OCHS coach reflects on long tenure as he approaches major milestone

Posted: January 12th 2025

Ocean City boys basketball coach John Bruno, now just one victory from 500 for his career, directs his team against Glassboro at the Boardwalk Basketball Classic earlier this season.

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

There are three Cape-Atlantic League boys basketball coaches who’ve won at least 500 games.

The far and away leader is the tireless Paul Rodio, who’s well past 1,000 wins and counting at St. Augustine Prep. Second is Tom Feraco, the former Middle Township coach with 733 career wins, three state titles and numerous South Jersey and CAL championships. And third is the late Ken Leary, who won 519 games and multiple state titles at Pleasantville.

John Bruno is on the cusp of becoming the fourth. In his 36th season as the leader of the Ocean City High School boys basketball program, Bruno enters Monday’s game at Middle Township with a career record of 499-393.

Bruno quickly deflects any praise for the upcoming accomplishment, however, whenever it may come.

“I think in my case, it’s being around a long time is what it tells you,” he said modestly. “It’s not like we’ve had a bunch of these 20-win seasons. We definitely had our share of years where we didn’t win. I’ve learned to appreciate the years where we won six or seven games because those games are just as important to everyone involved as the games in the years when you win 20. And then you add up all the little numbers over all these years and that’s how you get to a larger number.”

Bruno’s Ocean City teams have won seven division or conference championships within the CAL and won the overall CAL championship in 2010. The Raiders won the 1999 South Jersey title – who could ever forget Ryan Reich’s halfcourt shot at the buzzer of regulation before Ocean City completed the upset of Middle Township in overtime? – and have appeared in four sectional title games under Bruno, including in each of the last two seasons.

Bruno has enjoyed some of his best success in recent years. He didn’t coach a team that won 20 games in a season until the 2017-18 season but has now done so three times, including last season’s 26-4 campaign that saw Ocean City lose the South Jersey title game to Mainland in three overtimes.

Ocean City lost four starters and about 90-some percent of its scoring from that team. But the overachieving Raiders will go into Monday’s game at Middle at 9-1, behind point guard Ben McGonigle, the lone returning starter, and a bunch of players up from last season’s JV squad. The team’s lone loss to this point is to Plainfield, a team ranked among the top 20 in the state. 

Bruno doesn’t coach, however, for the tangible successes.

“The main reason why I keep doing it is the kids we get,” he said. “You reach a point where, the longer you do it, you’re not like you were early in your career where the winning and losing matters so much. For me now, it’s the fact that you have the game itself with the kids you have. The game doesn’t change but the kids do so you have to adjust to that.

“I’ve been blessed because I don’t think there’s ever been a year where I said at the end, ‘I’m glad this year’s over,’ because I didn’t enjoy the kids. I often say I hate to see the season come to an end but at the same time I’m glad when it’s over, and that’s whether we’ve made the South Jersey final or didn’t even make the playoffs because the season is such a long grind. I think I’ve come to truly appreciate the process of all of it more than anything else.”

At this stage, one of the first questions around Bruno and his coaching tenure is, how long will he continue to roam the sidelines? Bruno said he has no immediate plans to stop, although the end is certainly near.

Even in his mid 60s, Bruno shows no signs of slowing down. He still enjoys being in the gym coaching or simply talking basketball. When his team isn’t playing or practicing, Bruno can often be seen in gyms across the area chatting basketball with other coaches, referees, media members and fans, often giving his unique perspective on the game and the issues surrounding it. If you need an example, just ask him his opinion on the new flop warning that’s supposed to be issued to players faking their way into a charge call.

“There’s no definite plan for me to stop but it is a thought right now,” Bruno said. “The good thing about my situation is that I have a great assistant coach in Ryan Gill who will make a great head coach. It’s going to be time to give him a chance at some point because he’s ready.

“One of the things that’s been lost is that we just don’t have a lot of coaches lasting 15, 20 years anymore,” Bruno added. “I’ve been blessed that after all these years I haven’t had a reason for not wanting to do it. And then when you have the family I have, it makes it easy. I have a wife and two daughters who’ve been nothing but supportive, who’ve been behind me this whole time. There’s no way I’d have done it this long without that.”