Did You Know? College Hoops TV Analyst Bill Raftery Scored 2,000 Points During his High School Career in New Jersey

Bill Raftery was a scoring machine at St. Cecilia High School in Kearny, NJ where he poured in 2,193 points during his prolific career.

Feb 26, 2023; Boulder, Colorado, USA; UCLA Bruins guard Jaime Jaquez Jr. (24) is interviewed by CBS broadcaster Bill Raftery following the win over the Colorado Buffaloes at the CU Events Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

All college basketball fans know Bill Raftery today as the loveable, white-haired voice and face that accompanies us as we switch between games on our TV screens and mobile devices throughout the winter months.

His patented delivery when he joyfully bellows “onions!” on game-winning baskets, or his “kiss and/or smooch” off the glass catch phrase have become a part of the sport’s very fabric, nearly as recognizable as the brackets themselves.

Devout college hoops fans of a certain vintage may recall Raftery as a referee-baiting, cantankerous head coach at Seton Hall in the 1970’s while still more old-timers may know that he was once a star at La Salle in the early1960’s before earning a brief tryout with the New York Knicks.

Celebrate the return of March with three minutes of ONIONS! pic.twitter.com/mhaXeVXJnb

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) March 1, 2025

But how many folks are aware that in the late 1950’s “Raf” was a dominant force on basketball courts across North Jersey, a 6’4” scoring machine who poured in 2,193 points during his prolific career at St. Cecilia High School in Kearny, NJ, which closed in 1986. His achievements on the court were remarkable and left a lasting legacy in New Jersey high school basketball history. Those 2,193 points are a state scoring record that stood for nearly 30 years, a testament to his offensive dominance.

In his senior season of 1958-59, he led St. Cecilia to the state championship, demonstrating his ability to perform under pressure and contribute to team success. Raftery, 81, was also a versatile all-around athlete, earning all-state recognition in basketball, soccer and baseball. Retroactively, Raftery was named Mr. Basketball USA for 1959, a prestigious honor that marked him as one of the top high school basketball players in the nation during his era.

in 1959 our very own Bill Raftery was Mr. Basketball USA 🏆 pic.twitter.com/xvMeinFMf1

— CBS Sports College Basketball 🏀 (@CBSSportsCBB) February 10, 2024

To put Raftery’s offensive output into perspective, consider that those nearly 2,200 career points are 113 more than future NBA standout Kyrie Irving totaled in his career and are 42 more points than those scored by another New Jersey star in current Seton Hall basketball coach Shaheen Holloway – and this in an era that predated the three-point shot.

During his senior season of 1958-59, Raftery scored 827, breaking Tommy Heinsohn’s career state scoring record mark of 2,191 points. Raftery would hold that record into the 1990s, and he also was one of the top New Jersey school boys in baseball and soccer. Lots of schools recruited Raftery. He chose La Salle.

Sports-wise, Kearny, NJ is most known for soccer as the urban town just west of Newark, produced such soccer luminaries as John Harkes, Tony Meola, and Tab Ramos, who grew up playing together before developing into key figures on the U.S. national team. In fact, Kearny was given the nickname, , "Soccer Town, U.S.A." which was derived from a soccer tradition that originated in the mid-1870s, when thousands of Scottish and Irish immigrants settled in the town after two Scottish companies opened two local mills and a factory.

While soccer was popular before Raftery’s era, and even more so in the decades afterward, there was about a five-year bubble when basketball was tops in this town, and Raftery was the sport’s king.

“At that time it was like a window of the 50’s to the early 60’s where the older guys were really very good basketball players and we as youngsters would hang, waiting to get into the game late in the day if they were too tired or were going some place,” Raftery recalls. “So that was a blessing for all of us.

“Whoever went to Kearny High or St. Cecilia’s got a chance to play the game with kids who loved the game – men really, who were in their late teens or early 20’s who could really get up and. Their experience certainly helped all of us understand the game, learn how to compete, learn how to take a hit. Learn how to hang in there so see how tough you were mentally. “I was always dragged with the older guys to be in summer league tournaments and play heavy competition as well, especially when I was like a freshman or sophomore. That helped me as well. So anything that any of us were able to accomplish was attributable to the past.”

“The basketball window in Kearny kind of shut a little bit after that,” he continued. “The pendulum then sort of swung away from being a soccer town before my era to an even more of a soccer town afterwards where basketball sort of drifted a little bit because soccer really became the main sport. So I was very lucky to have those experienced guys to teach us how to play.”

At 6’4,” and with an unparalleled athletic resume, one would think that Raftery would’ve been the toast of the town in his high school days, no? “In those days I think we had roughly 100 boys in school and 200 girls and I I still couldn’t get a date,” said Raftery in his unmistakably humble way.

Whenever a young Bill Raftery, the middle child of three siblings,  came bounding through the front door, any chance of developing a big head or resting on his laurels would be squelched by his no nonsense Irish immigrant parents.

“My sports accomplishments weren’t even discussed in my home,”Raftery said. “They were never brought up. Any accomplishment you had in my house was maybe recognized for a moment. And then the concern was the other two children.”

Raftery credits his father for instilling a work ethic in him and perhaps his unselfishness on the court derived from his mother. “My father worked hard. His title was stationery engineer, he was involved with air conditioning and heating. He was in a union. He was in a fellow named John Giblin’s union. John was tremendous to so many people who came across the sea from Ireland.” Adding with a laugh, “I’m not going to sing it for you. My mom raised the kids, that’s how it was back then. But my dad worked hard. He certainly set a great example.”

When the college recruiters started coming around, Raftery’s beloved high school coach Bob Palermo, the man he credits for playing multiple defenses and teaching him to use his left hand on the court, handled things. In addition to La Salle, Raftery took visits to Holy Cross, Providence and Villanova. Due to his strict parents, only Catholic schools would be considered.

“Really it was just those four schools. I never visited Notre Dame,” said Raftery. “La Salle just did a heck of a recruiting job. I didn’t think I’d be comfortable in a lot of areas, academically being on - that challenge. I just felt comfortable. The coach there, Dudey Moore, was renowned. He used to draw the caricatures in Sports Illustrated believe it or not when he was at Duquesne. So he was a big influence as well.”

St. Cecilia’s rivals during Raftery’s time included a number of local catholic high schools, each of which has long since shuddered its doors.

 “St. James in Newark, St. Michael’s in Newark, Good Counsel in Newark, they they all had really good players said Raftery. Then there was St. Michaels in Jersey City, St. Aloysius in Jersey City, Holy Family. Those were all legit basketball programs then and now they’re all gone.

One of top players in the area during Raftery’s era who he squared off with was former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, who starred at St. Michael’s in Union City before going on to play at Georgetown. Other standouts included future Providence star and NIT MVP Vinnie Ernst, Cleo Hill, who was drafted by the St. Louis Hawks of the NBA, and George Blaney, who would go on to star at Holy Cross before embarking on a long college coaching career.

When Raftery thinks back to his high school basketball career, he has nothing but fond memories.

“I just think the biggest thing was the excitement of being with a winning program and a great coach, great teammates,” said Raftery. “There was good student body support. Being a part of something bigger than yourself, all of those things are what come to mind when I think back to my high school days.”