(1944 –)
SPORT | Basketball
POSITION | Coach
YEAR OF INDUCTION | 2002
Builders
Lahey, Larry
Larry Lahey, taught and coached teams at John McGregor Secondary School continuously from 1967 to 1998, a total of 31 years, most notably with the senior boys basketball team. He was an outstanding coach and innovator who established and improved the McGregor progam and led other coaches in various sports throughout Kent County to follow his example. Over the years, Kent County teams, particularly basketball and volleyball, became well-known throughout the province for their ability, their competitive nature, and their sportsmanship.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Coaching Successes
Senior Panthers reached Kent County title game 29 of 30 years, winning 18 of them – they won 10 SWOSSAA and 4 OFSAA championships
Other Kent County championship teams that he coached were track and field 3 times, midget boys basketball 3 times, boys gymnastic 5 times, and junior girls basketball once
His senior basketball teams never failed to have at least 1 player as a first team all star
JMSS has won more OFSAA basketball titles (boys and girls combined) than any other school in Ontario and no other city has won more such titles than Chatham
Coaching Firsts for Chatham Schools
first to increase practice time and games played in a season in order to become more competitive with other communities
first to begin summer basketball leagues and summer camps to improve the skills of boys and girls of all ages
first to win an OFSAA basketball championship (1974-75)
first to play preliminary games to the Detroit Pistons (1983)
first to defeat Essex County in SWOSSAA boys basketball (1968-69)
first and only school to defeat Windsor’s best for a SWOSSAA championship (1974-75 & 3 other times after that)
first and only school to finish first in the London Free Press Poll of top teams in the area (1977-78 & 2 other times after that)
first to be invited to a university-sponsored Christmas high school tournament
University of Western Ontario 1968-69
first to win a university sponsored tournament (University of Waterloo 1972-73 & 1 other after that)
first and only one to win the prestigious Toronto Jarvis Tournament (1976-77)
first to promote basketball to make it more entertaining and appealing to the fans and more fun for the players