Well deserved honor for Allen coach Doug Snyder

FROM KEITH GROLLER

I have a tribute column running in the paper tomorrow on the life of Ken Wildonger.

He was one of the last of his kind, someone who meant so much to the city of Allentown, the school district and the kids in the community.

Wildonger loved Doug Snyder and saw a lot of the same traits in him that he saw in legends like J. Birney Crum, and J. Milo Sewards.

Put simply, there is no finer person in local high school sports today than Doug Snyder.

He was the commencement speaker at Allen's graduation last week and received a very nice honor. He won the Distinguished Alumni Award presented to a deserving member of the ASD family.

Here are the particulars and Snyder's bio from the Allentown School District website:

Doug Snyder

Coach Douglas M. Snyder, a member of Allen’s Class of 1974, received the award at Allen. A native of Allentown, Coach Snyder studied history and played men’s basketball at Princeton University, graduating in 1978. While at Princeton, he played on two Ivy League championship teams and in two NCAA tournaments, under Basketball Hall of Famer and Bethlehem native, Pete Carril. After graduation, Coach Snyder began his teaching and coaching career at Princeton High School in New Jersey. He coached football, basketball and softball, eventually becoming the head basketball coach for 11 years and winning three consecutive Central Jersey Group II championships. After 15 years there, he became the head boys’ basketball coach at William Allen in 1997 and just completed his 14th year as head coach. In that time, the team has won three District 11 4A championships and competed in four PIAA state tournaments. He teaches advanced placement U.S. history and economics. In 2001, he was appointed assistant coach for the East team at the Youth Development Festival in Colorado Springs, CO, losing the championship to the North squad led by Lebron James. For the past 17 years, Coach Snyder has been one of 10 high school coaches from across the country to work at the prestigious National Basketball Players Association Top 100 camp for the top high school players in the nation, held at the University of Virginia. He founded and ran the Princeton Recreation Department Men’s Summer Basketball League, the JV Basketball League at Cedar Beach and the Allen Basketball Camp for young players in the City of Allentown. He resides in Bethlehem with his wife, Liz. His brother, sister, father and mother are all graduates of William Allen High School.