Fordham Mourns the Loss of Johnny Bach

Chicago Tribune | Chicago Daily Herald
 
Bronx, N.Y. – The Fordham University community lost one of its all-time greats today with the passing of Athletic Hall of Famer Johnny Bach. He was 91.
 
"We all are mourning the passing of Coach Bach, a true coaching legend," said Fordham Director of Athletics Dave Roach. "He touched and influenced so many during his life and coaching career.  He inspired and tutored some of the greatest names in basketball. We will miss him dearly. He will always be a part of Fordham University, Fordham basketball and our athletic department.  Our thoughts and prayers are with the Bach family"
 
In 2012, Fordham instituted the Johnny Bach Award which is presented annually to the individual who has had substantial and lasting impact on the sport of basketball and who best emulates Mr. Bach's drive and passion for excellence. Winners include Patrick Ewing (2012), P.J. Carlesimo (2013), Phil Jackson (2014) and Doug Collins (2015).
 
John W. Bach, FCRH '48, a coaching icon on the collegiate, professional, and international levels, was one of the greatest basketball minds of all time. A defensive specialist, he has been credited with helping the Chicago Bulls win three straight NBA championships. He is still the all-time winningest coach in Fordham University basketball history, and led the Rams to five NIT appearances and a pair of NCAA berths in 18 seasons.
 
Bach began his basketball career in New York City in the early 1940's playing on two New York City Catholic High School championship teams. As a freshman at Fordham, he was a regular on the school's great 1942-43 squad, Fordham's first NIT team. His career with the Rams, however, was interrupted by years at the University of Rochester, Brown University, and the U.S. Navy ROTC program. He was commissioned as an ensign in the Navy and served until late 1947, at which point he returned to Fordham, earned a B.S. in economics and garnered team MVP honors for the 1947-1948 season.
 
In 1950, he took the head coaching position at Fordham and, over the next 18 seasons, compiled a 263-193 record with five NIT appearances and NCAA appearances in 1953 and 1954. He served as assistant to the athletic director for four years and as athletic director for his final eight years before leaving for Penn State after the 1967-1968 season.
 
One of the student-athletes he coached was Frank McLaughlin, Fordham's associate vice president of student affairs for athletic alumni relations and external affairs/athletic director emeritus. "Johnny Bach was a true man of Fordham and a tremendous role model. I am so proud to be able to say that I played for the great Johnny Bach. He lived a full life that was just as rewarding off the court as it was on the court. He was, and I'm sure he will continue to be, an inspiration to all those who played for him and knew him. Our thoughts and prayers are with the entire Bach family during this time."
 
Bach returned to New York to present Ewing with the inaugural Johnny Bach Award in 2012 where he took the stage to a standing ovation. He told the crowd how he ended up at Fordham after attending St. John's Prep School. One day, he happened to be playing in a baseball tournament at Fordham, when Fordham legend Jack Coffey saw him and mentioned he might want to come to Fordham.
 
Bach arrived at Fordham in 1942 and remembers then head basketball coach Ed Kelleher fondly. "I actually didn't meet Ed Kelleher until I arrived on campus as a freshman. In those days there was no real recruiting. Fordham had quite a team and for practice Kelleher would arrange for the second team, which was mostly freshmen, to scrimmage the first team. But to make it interesting he would put 40 points on the board for the second team and we would play until the first team took a lead. We had some long practices."
 
Bach's Fordham career was interrupted by World War II as Bach decided to enlist in the Navy, since his father was a naval officer, and was sent to Rochester for training. But it was decided by the Navy that he was in the wrong place so he was sent to Brown University for more education and Bach received a degree from the Ivy League school in Naval Science.
 
After serving for a few years, Bach decided to leave the service and returned to New York, unsure what to do next as all he knew was naval science. One day he decided to walk up to Rose Hill and spoke with the Dean, Fr. Walsh, about coming back to school as Bach desired a Fordham degree. Walsh told Bach that he would speak to the president and a few days later, was told that he could enroll at Fordham and remembers the president telling him, "Johnny, I hope we haven't made a mistake."
 
After earning his Fordham degree, Bach served a stint as a player with the Boston Celtics, before returning to New York where he was offered the head coaching position at Fordham, though he wasn't sure if he was ready for it. "I spoke with legendary St. John's coach Joe Lapchick, and told him I didn't think I was ready to be a coach. Coach Lapchick told me `John, none of us were ready to coach'."
 
That was in 1950 and 52 years later in 2012, Bach was still coaching, serving as a volunteer assistant at Fenwick High School in Chicago.
 
Bach was inducted into the Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame in 1974.
 
Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, January 20, at Old St. Patrick's Church, 700 W. Adams. Visitation will be from 9-11 that morning also at the church.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions the Department of Cardiology, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, in honor of Neil J. Stone, M.D., and Old St. Patrick's Church.