Alumni Profiles: Colin Curtin '05

From his days on the bench as a manager to being an assistant coach at La Salle University, two things haven’t changed for Colin Curtin ‘05 — his love for the Prep, and his love for basketball.

When Curtin entered the Prep as a freshman in the fall of 2001, he envisioned himself playing under legendary head coach Speedy Morris, who led the Hawks to more than three hundred victories throughout his nineteen-year tenure.

After being cut from the freshman team, that dream was quickly dead. Knowing he still wanted to be around the sport he loved, he asked Morris how he could be involved. 

That one conversation changed everything.

“I just went into [Speedy Morris’] office and said to him, ‘I want to be around the game. I want to play, but obviously got cut. Is there an opportunity for me to help out?’ and he introduced me to student managing,” Curtin said. “It’s the best thing to happen to my life.”

Off the floor, Curtin also had important conversations with Dr. Stew Barbera ‘86 that had a tremendous impact on him.

“I had a guidance counselor my freshman year that really helped me out, Stew Barbera,” Curtin said. “He's the best. There was a point there in my freshman year that I wasn't sure I was gonna be able to make it. I wanted to transfer. Dr. Barbera brought me into his office, and we had a lot of talks. He's really the one that kind of talked me into giving the Prep a shot. He's a big reason why I stayed at the Prep. Because of that, I'm where I’m at today.”

During his time as a manager, Curtin was treated as part of the team, and the teams he was part of brought home two Philadelphia Catholic League titles.

“Speedy was really intentional when it came to treating student managers just like players,” Curtin said. “In those four years, I think we were so successful as a program because we had great chemistry on and off the court. As good as that team was on the court, they were even better guys off the court.”

During his tenure managing, he found his purpose: coaching. 

“It's where I found my love for the game,” Curtin said. “I think when I got into it, I didn't know what I wanted to do. I wasn't really thinking about, ‘when I get out of college, what do I wanna do?’ And as the years went on, I just fell in love with the game, and I really took a liking to everyone on the coaching staff, and to Speedy Morris and his son Keith. Those guys became somewhat of role models to me, and, by the end of my junior year, I figured it out. I thought, ‘You know what? I do want to coach.’ And at that point, that's when I wanted to be intentional about where I go to school that will give me the best shot to get into coaching at the college level. I didn't care if it was Division I, Division II, or Division III, but that's what the Prep did for me. That's what Speedy Morris did for me. That’s how it all got started.”

After being a four-year student manager and four-year Director of Basketball Operations at Niagara, Curtin was an assistant at Hofstra for 12 years.

Then, in 2024, he got the call to come home as an assistant at La Salle University.

“It was so tempting, because I had prior relationships with [La Salle coaches] Darris and Shane Nicholas,” Curtin said. “It was something I couldn’t pass up, because I had been outside of Philadelphia for 20 years. Being able to come back to the city, reconnect with friends, and see family more, it was a no-brainer for me.”

Now, over 20 years after graduating, Curtin gets to attend Prep games and recruit players wearing the crimson and gray.

Those players he’s getting the chance to recruit are playing under Chris Clark ‘04, who Curtin has known since they were teammates under Morris.

“Chris Clark is the best thing to happen to St. Joseph’s Prep basketball since Speedy Morris,” Curtin said. “Chris gets the place. Chris wore the laundry. Chris won championships and, during his time at the Prep, he was a player for one of the best coaches in the Catholic League. I say that he's the right guy at the right time. He showed that in year one in what he did in building a culture. I'm so happy that he's back there because he's one of us, and he truly knows what it takes, not just to win, but to win at a high level.”

While building the Prep’s program back to a championship level, Curtin says that Clark is building a program that follows “The Prep Way,” as Clark calls it.

“Chris coaches the right way,” Curtin said. “He holds people accountable. He's fiery. But those kids also know that off the court, Chris Clark will do anything for them. When [players] have that type of trust in your coach, you can coach your kids a certain way. Those kids play so hard for Chris because they know that Chris cares so much for them. At times, it's tough love, but if you can motivate players, if you're a great communicator, and the players trust you, you can do the things that Chris does at a high level.”

21 years after graduating from the Prep, Curtin’s love for the school is still burning bright.

“[The Prep] means everything,” Curtin said. “I'm gonna be indebted to the Prep for the rest of my life. I'm not here today without St. Joe's Prep. Any time that I can speak about the Prep, I speak glowingly about it.”

Curtin is still well-connected to his Prep brothers because of the bonds built at 17th & Girard over two decades ago.

“It's a brotherhood,” Curtin said. “You can go anywhere in the world, and if you have a Prep shirt on, you feel like someone's gonna stop you and say, ‘Hey, I graduated class of whatever.’ The bond that you have with your classmates for those 4 years [is special], and then when you graduate, you're linked forever. It’s special because you know at the drop of a hat, if you call someone that went to the Prep, he’ll always answer, because you have that bond. Those Prep graduates are always there to help.  I feel the same way when people call me, whether they're trying to get into basketball or just have questions about the Prep. I love selling the school because it’s the way I can repay the Prep.”