Legendary Hoops Coach Hurley Fighting To Keep Cash-Strapped St. Anthony's Open

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A fabled New Jersey school could be closing its doors soon.

But its legendary basketball coach is doing everything he can to keep them open, CBS2's Otis Livingston reported Thursday.

It's a year-to-year battle, but Bob Hurley is Jersey City through and through -- from growing up in the Greenville section of the community to meeting his wife to becoming a probation officer and then a Hall of Fame high school coach, he is St. Anthony's – the tiny Catholic school that means so much to Jersey City.

Hurley has walked the halls and roamed the sidelines of St. Anthony's High School for nearly a half century. The subject of the 2010 documentary "The Street Stops Here," the school has produced more than 150 NCAA Division I players and five NBA first-round draft picks, including his son, former Duke star Bobby Hurley.

The elder Hurley is now leading the year-round fundraising charge.

"Fortunately for us, the basketball has helped us keep the word out there about Catholic education, but it's a difference for us of about $1.4 million and we have to raise that on a yearly basis," Bob Hurley said.

It's a daunting dollar amount, and the coach is always putting his money where his heart is. He has given salary and his speaking engagement fees back, Livingston reported.

"Well, I have no life. I have no ambition to do anything else, and as people would say to you the kids are worth it," Hurley said.

And he's talking about the entire student body, which is made up of about 200 kids. He admitted the business model of fundraising isn't working, so the school has to reinvent itself.

"We have to try to find more foundations, try to find that one person who would come here, spend the day here, walking the halls, meet kids. You find out about the potential of young people, and then you get excited," Hurley said.

"Working with Bob Hurley has been phenomenal because he has the perspective of working in the community of Jersey City and people know him. So those networks allow us to make those contacts and sometimes get what we need," St. Anthony's Head of School Chad Broussard added.

And if opposing coaches think Hurley is slowing down, or going anywhere, they should think again.

"Career ambitions are long gone. This is who I am and this is where I should be. And we'll just try with the help people that care about Catholic education, and particularly in urban areas, we'll see if we can sustain this," Hurley said.

Jersey City through and through? You better believe it. Hurley told Livingston it's not only about money, it's about mentorships, people to talk to about preparing for college, or "in-kind service" as he calls it.

For more information about St. Anthony's fundraising efforts, including a comedy night on Friday night, please click here.