
“We have a freshman, JV and varsity program and no place to go for any day the rest of the season,” said Hurley, adding that he had looked at six alternative gyms.
“[The CERC] flooded several weeks ago but the buckling of the floor took a major step [Thursday] when a big bubble appeared on the court, rendering the court useless,” Hurley said.
Hurley reached out to Nets associate GM Bobby Marks and said the plan would be to use the Nets’ facility “once or twice a week.” The Friars would then play their games at No. 7 school in Jersey City.
“We don’t have a bus so we would have to carpool everybody out there,” Hurley said. “But we’ve been there in the past, it’s a great facility. And there’s some things we’ll have to do. We’ll have to be there when they have none of their players there.”
The school has already launched the St. Anthony 2020 program aimed at raising funds for the endangered Catholic school made famous by Hurley and his program, which have been featured in the documentary film “The Street Stops Here” and Adrian Wojnarowski’s book, “The Miracle of St. Anthony.” According to the 2020 Website, 759 donors had contributed $495,000 as of late Friday night. The goal is $10 million.
Photo: Marc Levine/SNY
