Bill Fox named to
CYO Hall of Fame

By Diane Villano
Times Staff Writer

More than 40 years after Bill Fox first donned his high-top basketball sneakers to play CYO basketball at St. Christopher’s for his coach-father Bill Sr., the former Father Judge head basketball coach was named to the CYO Hall of Fame.
The ceremony, held March 13 in Drexel Hill, honored Fox and three others for reflecting the virtues and values of the Catholic Youth Organization and the Catholic Church.
"I was humbled and honored. It was a great evening. My family, my parents, brothers and sisters and friends were all there. I just sat there realizing what I lucky of a guy I am," Fox said from his School District of Philadelphia office last week.
Fox now serves as the director of real property for the school district. He retired from Father Judge in 2006 after 29 years of coaching basketball at the school.
At 23, he started his career at Judge as the youngest head coach in the Philadelphia Catholic League. That designation was far from Fox’s only claim to fame.
He took the Crusaders to PCL championships in 1975, ’77 and ’98. One of the winningest coaches in the history of the PCL, Fox’s 545-269 record was just recently surpassed. At the end of the 2004-05 basketball season, Father Judge named its gymnasium the Bill Fox Gym in his honor.
It was in the gym that Fox came to a realization of just how big an impact CYO has on Catholic youth.
Fox’s wife Maryellen, his children, brothers and sister had all been touched by CYO and the spirit of enthusiasm and positive reinforcement that make it something special.
However, beginning in the 1980s Fox began to notice just how much it meant for seventh- and eighth-grade boys in the CYO grammar school tournaments to play at Judge, hoping someday they might play for Judge.
"CYO was their first step. It was a dream of theirs to take it to the next level. Me being the head coach, I saw it in other players. It’s a terrific thing to aspire to for a young boy," Fox said.
Throughout Fox’s tenure as coach, he credits his players not only as talented individuals but players of character, something CYO helped develop.
"I’ve been very blessed. I was hired in 1974-1975 and allowed to grow as a teacher and coach at a school that has a terrific tradition, serving a neighborhood with families who are salt of the earth," Fox said.
The former coach also gives a nod to his assistant coaches throughout his time at Judge — Bill Cook, Rich Miller and Charlie Liddell — noting that when the school dedicated the gym to him, the four who had worked so many years together had more than 100 years of coaching total.
"I always had an ability to surround myself with good people ... I reaped the benefits," Fox said. ••
Reporter Diane Villano can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dvillano@phillynews.com