BENSALEM, Pa. – Chris McNesby has lived many lives within the Philadelphia Catholic League.
He was a scrappy all-league guard for the Roman Catholic Cahillites in the 1990s from Northeast Philadelphia. He was hired as an assistant coach after college at his alma mater and eventually took over for legendary coach Dennis Sedden in 2008.
With much success, McNesby stepped down in 2016 to spend more time with his young family.
He returned to the sidelines at North Broad Street in 2021. However, McNesby’s second tenure with the Cahillites has concluded, according to social media posts.
Over the Memorial Day Weekend, it was learned McNesby is stepping away from a gig he relished but does so with family and growing work in the financial industry in mind.
“I had a business opportunity, two of my partners at work retired and they gave me the opportunity to run the company. Just something I figured I had to do. I didn’t want to look back in five years and not take that opportunity,” McNesby said.
McNesby, who played collegiately at East Stroudsburg University, went 270-112 (.701 winning percentage) in 12 seasons in two stints and 136-22 in the PCL, considered one of the nation’s premier high school leagues. McNesby’s teams won four PCL and three Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) championships. Roman last won the Class 6A PIAA title in 2022, defeating league rivals Archbishop Wood (Warminster, Pa.), 77-65, in the final at the GIANT Center in Hershey. McNesby also won titles in 2015 and ’16. Last season, the Cahillites went 25-6, advancing to the league and 6A state championship games but dropped both to league rivals Father Judge (Philadelphia).
Still, He bleeds Purple and Gold and wouldn’t have it any other way.
One of Roman Catholic’s greatest players from its illustrious pantheon, Bradley Wanamaker (Class of 2007), who played in the NBA and was an All- American and Big East guard at Pittsburgh, will take over.
Wanamaker, 35, scored 1,090 points at Pitt also spent several successful years playing overseas in Italy, Turkey, France and Germany. His twin, Brian, plays in Europe.
“I kind of knew it was coming and have been transitioning Brad [Wanamaker] over this past year,” McNesby said.
