Mar 2, 2026 8 min read

The coach in him always comes out.

Occasionally, it’s evident during an excitable outburst while his broadcast partner continues to describe basketball game action to radio and livestream audiences.

The competitor and loyalty to the “home team” leads to some disagreements with an official’s call.

In the end, however, what you get from Tom Drakeley – the high school basketball analyst – is an inspired, informed and honest effort. What more can you ask for?

“He still interrupts, but he’s excitable, especially when he sees something happening for a team we’re covering – either good or bad – and he jumps in and starts talking,” said Bob Gregg, WJPA Radio’s longtime play-by-play broadcaster.

“He’s able to communicate the game to people. He understands the game and can clearly communicate what he’s looking at. I can talk about who has the ball, where they are on the floor, what’s the score and how much time. But he talks about what’s really going on.

“As you do something more often you should get better at it and he has. The flow between the two of us is good. When I’m talking, he’s not, and when he’s talking, I’m not. We’ve been doing this a long time and it’s enjoyable. I’ve learned a lot of basketball from him.”

Drakeley played basketball and graduated from the former Immaculate Conception High School and Washington & Jefferson College.

He coached at IC before the school closed prior to the 1989-90 school year and at Trinity. Drakeley later was an assistant coach at W&J under Glen Gutierrez.

Drakeley was IC’s coach from 1980-1989 and led the Comets to a school-best 21-2 record in 1989 and a section championship. During his tenure, the Comets made the WPIAL playoffs three times (1986, ’87 and ’89) and reached the semifinals in 1987 and was a PIAA qualifier that year.

He was head coach at Trinity from 1990-2001 and helped the Hillers reach the WPIAL playoffs in 1992, 1997 and 1999. Drakeley was Washington-Greene County Coach of the Year in 1987 and 1989.

Drakeley scored 733 points in his career at IC, starting as point guard from 1970-73. He owns the single-season and career free-throw percentage (83 percent) and (82 percent), respectively. Drakeley, 70, was the Comets’ team captain in 1973 and an All-Catholic selection the same year.

He was a four-year letterman at W&J.

“I really didn’t begin to play basketball until I was a seventh grader and play in games until I was in eighth grade,” Drakeley said. “But I remember distinctly that I really liked it. I put a lot into it. My parents put a hoop up in our driveway (he grew up in Canonsburg) and I just really enjoyed playing. We played in the neighborhood all the time. My house was sort of the hub but the thing that I noticed is the more I practiced, the better I was getting.

“I remember as an eighth grader, going up to IC gym and they had what was called a grade school night, where local grade schools would come up and watch a basketball game. They’d introduce us. And I said, I’m going to be a player here someday. And that was sort of my goal.

“I just spent hours practicing and honing skills and I think that benefitted me,” He continued. “I compare that to what goes on today with AAU. I think I got the better of the deal because I worked on fundamental skills. I really didn’t have anybody pushing me. It was me. I just wanted to be a good player. I emulated the upperclassmen in high school. I thought I could be like them. That was one of the things that attracted me to the game.”

On the air

Once he no longer was the assistant coach at W&J, Drakeley accepted Gregg’s offer to be his analyst.

“I threw myself into the broadcasting and Bob has been so gracious to have me all these years,” said Drakeley, who has three adult sons: Scott, Tim and Matt, with his wife, Sue.

“Bob’s just a tremendous mentor in terms of when you start. He teaches you and shows you. The preparation part for me has always been what I considered my strength.

“I can watch a team play one time and be able to tell you right away what their tendencies are, who their players are and what they do well and what they don’t do well. Now, with Hudl and some different things you can use, I try to see all the teams we broadcast.”

Said Ray Natili Sr., Drakeley’s high school coach: “He delves into the game really well and sometimes I wonder if he’s too smart for people listening to them. The knowledge he imparts to the listeners might be a little too much sometimes. He’s giving them the real deal.”

Gutierrez, who is currently Canon-McMillan’s boys basketball coach, had the chance to hear Drakeley work a game in his broadcasting role this season.

“He gives a listener a different perspective – through the lens of a coach – so you’re getting his thoughts as a coach and what he thinks should happen or could happen and what changes or adjustments that could and should be made. Again, because he’s been there.

“He’s been through it. Some of these former coaches when they do games on TV are working at it from a different perspective and mindset.”

One got away

Drakeley and his IC Comets were looking forward to the 1989-90 season.

The team was coming off an encouraging season and momentum was building for a potential championship season.

And then the possibilities, the vibe and the school itself were gone. The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh decided to close the high school.

“That was a very difficult time for me and my family and put lots of stress and pressure on me,” Drakeley said. “Coming off the previous season … we played Duquesne in the 1987 playoffs and they were defending WPIAL champions. They were in the state final. We had every player back and we upset them in the second round. It was probably the greatest win that I was ever involved with as a player or coach. I thought there would be more.

“To think they were closing us down after we had raised money and had a projection for enrollment. They told us we had a viable plan and then two days later, the diocese shut the building down and that was the end. It was tough, not only for me, but for the teachers who worked there. I remember Coach Natili and others who were mainstays at Immaculate Conception being shocked. I truly believe in my heart that if the school would have stayed open, it would be a great alternative even to this day.”

He watched as Washington strengthened its talented roster as a handful of Comets, including Matt Jennings, transferred to Washington. The Prexies rolled to their fourth WPIAL championship in seven years and advanced to the PIAA semifinals.

“It was certainly a bonus for us because we ended up having people like Mike Maloy, Matt Jennings, Jason Strope and Joel McCullough come our way,” said then Washington coach Ron Faust. “That really strengthened our group and we had some good personnel already. That really gave us great depth.

“At the same time, Tom was having outstanding seasons at IC. That would have been quite an outstanding year for him and IC had it continued to operate. It was tough on him. Tom was intense, competitive. Just as he is now as a broadcaster. He knows the game and he says what needs to be said. Tom had what all coaches need to have. He cared greatly about his players.”

Trinity gained Greg Papson and Chris Ondrejko and improved its win total in 1989-90 from five the season before to eight victories, just missing the playoffs.

“It was really tough,” Jennings said. “For me, it was my senior year, so it was the year I felt like I could do the best in high school. It was frustrating to hear. We were trying to fight It closing for a long time. It just wasn’t in the cards for us.

“I think about that season a lot. It was bittersweet at the beginning, just because of all the things that happened. But the success we had at Wash High. It kind of made me think a little less about what could have been. And I really love playing with those guys (at Wash High). They were friends, lifelong friends now.”

Drakeley covets Natili’s influence on him as a player and a coach. Natili remains proud of his pupil, who he said deserved a better fate at IC.

“Tom and I would chat all the time about what I saw and what I thought,” Natili said. “He was a good coach and he got a bad deal at a certain school (IC).

“He had a lot of good players going into the 1989-90 season. I felt for him then and I know people who knew him had to feel for him because you don’t get teams like that all the time and he had one that season. It got ripped away from him.”

John Sacco writes a column for the Observer-Reporter about local sports history.