The highest honor a high school basketball student-athlete can receive is having their jersey number retired and on display in the gymnasium for all future generations to see.
Since coaches do not have specific numbers, their highest potential honor takes on an even greater meaning: having the actual court where they coached named after them.
To honor two late legends, the St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows, community gathered on Dec. 1 to dedicate the basketball court to longtime boys’ varsity coach Tim Leary and girls’ varsity coach and program founder Jane Modry.
Upwards of 250 students, faculty members, alumni, and supporters were on hand for the ceremonies. Both the girls’ and boys’ varsity teams opened their seasons with victories on this special night, yet it was all about reliving the school’s tremendous past through two giants of the hardwood.
“It was generational,” said St. Francis Prep athletic director Sal Fischetti of the festivities. “We had some of the women who played for Jane in the 1970s and early 1980s come back, and we had some who played for Jane at the end of her career. The same for Coach Leary.”
Leary, who died in February 2018 after a yearlong battle with gallbladder cancer, amassed 646 career wins: the most among St. Francis Prep coaches, the seventh most among New York State basketball coaches, and the second most in the CHSAA. His 1991-1992 squad won the CHSAA ‘A’ division city championship.
Throughout his 43-year tenure, he strove to provide a sound Franciscan education both on and off the court to his players. Leary 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.
Modry began coaching while the Prep was still Bishop Reilly H.S. In addition to girls’ basketball, she founded and coached the school’s girls’ volleyball, softball, and girls’ track teams while also serving as the Prep’s athletic director. Her varsity hoops teams won more than 300 games, and she was a two-time CHSAA Coach of the Year in 1980 (CHSAA downstate and city champions) and 1989 (CHSAA ‘B’ division champion and New York State runner-up).
Modry, who also spent time as the girls’ Catholic League president after serving as a pioneer in the overall founding of the league, died in September 2014. She is a member of the St. Francis Prep Ring of Honor, the GCHSAA Hall of Fame, and the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Hall of Fame.
The idea to rename the Terriers’ court after these coaching greats was a few years in the making. With the support of school president Brother Leonard Conway, OSF, and alumni director Brother Robert Kent, OSF, the athletic administrators set the date for the joyous occasion. Both coaches’ names now adorn the court side by side.
“It was a great way to start off our season,” said Jimmy Lynch, St. Francis Prep’s boys’ varsity basketball coach who succeeded Leary. “It shows Coach Leary’s legacy and his impact on not only St. Francis Prep and the student-athletes here but also the entire CHSAA. There were so many former coaches and players from other schools who attended out of respect for him and his family.”
For JoAnn Wagner, the ceremony took on an even more special meaning. Wagner was the head girls’ junior varsity basketball coach at the Prep starting in the same year when Modry founded the varsity program. These two developed a close friendship — so close that Modry is godmother to one of Wagner’s sons.
“It was quite an emotional feeling,” said Wagner, who spent time as the Terriers girls’ varsity coach and is now an assistant. “It was awesome to see the women who came back.
“She [Modry] was Aunt Jane. She was part of my family and part of the Prep family. It was overwhelming to see all the faces of her past players who to this day still would come out and have such nice things to say about her. It’s a true testament to the person Jane was.”
Leary and Modry dedicated their entire lives to basketball at the Prep. It’s now fitting that the basketball court — which will continue to mold young student-athletes through the same values Leary and Modry lived out — will carry their names.
Such an incredible honor for two beyond-deserving individuals steeped in the Terrier way.