Joey Schaaf

Born in Shenandoah, PA., Joey attended Roman Catholic High School in Philadelphia, PA. He won honors on the Philadelphia Metropolitan area All-Scholastic teams in football (end), basketball and baseball. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he would play three years of basketball and football. It was in basketball, however, that he made his biggest mark. During his playing career, Schaaf held the Eastern Intercollegiate League records for total points and field goals in two seasons and led the Quakers to the championship twice. He earned numerous honors, capped by two All-American selections (1928 & 1929). He was named one of Philadelphia’s best five athletes in the first half-century and is a member of the Helm’s Foundation Basketball Hall of Fame. His ability was not only limited to his athletic achievements, as Joey was a member of the Wharton School Honorary Scholastic Fraternity and was an honor man of his graduating class, earning a bachelor of science degree in economics (1939). Schaaf became one of the state’s outstanding scholastic basketball coaches, spending the majority of his career at Central Catholic High School. He also coached baseball and football at Central and took over the basketball team (1945-46), leading the Cardinals to an overall record of 335- 307, winning one outright State Catholic Championship and a share of a second. He also produced Berks County’s first All-State basketball player in Mike DePaul. The trademark of his 24 seasons coaching the Cardinals was rugged opposition. The Central team took on major PIAA powerhouses during years it was unheard of for a small catholic school to even attempt such a matchup. Schaaf guided DePaul, Bud Faller, John Morris, Charley Gerhinger, Jim Kase and Bernie Seaman to the Class A, PCIAA state title with a 29-5 record (1949-50). Schaaf was inducted posthumously into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Hazleton, PA (2006).

Deceased