Harry Perretta
Episode 168
18 APR 2022
He served for 42 years at Villanova University as the head women’s basketball coach, tied for the most seasons at one school at all divisions in the history of NCAA women’s college basketball. A private, Catholic school, Villanova saw their women’s basketball team record 783 wins during his time as coach, which started when he was just 22 years old — the youngest coach to ever head a women’s varsity program at Villanova. He played his college basketball at Lycoming and went on to become a student assistant coach and coach of the junior varsity team before starting his four-plus decades career with the Wildcats. He also has a strong spiritual connection with someone considered to be arguably the greatest player he coached and whose faith story came to be told nationally.
Notable guest quotes:
“Our faith was pretty strong within the family… we followed the sacraments, we went to Mass regularly. So, it was a decent kind of a faith within our family.”
“I went to Our Lady of Angels grade school… and I formed my religious background basically by the Immaculata nuns who taught us there and we also had a strong pastor.”
“For some reason, when I got older, like seventh and eighth grade, I started to get an attachment to the Blessed Mother, and I actually started saying my rosary back then.”
“I attended Monsignor Bonner High School and there I met up with the Augustinians, who ran the school. And the Augustinians really laid down a solid faith foundation and I got to be friendly with a lot of the priests and that’s how I kind of continued on my path. I continued to say the rosary.”
“There were people on the different teams who knew my religious background who would push themselves towards me.”
“We always prayed in the locker room before a game, and a lot of schools don’t do that, but that was just something that I felt that I wanted to do, so I did that. And I always had a chaplain with us, and a lot of schools don’t really do that, but we always had a chaplain with us… So, that’s how I kind of spread my own faith, or faith in general, to the players.”
“We had some players who actually converted to Catholicism who were not Catholic, but a lot of that came from not just me but certain players that I had… that just radiated a strong religious background.”
“I was wearing my scapular when I went in for the (recruiting) visit and I pulled it out during the visit. And, for some reason, a week later, two weeks later, the mother started to believe… that hey, this guy might be genuine.”
“I managed to convince the Mother Superior, when Shelly was entering the Poor Clares, that I would be able to visit her once a year. And she kept that promise and passed it on to Mother Superiors after her and I’m the only non-family member that’s allowed to visit her once a year. So, it’s a unique experience.”
Related link:
Harry’s bio on Villanova website
