In sports, we always focus on legacy: How will a player, coach, or team be remembered after they’re gone? 

Accolades can surely add to a legacy, yet the most meaningful continuations of a legacy often involve family connections. 

Take the St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows, boys’ varsity basketball program for example. For 43 years, the late Tim Leary guided the team as head coach, and there’s no arguing his extensive legacy both on and off the court. 

Now, though, that legacy has taken on a new meaning, as Tim’s grandson, Jack, is a member of the Terriers hoops team. Jack is a senior shooting guard and team captain, which would undoubtedly have made his grandfather proud. 

Jack, 17, grew up attending St. Camillus-St. Virgilius, Rockaway Park, and playing Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) basketball for St. Rose of Lima, Rockaway Beach. At the Prep, in addition to basketball, he was the varsity football team’s quarterback in the fall and a member of the varsity golf team in the spring. By the end of this school year, he will have played a sport in all 12 high school seasons. 

Jack was only 10 years old when his grandfather Tim passed away in 2018 at the age of 73 after a nearly yearlong battle with gallbladder cancer. Jack, of course, remembers how much the game meant to his grandpa. 

“He was very involved with it,” said Jack, who was a frequent visitor to Terrier varsity practices while his grandfather coached. “That was all he would talk about when he got home. He had a lot of passion for it. It was one of the things he really loved in life.” 

Tim grew up in Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, Windsor Terrace, and played CYO basketball at St. Rose of Lima, Parkville. He followed in his own father’s footsteps by attending St. Francis Prep back when it was in Williamsburg. He played four years of basketball at the Prep. 

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In his storied coaching career, which ended after the 2016-2017 season, Tim’s teams won a total of 646 games — the most among all St. Francis Prep coaches, the seventh most among New York State basketball coaches, and the second most in the New York City CHSAA. 

He is a member of the St. Francis Prep Hall of Fame and Ring of Honor, the New York State Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the New York City Pro Am Basketball Hall of Fame, the CHSAA Hall of Fame, and the Basketball Old-Timers of America Hall of Fame. 

All accolades aside, Tim has been remembered in the years since he died for consistently promoting the Catholic values of sports, which were so ingrained in his coaching philosophy. Current boys’ varsity head coach Jimmy Lynch, in his ninth season, played for Tim as a forward in the late 1990s and later coached under him as an assistant, so he has built upon what he learned under the coaching icon. 

“If anybody watches us play, it may be a new coach, but Coach Leary’s influence is on our program and on our team in everything that we do,” said Lynch, who has coached at various levels of the program for more than 20 years. “It’s everything I learned as a player and as an assistant.” 

Jack, as the only one so far of the nine Leary grandchildren to have attended St. Francis Prep, has made it a point to make sure the Leary name and legacy continue strong — and he’s doing a fine job of that. 

“I try to be the best I can be every day I’m in here,” Jack said. “I always keep a positive attitude and a smile on my face because that’s what my grandfather did when he was here.” 

Lynch has certainly noticed the influence Tim has had on Jack as well. 

“Jack was around his grandfather from the time he was little, so he picked up habits and developed a basketball IQ and game theory,” Lynch said. “Jack understands how to play and understands the nuances of the game, and I think that’s a direct reflection of hanging around his grandfather for so long.” 

A basketball program is often likened to a family. Teammates and coaches spend so much time together, experience ups and downs, and develop lasting relationships. With Jack playing for the Terriers, it adds even further to the family-like atmosphere that Tim established from the beginning. 

For St. Francis Prep boys’ varsity basketball, the legacy is all in the family.