Local basketball community mourns passing of Wildwood coach

Posted: October 19th 2026

By BRIAN CUNNIFF

CapeAtlanticLive.com

The local high school basketball community has been mourning the loss of a high school assistant coach.

Steve Prince, who was set to enter his third season as a volunteer assistant coach for the girls basketball program at Wildwood High School this winter, passed away earlier this month after a brief but extremely aggressive illness. He was 75.

Born in Oregon, Mr. Prince’s family moved east and he spent a good portion of his childhood in North Wildwood. He went on to become a standout basketball player at Wildwood Catholic High School before graduating in 1969.

STEVE PRINCE

Mr. Prince enjoyed a long and successful career in the insurance industry, residing in Philadelphia, Florida and Chicago at various points of his career, according to his obituary.

Mr. Prince was an assistant coach in the boys program at Cherokee High School in Marlton for about a decade under head coach Rich Ludman, a Wildwood High School graduate. After retiring and moving back to Cape May County, he joined the boys basketball coaching staff at Middle Township High School under then-coach Anthony Farmer for a few seasons in the late 2010s before recently landing at Wildwood, which won the South Jersey Group I title last winter.

Mr. Prince also previously occasionally served as a broadcaster for live video streams of high school basketball games aired on the Middle Township High School Athletics YouTube channel.

In addition to coaching, Mr. Prince deeply enjoyed winter evenings at home watching live streams of various high school basketball games across South Jersey. He also spent the past few years as an avid walker who could be seen almost daily in the summer on the Wildwoods Boardwalk and in the non-summer months at the Crest Pier Recreation Center. Although he enjoyed those walks, he’d quickly stop to greet friends and acquaintances along the way, especially if the conversations drifted toward sports, particularly local high school sports. 

Mr. Prince is survived by his wife, Eileen, his son Stephen, and a number of grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces and nephews, according to his obituary.

Services for Mr. Prince will be held Friday, Oct. 23, at Radzieta Funeral Home in Cape May Court House. Visitation will be held from 2 to 3 p.m., with a life celebration to follow.

According to his obituary, in lieu of flowers, donations in Mr. Prince’s name can be made to the Wildwood High School girls basketball program.