Saint Francis’ Hall of Fame reaching back for Bill Coyle
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Saint Francis will welcome 14 new members to its Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday afternoon, and none goes further back in school history than Bill Coyle.
Times have certainly changed in Loretto with the move to Division III, effective this fall, followed by the bizarre name change from the Red Flash to the Red Wolves -- as if the school's braintrust is intentionally trying to distance itself from days gone by.
Then again, when Coyle played, the Flash -- er, Wolves -- were known as the Frankies.
Either way, SFU has always recognized its past well, and Coyle has the distinction of being on the same men's basketball team with future NBA standouts Norm Van Lier and Kevin Porter.
"I was in the right place at the right time," he said. "I feel very lucky."
Recruited in 1963 by Skip Hughes out of Bishop Egan High School in Philadelphia, Coyle played in 93 games and scored 1097 points, the eighth player to eclipse the mark.
Hughes' tenure was winding down, and John Clark took over the team in 1966.
Coyle said Clark encouraged the players to be on campus during the summer so they could take early classes "and then we scrimmaged every day behind Doyle Hall."
The camaraderie grew, and Clark's three teams went 55-20 before he was hired by Pittsburgh's ABA team (Pipers). His winning percentage of .733 is Saint Francis' best, and he's one of only five coaches who won more than 50 percent of their games, joining John Hiller (.551), Hughes (.550), Pete Lonergan (.534) and Jim Baron (.510).
"He was relentless in scouting the other team," Coyle said. "You never went into a game unprepared. To play for him was a pleasure."
He enjoyed playing at the Jaffa Mosque (now Jaffa Shrine Center) in Altoona.
"The Jaffa was a shorter court," he said. "When the game started, they killed the lights over the crowd. It was a super place to play if you were a shooter. Even under pressure, you could pick out the basket very easily."
Playing with Van Lier was also a pleasure.
"My role was to get open, when I could, and look for Norman (Van Lier) to find me," Coyle said. "He was absolutely outstanding and super to play with. He only wanted to win. Personal things weren't important to him."
Freshmen could only play limited minutes so Coyle and Porter didn't play much together, but Coyle served as an assistant coach for two years under Clark after graduation.
"Guys like Norm, Sandy Williams, Lenny Murray, Larry Lewis and Kevin were fantastic players and teammates," said Coyle, who also helped recruit Sam Sloan, Allen Spencer, Joe Hazinsky and the Hunter brothers, Art and Jim, from the Philadelphia area.
Upon arriving at Saint Francis in the late 1960s, former Red Flash coach Dave Magarity played for Coyle.
"I never had an opportunity to see him play, but I know he was terrific," Magarity, who was also part of the 1970 football team SFU is honoring this weekend, said. "Bill Coyle was just a terrific person. I played for him on the freshman team, back in 1968-69, and he was a great basketball person but years later, when I was coaching, we reconnected a number of times, and he was always so gracious."
Now 81, Coyle wasn't expecting a Hall of Fame call.
"It's been quite a while since we played there," he said. "But it's a welcome overture. Well appreciated."
Rudel can be reached at nrudel@altoonamirror.com.
Williams in class
Former Bishop Guilfoyle star Alli Williams, who graduated from Saint Francis in 2014, is part of Friday's induction class.
Williams scored 2,178 points, second all-time in SFU women's basketball history at the time and currently third.
She was inducted into the Blair County Sports Hall of Fame in 2024.
The bios of all the inductees can be found at francis.edu.