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HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS

Coach, top player move on from Maginn

After thriving for five seasons, head basketball coach Rich Hurley of Bishop Maginn High School in Albany surprisingly resigned from his position on June 16. Coach Hurley cited family reasons for his decision.

"As my personal and family demands have grown, I have found it increasingly more difficult to maintain the level of commitment I believe the program needs and deserves," he said in a press release.

As The Evangelist went to print, Maginn junior varsity coach Orlando DiBacco was announced as Coach Hurley's replacement. Coach DiBacco has been at Maginn for four years and previously coached for six years at LaSalle Institute in Troy; in total, he has captured five Big Ten championships.

Coach Hurley took over as head coach for a struggling program in 2004. Within three years, he turned the team completely around, capturing three consecutive Big Ten Titles from 2007-'09. 

Maginn won the Section II Class AA Championship in 2007 and lost in the State Championship to Mount Vernon High School. In 2008, Maginn returned to the State Championship and won, defeating Niagara Falls.

Coach Hurley, who did not rule out coaching again in the future, will stay at Bishop Maginn as a guidance counselor, a position he held prior to being named head coach. 

One player who had a major impact on the 2007 and 2008 teams was guard Taran Buie. On the same day Coach Hurley announced his resignation, Denise Murphy, Taran's mother, announced that their family would be moving to State College, Penn.

Mrs. Murphy, a native of Pennsylvania, said that the decision was made so she and her children could be closer to their family.

Taran's older brother, Talor Battle, is entering his junior year at Penn State, where he is a captain on the basketball team. Battle and Buie were teammates on the 2007 team and will be teammates again in 2010, as Taran has made a commitment to play with Penn State.

Recently, Talor was named to Team USA for the World University Games in Colorado Springs, beginning July 2. Some of the best college and amateur basketball players in the world comprise the teams. 

(07/02/09) [[In-content Ad]]

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