Hall of Fame basketball coach, former Millville High School standout Bob Hutchings dies

Bob Hutchings, a former Millville High School multi-sport star and a member of multiple athletic Hall of Fames, passed away overnight, his former player and current Bridgeton boys basketball coach Carlos LeBron confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

“He was my mentor,” LeBron said. “… He was very passionate, very loving and he loved life. He just loved life.”

Hutchings suffered a massive heart attack in November and needed to have both of his legs amputated below the knee in December.

Hutchings has been a staple of the South Jersey sports community for half a century.

“I know no one in the world who was more dedicated to basketball in their lifetime than Bob Hutchings,” said Ed Salmon, Hutchings coach at Millville.

More:Verge of history: St. Augustine basketball coach Paul Rodio nears milestone 1,000th win

Hutchings was a star in the Holly City, where he earned varsity letters in baseball, basketball, cross country and football. He was a First Team All-Conference and Second Team All-South Jersey selection on the gridiron but was better known for his work on the hardwood, where he was a two-year captain, posted 815 points and 477 assists and directed the Thunderbolts to 26 victories and a South Jersey Group 4 championship in the 1968-69 season.

“I never had two players who loved the game more and worked harder and would do anything I would ask them to do than Bob Hutchings and Alan Shaw,” Salmon said.

He graduated later in 1969 and went on to Wheeling Jesuit in West Virginia, where he became a member of the 1,000-point club.

Hutchings played professionally in Holland and then garnered an assistant coaching gig at Army under eventual Duke legend Mike Krzyzewski.

Hutchings would coach at Bridgeton, Cumberland County College and was in the midst of his third stint as an assistant at Stockton University, which spanned a total of 17 years,

The Ospreys won eight New Jersey Athletic Conference titles, an Eastern College Athletic Conference championship and earned 13 berths in the NCAA Tournament with Hutchings on the bench.

“He never stopped learning the game. Never,” said LeBron, a 1987 Bridgeton alumnus. “I worked camps around the country, but he does it, I couldn’t even keep up with him. I call him, where you at? I’m in Los Angeles at a skills camp. Always learning, never satisfied. His passion and drive, it was unmatched.”

More:South Jersey high school boys basketball stars, teams of the week for January 9

Hutchings traveled around the world learning and teaching the game. He had a stint with the Saudi Arabian national team, and in 2015, he teamed up with Student Athlete World, went to Munich, Germany, and Klagenfurt, Austria, and helped coach the SAW East U-19 team at the United World Games.

Hutchings is a member of the Millville Thunderbolt, Wheeling Jesuit Athletic, New Jersey Scholastic Coaches Association, Stockton Athletics and All Sports Museum of Southern New Jersey Halls of Fame.

“What made him special was he treated everyone the same,” LeBron said. “No matter what walk of life you came from, I remember doing camps with him at Cumberland County College, we had kids coming that couldn’t afford it and he would pro bono those kids. He had a big heart.”

Josh Friedman has produced award-winning South Jersey sports coverage for the Courier Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times for more than a decade. If you have or know of an interesting story to tell, reach out on Twitter at @JFriedman57 or via email at jfriedman2@gannettnj.com. You can also contact him at 856-486-2431. Help support local journalism with a subscription.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Hall of Fame basketball coach Bob Hutchings passes away