"My sports accomplishments weren’t even discussed in my home": NCAA basketball analyst Bill Raftery discusses impressive high school basketball career

CBS Sports analyst Bill Raftery is a college basketball broadcasting legend. However, while his prowess as an analyst is well known, few know about him being a New Jersey high school basketball legend who scored over 2,000 points in his career.

Raferty, who coached Seton Hall in the 1970s, was a standout star at La Salle University in the early1960s. He also had a brief tryout with the New York Knicks. However, his best years as a player may have been when he played for St. Cecilia High School in Kearny, New Jersey, in the 1950s.

While his school is no more, closing down in 1986, Bill Raftery has left an indelible mark on high school basketball in New Jersey, as he held the state scoring record for nearly 30 years with 2,193 points.

He also led the school to the state championship during his senior season in 1958-59. That same season, he was also named the 1959 Mr. Basketball USA.

Not only that, but Bill Raftery was also a multisport star, as he was all-state in soccer and baseball.

He grew up in an Irish immigrant home which was strict and never had him discuss his various sports accolades.

“My sports accomplishments weren’t even discussed in my home,” he said, according to SI.com. “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.”

Bill Raftery talks about why he chose LaSalle

By his senior year, multiple colleges recruited him, and he visited four schools, including Holy Cross, Providence and Villanova, but he ultimately chose La Salle.

“Really, it was just those four schools. I never visited Notre Dame,” Bill Raftery said. “La Salle just did a heck of a recruiting job. ... 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.”

While he did not become a pro player, he found success as a college basketball coach, ultimately becoming a CBS analyst, and the rest is history.