Famed NJ Basketball Coach Bob Hurley To Speak In East Brunswick

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — Hall of Fame basketball coach Bob Hurley, who earned national notoriety – and 28 state championships – during his 40-year coaching career at St. Anthony’s in Jersey City, will be the next speaker in the Daniel Pearl Education Center Speaker Series this Sunday, Nov. 12, beginning at 12:30 p.m. at Temple B’nai Shalom in East Brunswick.

Hurley, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010 and was recently honored as “Best Coach” at the 2017 ESPY Awards, ended his storied high school coaching career in 2017 when St. Anthony’s was closed by the Newark Archdiocese due to a lack of funding.

Since the closing of St. Anthony’s, Hurley has started a non-profit foundation, the Hurley Family Foundation, to provide basketball coaching – with a touch of life-skills training – to youth in Jersey City and surrounding communities.

Hurley’s talk will be a unique combination of basketball and youth coaching information, anecdotes from his illustrious career and observations on how to continue to assist underprivileged youth in achieving their basketball, sports and life goals. Hurley and his staff work with boys and girls from Jersey City ages seven to 17. There is a minimal donation – $10 – to attend Hurley’s presentation, with all proceeds being split between the Hurley Family Foundation and the DPEC. Seating will be limited, so seats can be reserved by contacting dpeccommittee@gmail.com or by calling 732-251-4300, ext. 222.

“Coach Hurley was very moved by the mission of the Daniel Pearl Education Center – to create understanding and cooperation within our communities – and he enthusiastically agreed to come speak with us,” said Dr. Andy Boyarsky, the DPEC chairman. “He is as passionate about the work he’s doing with his foundation as he was as the coach at St. Anthony’s, and we know he will bring that same passion to his DPEC presentation.”

“I’m looking forward to my presentation for the Daniel Pearl Education Center,” Hurley said. “I know Daniel Pearl’s story, and I strongly believe that we all succeed when we respect one another and commit to excellence and to being better every day of our lives.”

He added, “I plan to talk a lot about basketball and to share some stories from the great coaches – Dean Smith, Coach K and others – that I’ve had the good fortune to know. I really appreciate the invitation from the Daniel Pearl Education Center, and I look forward to reconnecting with many good friends in East Brunswick and Central Jersey.”

The Daniel Pearl Education Center is a non-profit, charitable organization committed to the ideals of understanding and community – those principles that are part of the legacy of the late Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Pearl was kidnapped and later murdered by extremists in Pakistan in early 2002.

The DPEC sponsors a wide range of community outreach programs, including an annual community youth trip to the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, a speaker series, “teaching acceptance” workshops for area teachers, and more. The DPEC annually participates in the global Daniel Pearl Music Days, an international network of concerts that use the power of music to reaffirm a commitment to humanity and understanding.