Prep spotlight: Longtime St. Ignatius basketball coach Bob Drucker dies at 84, leaves ‘legendary’ legacy

ST. IGNATIUS: FORMER COACH LEAVES SPECIAL LEGACY

In the storied tradition of San Francisco basketball, no one was quite like Bob Drucker.

The former longtime St. Ignatius basketball coach who won eight league titles, two Central Coast Section championships and a NorCal crown died on Thanksgiving after suffering a heart attack in his Daly City home. He was 84.

“His contributions are legendary,” Bay Area sports writer Fred Baer said in an interview on Thursday. “He retired from coaching, and he still never left. He’s always continued to contribute to St. Ignatius athletics. … Bob was just an instrumental schoolmate and teammate.”

Drucker is an alumnus of St. Ignatius, graduating from the San Francisco school in 1958. He coached his first season in 1966 and won his first league championship a year after. During his 20-year run as coach, Drucker compiled a 394-150 record.

After stepping down from coaching in 1986, he remained at the school as a counselor and a teacher until 2007. He briefly returned to coaching in 2002 as an assistant coach on the St. Ignatius girls basketball team that won the CCS Division I title over league rival Archbishop Mitty.