Hugh McGeehan, the pride of Hazleton  Hazleton High won the state championships for basketball in 1928 and 1929.   Hugh McGeehan coached  Hazleton to 45 straight victories during that period of time.   Later, Coach McGeehan went to Villanova and coached there.   They named the Hazleton High School Gym  after him and when they opened the Hazleton Sports Hall of Fame, he was the first inductee.  He died in 1947 and is famous to this day in the city of Hazleton.  Coach Hugh Mc Geehan and Hazleton's wins in 1928 and 1929   State Championships: 1928 ...... HAZLETON (1 ) LEWISTOWN (6) ..............35-31 1929 .......HAZLETON (1 ) SHARON (8 )......................34-22

 The “Tribute to the Coach” in the 1928 Hazleton High School yearbook sums up the job he did at that school.  The following is a reprint of that tribute: –“Coach McGeehan has been with us for three years.  In that time, he has developed good football teams and he has produced two pennant winners, and one state championship in basketball. Truly a wonderful record for three years.  Producing successful teams is not the only gift of Coach McGeehan to the students of Hazleton High School.  He is the friend of every athlete and many owe him their eligibility to play on the teams.  Coach McGeehan has the welfare of the boys at heart.  It is his only desire to see them grow into true manhood that forms the backbone of our nation.
  The principle that Coach McGeehan has stressed throughout  his connections with  our athletics is not sport for the purpose of exerting your superiority over that of your opponent.  His principle is to teach the boys to think for themselves during a game.  He believes and so do we all, that a man should do his own thinking in time of crisis, and not to rely on someone to do it for him.
  The student body of Hazleton High School places Coach McGeehan foremost in their minds as the one great friend and pal of them all.  Words cannot describe the esteem in which he is held by the students.  If every boy in our country could have the benefit of the companionship and advice of a friend like Coach McGeehan, there would be true sportsmanship on all sides of life.
  In the many sorrows of departing of the senior class, one of the most poignant is that of serving the close connection between them and Coach Hugh McGeehan.”

(Submitted by: Janice Moran mother of Hugh Mc Geehan's Great Grand Children).

This is a copy of  coach Mc Geehan's signature on that yearbook.