An old story told anew

It sounds like the plot of way too many sports movies: An old-style, hardline coach molds a group of underachieving players into a team that, despite individual character flaws, holds together long enough to win a state championship.

In this case, the story is true.

Author Adrian Wojnarowski faced a major challenge in writing his 2005 book "The Miracle of St. Anthony: A Season with Coach Bob Hurley and Basketball's Most Improbable Dynasty": How do you take a story that has been told time and time again and make it fresh for readers? He doesn't completely succeed, in my opinion, but he gives it a good shot.

Wojnarowski followed Hurley and his St. Anthony Friars through the 2004 high school basketball season, chronicling their hopes of putting together a perfect season and capturing a state title. Although that storyline is the spine of the book, Wojnarowski also details St. Anthony High's struggles to remain open year after year, as well as the players' efforts to battle their individual demons and keep off the mean streets of Jersey City for the good of the team.

The book brims with character sketches of the players, their parents, the two nuns who run the school and other characters.

But the most important character in the book is coach Bob Hurley, a legend in his own right and the father of former Duke star Bobby Hurley. Hurley looms so large in the book that he nearly overshadows everyone else.

I enjoyed reading about coach Hurley's back story, his coaching feats and his fight to mold the class of '04 into a championship-winning team. If Wojnarowski had left it at that, he would have had a far stronger book on his hands.

But I think the author errs when he portrays Hurley as the last pure basketball coach, devoted to emphasizing character values and fundamental skills in a fallen world where flash has become more important than substance. Instead of painting a picture, he tells us about it. And tells us, and tells us, and tells us.

The follow-a-team-through-a-season book has spawned its own set of cliches, and it must be difficult to find a way to create a fresh, gripping addition to the genre. Wojnarowski comes close, thanks to a classic storyline, a compelling central figure and an interesting supporting cast of characters.

is the book entertaining? Certainly.  But a classic? Not quite.