A Legend, On and Off the Court

By Reverend James Squire, Hon.

We have read and heard much about his life in basketball, the stories he would tell, and the players that he turned into outstanding coaches, but there are even more people who knew nothing about the sport and were inspired by Dan Dougherty.

Our school motto at EA is Esse Quam Videri, to be and not to seem to be. Of all the types of people who Dan came across, he could not stand a phony. On the other hand, he was just as good at spotting someone who was real and genuine. Those are the people with whom he chose to surround himself.

We had lunch together frequently. One day, a lanky student who had just enrolled at EA came to our table. There was the usual interplay between Dan and his new basketball player with much joking around. As the student left the table, Dan turned to me and said, “Jim, he is the real deal.” That player was Wayne Ellington ’06, who went on to have a stellar career at the University of North Carolina and the NBA.

All of Dan’s players got the message from him that if you were not humble, he didn’t care how good of a player you thought you were. You had to get some of that humility stuff or you wouldn’t get much of his time. Humility and gratitude are where everything started and ended for Dan.

Dan’s code in life included always trying to do the right thing with no cutting corners. He taught math and enabled struggling students to be encouraged to be better than they thought they could be and do in his classroom. Putting forth effort on or off the court resulted in Dan working even harder to help you achieve success.

Dan was old school. In fact, he was old, old school. God threw away the mold once he created Dan. He saw life through the lens of black and white with little gray. Can you imagine a coach today requiring a student to leave practice if they said a curse word? If the word slipped out, they would quietly leave practice before Coach Doc could even lift his finger to point the way to the locker room. He taught them ethics by actions, not his words.

Dan cared little for his own achievements compared to the achievements of his students and players. Power was a foreign desire for him. He could care less about money, living most of his life in the same house for decades. Fame meant nothing because he was more focused on celebrating the fame of others who were part of his orbit. His watchwords were, “There is nothing that you can’t achieve if you don’t need to take credit.”

Dan was fun, which is step one to connecting with students. He loved being a matchmaker and bringing two people together who were secretly interested in one another. His basketball record could be matched by the number of students that he “matched” up to go to the prom, but first would be the kidding and then the red face. He was the best cure for a bad day.

He was family and faith first. I remember on 9/11, I got word that two of Dan’s children were possibly involved in that attack. Dan, Jr. was usually heading to the Twin Towers at the time the planes crashed. His son, Brian, was thought to be on a plane flying over the city about the same time. Dan and his wife, Mary Ellen, were caught where many others were caught that day—not knowing if their children were safe. Their fear and focus were palpable. Dan was delayed in his travel that day, and Brian’s plane flew over New York at a different time. Their parents could finally breathe again.

Dan and Mary Ellen were quite a pair. They were so similar in so many ways. I sat next to Mary Ellen during more basketball games than I could count. She offered ongoing commentary on what was going on in the game. That love and knowledge of the game is one of many places where they could connect at a deep level with so many shared values and a shared vision for their lives together.

There has been much written about Coach Dougherty’s basketball legacy, but many of us in the EA community had the good fortune of seeing Dan work behind the scenes in his private world, helping students and players. He accomplished far more in that domain than is celebrated in his public life working with kids. That’s why kids loved him. He never broke their trust, and they knew he wanted the very best for them. In kid world, the people who make the biggest impact are those who go above and beyond to help you without needing any personal recognition. This is what defines Dan’s true legacy.

God bless you, Coach!

ALUMNI MEMORIES

I always hated math and was scared and insecure about the subject. He changed that for me. He believed in me.

– Jennifer Hires ’95

I can picture his witty smile and steady, positive personality as though I saw him yesterday, even though it’s been over 25 years. While he wasn’t my coach, Coach Doc always made you feel like he was rooting for you.

– Margot Marsh Wanner ’97

He once made a classmate take notes through a window on the lawn at the Merion campus!

– Matt Lerman ’09

He seemingly knew everything going on around campus and took the time to ask each of us how we were every day. He would pull you aside after class if he sensed anything was off that day…It wasn’t just about the lessons of the classroom, but his lessons in showing kindness that really stuck with me.

– Caitlin Flannery Devlin Andreotta ’04

He taught teamwork, hard work, toughing it out through adversity, and compassion. He made me feel like an important part of every team and the EA community.

– John Morris ’88

Basketball practice with no out-of-bounds!

– Andy Person ’91

Coach Doc recognized my passion, drive, and sincere love of the game and ignored the rest. He told me what I needed to do to have a place in the program and celebrated me when I succeeded. “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take!”

– Blake Shafer ‘08

I was shaped into the man I am today, at least in part, by the wisdom that Mr. Doc imparted and the loving but firm way in which he challenged me and the other young men to be the best men—the best people—we could be.

– Omar Y. McNeill ’85