St. John’s Prep/Lewis Avenue Alumni Reunite

Honoree John Bach ’42, with the playbook he presented to Principal William Higgins.

Lewis Avenue alumni, faculty, and friends came together at the New York Athletic Club for a St. John’s Prep reunion on the evening of November 18. Members of the classes of 1931 through 1966 traveled to New York City from throughout the country to commemorate the academic and spiritual education they received at St. John’s Prep. The classes of ’31, ’36, ’41,’46, ’51, ’56, ’61 and ’66 were honored. The evening began with a celebration of the liturgy at which the Rev. Marcello Latona ’56, currently serving as pastor of Most Precious Blood Roman Catholic Church in Long Island City, was the main celebrant. Concelebrants were Rev. Edward Brophy, ’57, Rev. Thomas V. Concagh, C.M., Rev. John Freund, C.M. ’55, Rev. Walter F. Graham, C.M. ’40 and Rev. Bernard M. Tracey, C.M. ’63.

After the mass, a cocktail reception provided the guests with an opportunity to catch up with longlost classmates and meet current students, faculty and administrators at the Prep. Christine Curcio, SJP ’96, along with members of the class of 2007, led those gathered in the singing of “God Bless America”, accompanied by James Montalbano on piano. Next, the Class of 1956 led the crowd in a rendition of the St. John’s Prep school song.

John Gallagher ’43 (l.) and Dick Chapdelaine ’43 (r.) were delighted to see each other again. The two had served as altar boys in their home parish and continued on to the Prep together. They had not seen each other since their days at the Prep.

The evening’s honoree, John Bach ’42, was introduced by SJP Principal William Higgins. John Bach began his days at St. John’s Prep in September 1938 when Dan Lawler, C. M.’s, was Headmaster. Bach was captain of the 1941-42 basketball team, which had the most successful season in Prep history. Bach reminisced about his days at the Prep, “Meeting Coach [Herb] Hess and attending the Prep changed my life,” he declared. Bach presented a playbook from the 1941-42 basketball season to Higgins. The playbook, prepared by Coach Hess, had been a gift to John at the completion of his high school career.

The Prepsters captured the Eastern States Catholic Invitation Tournament on March 28, 1942 by defeating Central Catholic of Allentown, Pennsylvania, 50-37 at Newport, Rhode Island. In winning this tournament, the Hessmen broke three records: the individual scoring record for one game when Jack Curran scored 21 points, the scoring record for one game when the Redmen amassed 55 points against St. Mary’s of Patterson, New Jersey, and the total scoring record for all games.

(L. to r.) Marcello Latona ’56, Al Lombardi ’59, John Shaulys ’59, Frank Ruggieri ’59 and Jack Scheich.

The final playoff for the Catholic High Schools Athletic Association City Basketball Championship was held at Cardinal Hayes H.S. before a capacity crowd of 2,000 people. The Redmen emerged victorious with the second straight city title by defeating St. Ann’s Academy of Manhattan, 42-31. Bach and his classmate, Al Lucas, were both selected for the All-City Team of 1942.

After graduation, Bach attended Fordham University and was a regular on the school’s great 1942-43 freshman squad. His career with the Rams, however, was interrupted by years at the University of Rochester, Brown University and the U.S. Navy ROTC program. He was commissioned as an ensign in the Navy and served until late 1947, at which point he returned to Fordham, earned a B.S. in economics and garnered team MVP honors for the 1947-48 season.

Members of the Class of ’56 led the crowd in a rousing rendition of the school song.

Following two years of playing professionally for Hartford and Boston, Bach accepted the head coaching position at Fordham. He took over the program in 1950 and, over the next 18 seasons, compiled a 263-193 record, including five NIT appearances and NCAA appearances in 1953 and 1954. Bach is still the all-time winningest coach in Fordham’s basketball history. He served as assistant to the athletic director for four years and as athletic director for eight years before leaving for Penn State after the 1967-68 season.

Bach’s success continued at Penn State, where he won 123 games in 10 seasons with his Nittany Lions consistently being ranked among the top 20 teams in the nation in defense. Following the 1977-78 season, Bach turned to the professional ranks, joining the staff of the Golden State Warriors. When Warrior Head Coach Al Attles stepped down with four games remaining in the 1982-83 season, Bach assumed interim responsibilities, split the final four games, and the following season, became the oldest rookie coach in league history at age 58.

Rev. Thomas Concagh, C.M. presented Tony Piscitelli ’65 and Tom Ferran ’65 with their varsity letters.

Highly regarded as a defensive specialist, Bach then began an impressive eight-year stint as assistant coach for the Chicago Bulls. Under Head Coaches Doug Collins and Phil Jackson, the Bulls accumulated a 432-224 (.659) record during Bach’s tenure, notching 50 or more wins in six of his eight seasons. Bach is the proud owner of three NBA Championship rings from the Bulls’ 1990-91, ’91-92 and ’92-93 title seasons.

From the Windy City, Bach brought his “take no prisoners” approach to the Charlotte Hornets’ sidelines and helped Head Coach Allan Bristow engineer the biggest defensive turnaround in the NBA. The club held its opponents to 97.3 ppg–the sixth-best average in the league, the lowest figure in team annals and a 9.4 ppg decrease from their 106.7 ppg average of ’93-94.

John Skarulis ’60 with current St. John’s Prep students.

Bach also has international coaching experience, serving as the assistant coach of the 1972 Olympic Team and on the United States Olympic Committee for 16 years. He has coached and conducted clinics in Puerto Rico, Peru, Finland, Poland, Russia, China, Brazil, Denmark and Turkey. Bach and his wife, Mary, currently reside in Chicago. Their five children live in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and California.

After Bach’s presentation, members of the varsity football team of 1965 received their varsity letters from Rev. Thomas Concagh, C.M. Following that presentation, alumni, some of whom had not seen each other for more than 50 years, spoke about life experiences and reminisced about the Prep. The talk was of classmates, athletic events, pranks and legendary administrators and teachers. Three Prep varsity basketball team captains came together to reminisce about their glory days in the 1940s.

Next year’s reunion is scheduled for November 17, 2007.