Danny Rochford's legacy lives on, thanks to one impressionable young man

Hoops There It Is chairman and Jersey City native John McGuire

As John McGuire remembers it, his first meeting with Danny Rochford came probably in 1980, when McGuire was only 10 years old.

McGuire was doing what he always did those days – played basketball at the Country Village Courts in Jersey City, in general proximity to where McGuire grew up.

“The whole neighborhood would go there to play,” McGuire recalled. “I mean, guys who were over 30 were going there to play. There were non-stop basketball games.”

The Country Village Courtyard was indeed one of the busiest places to play basketball in Jersey City. With its effervescent lights beaming, shining much brighter than your average run-of-the-mill street lights, there were pick-up games going on from 7 a.m. to probably midnight every single day.

“We didn’t dare try to play on the bigger court,” McGuire said. “We played on the smaller courts with the lower (eight-foot) baskets.”

Then one day, a statuesque 6-foot-6 figure with bow legs and staggered gait that could be best described as a swagger bop appeared at the Country Village Courts. This lumbering giant was wearing a soiled shirt and tattered pants, was unshaven and appeared unclean. He had the look of the classic Jersey City vagabond, a seemingly homeless guy with no hope and no money.

The 10-year-old McGuire didn’t know what to expect.

“The first time you meet anyone like that, you’re a little standoffish,” McGuire said. “Your parents would never allow you to talk to someone like that. Once you noticed him, you realized that something wasn’t right about him, but you don’t realize what it is. You don’t realize he had deep rooted problems.”

McGuire did recognize one trait about Danny Rochford that stood out.

“He did remember everyone’s names,” McGuire said. “He always had a book with him, because he was always reading.”

At that point, Danny was about three years removed from a brutally horrific incident involving drugs and alcohol. After a brilliant high school basketball career at St. Anthony, Danny headed to American International College in Springfield, Massachusetts, as part of a stellar recruiting class manufactured by Jim Larranaga, the coach who would take George Mason to the 2006 NCAA Final Four who is currently at the University of Miami.

Larranaga recalled a game that AIC played in late January, where Danny scored the last 18 points in the overtime Yellow Jackets victory. Larranaga knew that a handful of Danny’s friends had traveled to Springfield for the game and that usually meant bad news. Larranaga pleaded with Rochford to stay in Springfield instead of leaving with the cronies from home. Rochford didn’t heed the advice of his coach and headed back to Jersey City. It was the last time Larranaga saw Danny.

That evening, Danny took a lethal cocktail of mind-altering hallucinogens, some stimulants and alcohol. The combination almost killed Rochford. It certainly killed his basketball career.

Danny ended up first in a coma for almost two months, then when he came out of the coma, he was in an almost catatonic state for two years. He was released to his parents, but at the age of 19, his once-bright and sure-fire stellar basketball career was over.

For the longest time, Danny didn’t talk to anyone. He just walked around Jersey City with this wide-eyed, open-mouthed stare. Eventually, he started to talk a little, but barely above a whisper.

In 1980, Danny just happened to stumble across young John McGuire and his best friend Brian Lane in Country Village. One thing was still evident. As disheveled as Danny appeared, his basketball skills, once considered among the five very best players in talent-rich Hudson County, had not left Rochford after three years.

“It didn’t matter where you were from, you were always welcome at the Country Village Courts,” McGuire said. “Danny had a switch that he turned on and he was phenomenal to watch. He could hit half court shots with no problem. He could hit half court hook shots. We were amazed. The basketball talents were so ingrained into his system that he was still great.”

And Danny Rochford offered the youngsters words of wisdom – a message that John McGuire has never forgotten to this very day.

“He would say to us, ‘Don’t do drugs,’” McGuire said of Rochford’s message. “He said, ‘I gave up everything. I gave up a chance to play in the pros. So don’t do it.’”

Young John McGuire heeded those words. He noticed how truly talented Danny was, even in his altered state.

“Watching him play, you could see how brilliant he was,” McGuire said. “No one played like Danny. You had to respect what he was able to do. And you had to respect what he had to say. ‘Don’t do drugs. Don’t do what I did. I gave it all away.’ He was genuine and really meant what he said.”

McGuire had no idea how good Rochford was in high school, how he was First Team All-Hudson County on a squad that featured former North Carolina All-American and New Jersey Nets’ first round selection Mike O’Koren.

“I lived four houses away from the Hurleys,” McGuire said. “Bobby Hurley told us that Danny went to St. Anthony and was a great player. Danny never lost that ability to play. It came so effortlessly to him.”

McGuire knew firsthand what the evils of drug use could do. His sister died of a drug overdose at the age of 35.

McGuire grew up and went to Marist High School, but didn’t go to college right away after graduating from Marist. While his father Jack was on his deathbed, struggling with cancer, the 22-year-old John made a promise to his Dad.

“I told him that I would make my life good for him,” McGuire said. “So I went to college (New Jersey City University) and became a middle school social studies teacher in Elizabeth.”

While in Elizabeth, McGuire started coaching all sports. He was into teaching soccer, baseball and of course, basketball. In 2006, McGuire started a program called Hoops There It Is Basketball. The program just continued to grow and grow.

“The program just picked up so much that I resigned from teaching to focus on doing it full time,” McGuire said. “It’s grown immensely.”

The numbers are staggering. McGuire has 790 kids playing on 79 different travel basketball teams with seven different coaches.

“We have all different levels of talent,” McGuire said. “The door to our program is always open and we don’t turn kids away. All are welcome. We have that everyone is welcome mentality.”

And McGuire’s organization is in the process of building a facility on Route 22, eliminating the cost of renting school gyms. Construction is ongoing at the site.

“It will allow us to have a home,” McGuire said. “Incredibly, someone asked me the other day about what’s the one thing I did to be successful. And I thought back to Danny’s influence. He was such a huge part of me growing up. It made me think of the times I spent playing basketball with Danny. He had enough strength to defeat the demons and talk a couple of little boneheads from Jersey City. He cared enough to tell us to not take the same road he took. And I never took that road. He made me realize that he was more than some vagrant. He was a competitor, a champion.”  

That was Wednesday afternoon when McGuire was checking on the construction of his facility. It was Wednesday that Danny Rochford passed away after some 40 years of walking the streets of his hometown, long removed from his days as being one of the best basketball players in the county.

McGuire learned of Danny’s passing by reading this blog Thursday morning. It made McGuire sit down and write this e-mail to yours truly:

Good evening 

My name is John McGuire

I grew up with Danny Rochford.  He was older but a HUGE part of my childhood.

Danny made a difference in my life and my friends’ lives too.

I grew up with a deeper love for basketball and the idea of bringing my very best to everything I do on and off the court from being around Danny!  

He had his demons but we all do. It is what we do with these challenges that define our lives. Danny was also kind but tough on us and shared his soul, tattered or not. He let us know drugs were bad for you.

He also showed us his skills. He was the best basketball player I ever saw in person.

I didn’t have the easiest life.  I worked through a lot in my life. I am now 49, going on 50 in August.

I went to college at 23 on a promise to my dying dad and became a teacher and a coach from 1997-2013.

In 2006 I started my own youth basketball program, called Hoops There It Is Basketball.

I worked hard with my families, my coaching and my own lessons of life 

In 2013, I retired from teaching to follow this life for Hoops.

Today, we are building a sports complex in Mountainside and have so many blessed thanks for the game of basketball.

Yesterday there was a conversation about “Have you ever?”  

I quickly replied I never tried drugs 

And this morning I read your article about Danny and it hits me. Danny’s words and mentorship all those years saved me from choosing such a path.

And his love for hoops and hard work really took hold in my soul

Today, I run a family-based basketball program and I teach the value of hard work, on and off the court. We tell our kids to stay away from drugs. vaping and alcohol.

I read that there was sadness to Danny’s life and he roamed the world for 41 years. 

Danny helped me and others. His life changed mine. Last year, we had 790 travel players and 400 campers. So guess what? Danny’s life is alive and well

We are going to announce a foul shooting contest in honor of Danny life.

I will put it on Facebook on my Hoops There It Is page that Danny may have been not perfect, but he changed lives including mine and others he touched

All money raised will go to a First Responders’ charity for those who are saving lives today and tomorrow 

Thank you for the article. It made a huge difference to me and my friends

RIP Danny.  You are loved for all you did for us kids growing up in Jersey City.

So Hoops There It Is indeed. John McGuire was touched by a downtrodden Danny Rochford and never forgot what Danny did for him as an impressionable youngster. Now, Danny’s name will live on in perpetuity as a way of saying thanks. Some might have thought Danny was just this hopeless homeless vagabond, but here’s proof that he was absolutely not.

“You knew when Danny picked up the basketball, something great was going to happen,” said McGuire, who never saw Danny play at St. Anthony. “Everyone watched him and everyone respected him because of that talent.”

McGuire said that they plan to do some sort of fundraiser once the pandemic subsides and the cautionary procedures are lessened.

“We want to give back,” McGuire said. “As tragic as Danny’s life was, if he should have lived the life he was destined for, he would have done something like what we want to do.”

Truly, an amazing tale, one that started with a down-on-his-luck basketball superstar telling a little kid to not make the same mistakes he made. Danny Rochford may be gone now, but thanks to John McGuire, he won’t soon be forgotten.

To learn more about McGuire’s organization, log on to www.hoopsthereitis.net. The new facility will be called the Peak Sports Academy. To reach McGuire, call (908) 370-7960. Donations can be made in the memory of Danny Rochford.