There is a long tradition of basketball in St Jarlath’s College, dating back to the 1970's. Just before the school won its first Connacht title, Juvenile A champions in 1977, the College Hall was mentioned in the Guinness Book of World Records as the venue for Tuam Basketball Club’s two successful marathon attempts; in the second event, playing for 72 hours with only one 10-minute break every hour (current coach, Mr. Moran – as a very very young boy - spent many hours sitting on the stage filling in the scorepad!!).
In the 90's, St Jarlath’s achieved third place in the Senior B All-Ireland competition, having won the Connacht title and there was a narrow loss in the provincial Juvenile A final.Under coaches Fr Fintan Monahan and Mr David McDonagh there were further successes in the regional competitions after the provincial structure was disbanded twenty years ago.
Currently basketball is very popular and this year SJC coaches Mr. John Moran and Mr. Matthew Loughnane are entering teams in all age groups for the first time in a few years.