Hall of Fame
It was said before but, things being what they were with John Murphy, it is worth saying again. God bless you, John Marshall College, wherever your spirit walks these days and bless you, too, Dick Serratelli.
For the record, it goes like this:
If Dick Serratelli had not enrolled at John Marshall College in Jersey City… if John Marshall College had not gone out of business… and if Serratelli had not been attracted by the combination of a future law degree at and a Rutgers-Newark varsity letter, then he never would have come over to play for Hank Bodner. And if, after making that decision, he had not reached for the telephone, then Rutgers-Newark would have lost one of the most versatile frontcourt players in its history.
The call, obviously, went to 6-7 John Murphy, who had played his high school ball at St. James in Newark and at Seton Hall Prep. It gave Bodner the biggest player he ever had. But he already had the school’s first 1,000-point scorer, Burt Geltzeiler, in the middle. Would Murphy sacrifice his scoring average and play the corner for Hank? He would and he could. He led the team in rebounds and time and time again he got the ball into Geltzeiler. He was an immediate winner.
John coached St. James basketball for five years, then served on the varsity staff at Seton Hall University for nine. A lieutenant in charge of the Newark Police Youth Aid Bureau, he is also Seton
Hall’s athletic business manager. He lives in Florham Park with his wife, Helen. They have six children
