Coach Set To Begin 55th Year With Team

N.Y. Daily News

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/high-school/molloy-curran-set-55th-season-article-1.1204584

Jack Curran is limping out to center court on a recent Sunday afternoon as his players zip by, just inches from making contact with the legendary basketball coach.

Curran, his arms folded and head down, knows exactly when to step this way or that way to avoid a collision.

Now 82, Curran has been making such deft moves for over five decades at Archbishop Molloy in Queens, N.Y., where he is one of the country’s most successful basketball and baseball coaches, inducted into nine different Halls of Fame.

But this season — his 55th as the Stanners’ coach — might require more nimble moves than in the past because of a health scare he received over the summer. During a routine visit with his orthopedist to check his shoulder in July, a doctor found a cancerous tumor five centimeters across Curran’s lung, forcing him to undergo nearly a month of CyberKnife radiation sessions earlier this fall.

On Tuesday, Curran will find out whether the treatments were successful.
He is also undergoing dialysis sessions three mornings a week to deal with kidney complications, a process that leaves him exhausted. Yet, Curran is still full of vigor and wisdom, quick with a helpful comment to his players, his voice still strong and clear.

“I yell good, Curran says with a smile, sitting behind his desk following practice. I still can yell. I haven’t had any problem there. (The players) wish I had something wrong with my esophagus so I couldn’t yell at them. But you have to keep on them in practice, otherwise, they get lazy, they get playful. It’s the age.”

Coach Ready To Begin 55th Year With Team

N.Y. Daily News

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/high-school/molloy-curran-set-55th-season-article-1.1204584

Jack Curran is limping out to center court on a recent Sunday afternoon as his players zip by, just inches from making contact with the legendary basketball coach.

Curran, his arms folded and head down, knows exactly when to step this way or that way to avoid a collision.

Now 82, Curran has been making such deft moves for over five decades at Archbishop Molloy in Queens, N.Y., where he is one of the country’s most successful basketball and baseball coaches, inducted into nine different Halls of Fame.

But this season — his 55th as the Stanners’ coach — might require more nimble moves than in the past because of a health scare he received over the summer. During a routine visit with his orthopedist to check his shoulder in July, a doctor found a cancerous tumor five centimeters across Curran’s lung, forcing him to undergo nearly a month of CyberKnife radiation sessions earlier this fall.

On Tuesday, Curran will find out whether the treatments were successful. He is also undergoing dialysis sessions three mornings a week to deal with kidney complications, a process that leaves him exhausted. Yet, Curran is still full of vigor and wisdom, quick with a helpful comment to his players, his voice still strong and clear.

“I yell good, Curran says with a smile, sitting behind his desk following practice. I still can yell. I haven’t had any problem there. (The players) wish I had something wrong with my esophagus so I couldn’t yell at them. But you have to keep on them in practice, otherwise, they get lazy, they get playful. It’s the age.”