BALTIMORE – Longtime Loyola coach and administrator, and former 1,000-point scorer for the Greyhounds, Edward 'Nap' Doherty passed away on Saturday. He was 93.
 
Doherty graduated from Loyola in 1953 with a Bachelor of Science in business administration after wrapping up his career as the third all-time leading scorer in program history (1,109 points).
 
After serving in the U.S. Army and then in the financial industry in Brooklyn, New York, Doherty returned to Loyola as an assistant coach from 1957-61. He was named the men's basketball program's ninth head coach in 1961 with the responsibility of replacing his collegiate head coach, Emil 'Lefty Reitz.
 
Doherty spent 13 seasons at the helm of the men's basketball program from 1961-74, and he remains second all-time in victories at the school behind Reitz. Doherty finished with a 165-153 (.519) record over the 12 seasons.
 
"Nap changed so many players' lives," said Mike Kaiser, '73, who played for Doherty and was a team captain in 1972-73. "We came from lower, middle-class families, and he offered us an education which changed our lives. Forever grateful to that great man. Coaches are surrogate dads, and he made a huge difference in my life and those of so many other players.
 
"While we won more games than we lost, including two conference championships and a trip to the NCAAs, the best lesson we learned was how to lose. Nap said when you lose, you get knocked down, and when you get knocked down you get up, you are better–more determined more focused. He taught us basketball, and we didn't realize we were learning life lessons."
 
He led the Greyhounds to the 1971 Mason-Dixon Conference Championship, the school's first since the Greyhounds won the title in 1953, Doherty's final year as a player.

"Nap was a coach in the true Ignatian spirit," said Mark Rohde, '76. "He was selfless, caring, demanding, competitive, ingenious, heroic, and passionate. It did not take long to realize he was teaching more about life than he was about basketball."

Doherty also guided the team to the 1973 Mason-Dixon crown and its first ever bid to the NCAA tournament. The Greyhounds went on to win their first-round game in the NCAA Division II Championships that year, beating Biscayne College.
 
As a student-athlete for the Greyhounds, Doherty scored 1,109 points in his career after being recruited to the Evergreen campus from Bardstown, Kentucky. He was a two-time All-Mason-Dixon Conference honoree as a junior and senior in 1952 and 1953.
 
"Nap loved Loyola and upheld the values of the school. In his quiet way," said Jack Degele, an assistant coach for Doherty and current commissioner of the Baltimore Catholic League. "He worked with each of his players to develop their abilities. He taught them to demand the best of themselves; a life lesson they could take with them. He will be remembered fondly by all who knew him."
 
In addition to his role as the basketball coach, he was the assistant athletic director of intramurals, and he coached golf at Loyola. He later served as head men's basketball coach at Johns Hopkins University from 1981-86.

A gathering of friends will be held at Ruck Funeral Home in Towson on Sunday, July 13, from 2:00-5:00 p.m., and a Mass will be offered at Church of the Nativity in Timonium on Monday, July 14, at 11:30 a.m.