Players and coaches of the Crons Basketball Club always knew that club co-founder and executive director, Coach John Cavanaugh, was someone special. 
 

Just not Hall of Fame special…until now.
 

April 27,2013, Coach Cavanaugh was inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame for a sports legacy that encompassed playing and coaching at a number of different levels. 

 

An outstanding youth baseball player with multiple no-hitters on his resume, Coach Cav made his mark in basketball at Slippery Rock High School, where he was a three-year starter at point guard averaging 18 and 17 points his junior and senior seasons and leading his team to a pair of league titles. Coach Cav was the second leading scorer in the entire Butler County League those years, while also leading his team in assists and steals.  He broke the school record with a 41-point effort his junior year and that was before the 3-point line.  He was named honorable mention all-state both his junior and senior years.
 

He spurned Division I scholarship offers to stay close to home and played at IUP where he was a 3 year basketball letter winner.  (In 2012 Coach Cavanaugh received the 2012 IUP Distinguished Basketbal Alumni Award.)
 

Coach Cav quickly became a member of the coaching ranks being named the head coach at Slippery Rock High School at 23, one of the youngest head coaches in Pennsylvania at the time.  He turned a losing program completely around in four short years while starting an elementary school basketball program in the district.  His coaching talents soon landed him  at Slippery Rock University  where he helped coach the Rock to a sixth place finish in the NAIA Championship Tournament in Kansas City.
 

Even after retiring after 38 years as an educator and administrator, Coach Cav has always looked for opportunities to help kids. That’s why he co-founded the Crons Basketball Club in 2006, a club that started with a single squad of boys from the Hill district and has had as many as 12 boys teams. In the last 2 years 

years Crons has developed some solid girls teams.
 

“I get great satisfaction working with the "average player" and seeing them improve and become competitive. The Crons program has had many examples of individual successes. Players that were labeled average in 7th or 8th grade but followed the "come ready" plan began drawing college interest in high school"  says Coach Cav. Be coachable. Play with energy. Be a team player.

 

It’s not every club that has a Hall of Famer leading the way like Coach John Cavanaugh. 

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