Tom Danehy

For the last 36 years, Tom Danehy has operated a non-profit men’s and women’s basketball league at locations all over Tucson including the original downtown YMCA at 6th Street and 5th Avenue. Other locations have included Daru Boys and Girls Club, The Gregory School, Green Fields Country Day School, and, in recent years, the Sporting Chance Center.
Winter, summer, spring, and fall.
And that’s just the tip of Danehy’s contributions to Tucson’s sports scene.
He has coached basketball, tennis, track, golf, and flag football at Amphitheater High School, Immaculate Heart High Schoo,l and at Green Fields Country Day School.
Somehow, amid all of that responsibility, Danehy has been a sports columnist for Tucson Weekly and Tucsonlocalmedia.com – and not just your average sports columnist. He has won 24 Arizona Press Club awards for his writing and reporting excellence, including eight times as the top sports columnist.
Talk about a rewarding journey.
Danehy grew up in Southern California and moved to Arizona, playing basketball and baseball at Cochise College. He then moved to Tucson and began his impressive run as a coach and sportswriter.
His first crack at coaching came from 1997-2000 when he was appointed the freshman girls basketball coach at Amphi. His final two teams were undefeated 18-0.
That success became typical of Danehy’s career. He went on to be the head girls basketball coach at Green Fields Country Day School, going a combined 209-76, a steady challenger for the state championship.
In his spare time, he coached the Green Fields boys and girls track teams to four Top 10 finishes at state.
Danehy moved to Immaculate Heart in 2015, where he had another strong run in the state tournament. His IMHS teams went 94-26 in four seasons, after which he moved back to Amphi, not only coaching basketball, but taking on coaching duties for the Amphi girls tennis and golf teams.
The victories kept on coming.
At Amphi, Danehy has coached the girls basketball team to a 54-32 record, and also guided the girls tennis team to a 31-10 record in dual meets, a school record.
If you add it up, Danehy has coached Tucson prep teams to more than 500 victories at all levels and all sports. That’s quite a career for the old Cochise College basketball player.