January 12, 2005
A happy birthday for John Bruno
By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist
John Bruno will never forget his 47th birthday. He celebrated with about 800 of his closest friends.
“This only means I’ve stayed around a long time,” said the veteran Ocean City High School boys
basketball coach Saturday night, down-playing the milestone after notching his 200th career victory.
“When you look at Tom Feraco’s 495 and Paul Rodio’s 590-some wins you are really talking about
something.”
But you could see the satisfaction on Bruno’s face as he spoke. Partly because the win came over
Feraco’s Middle Township team, against whom his team also earned the biggest win of his career, in the
1999 South Jersey final.
“That was my 150th win,” Bruno remembered, “and the last time we beat this team.”
Bruno joins Dixie Howell (277) and Jack Boyd (227) as the only OCHS boys coaches with 200 or more
wins. Pat Dougherty (269) and Chris Lentz (217) accomplished it in girls basketball.
The win also lifted Ocean City to 7-2 on the season and elevated the team into the South Jersey Top 25.
The Raiders need just two more wins in the next nine games to qualify for the NJSIAA tournament. “That is
always one of our big goals,” Bruno said, “and we’re in a position now to not only qualify but to earn a
home game or two.”
Bruno’s team also controls its own destiny in the battle for its division championship in the Cape-Atlantic
League’s American Conference. Each of the other four teams has a loss while the Raiders remain
undefeated in the division. Their next two games, with defending champion Oakcrest and Hammonton, will
be very important.
There is at least one person who knew Bruno long before he came to Ocean City who is not at all
surprised that he became a successful coach.
“John was a floor leader in high school,” said Rick Roberts, Bruno’s coach during his senior year at West
Chester East. “He saw the entire court, handled the ball well and played excellent defense. He wasn’t a
real big scorer, usually 9-15 points a game, but he made sure we ran the right patterns.”
Ironically, Bruno played in a new gym his senior year in high school, much like his players today. He was
a senior the first year West Chester East opened after playing for a championship team the year before at
Henderson High School.
“When he first got started as a coach,” Roberts said, “he’d stop in and we’d talk about basketball and
approaches to the game. He was always a student of the sport.
“Knowing John, I’ll bet his team is well prepared every night,” Roberts added. “And I’ll bet he makes good
adjustments throughout the game.”
Coming from his high school coach, those comments should only add to the celebration surrounding John
Bruno’s 200th win.
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