Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League

School: Serra Catholic | Sport: Basketball

A teacher on the court and in the classroom, Bill Cleary enters the WPIAL Hall of Fame as one of the most accomplished coaches in league history. The South Allegheny and California University of Pennsylvania graduate spent 34 seasons guiding the Serra Catholic girls’ basketball team, finishing with a record of 657-156 and is one of four WPIAL girls’ basketball coaches to reach the 600-win milestone. The Eagles won 18 section championships under his watch, as well as four WPIAL titles (1992, 1999, 2003, 2005) and the 2005 PIAA 1A championship. Cleary’s Serra Catholic teams appeared in 11 WPIAL Championship Games, never had a losing season, and only missed the postseason once. He also served as the cross country coach at Serra Catholic and the school’s first baseball coach, leading the latter to three section titles. Cleary was a teacher at Serra Catholic for 41 years – retiring from the classroom in 2018 – and spent 38 years as the school’s athletic director, doubling the number of interscholastic sport options from six to 13. He was a member of the WPIAL Board of Directors for 20 years, and served as the private school representative to the PIAA Board of Directors. In December of 2021, the Serra Catholic basketball court was renamed the “William J. Cleary Court” in his honor, and he was inducted into both the Western Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame and Pittsburgh Basketball Club Hall of Fame in 2022.