Boys Basketball Preview: New coaches hope to drive Delco’s Catholic League squads

UPPER DARBY — As he lugged boxes of new gear into the gym at Bonner & Prendergast and ran through the practice agenda Wednesday, Kevin Funston had time for a smile. There was only one thing that still eluded him in his first season in charge of the Friars after four as Jack Concannon’s assistant.

“I can’t say, ‘it’s not my decision; you’ve got to ask Coach Jack,’” Funston said with a laugh. “I’ve got to figure out a different excuse now.”

There’s a lot of learning going on in Delaware County Catholic League gyms this winter. All three schools – with Funston at Bonner, Ryan Nemetz at Cardinal O’Hara and Francis Bowe at Archbishop Carroll – are breaking in new coaches, an oddity in a Catholic League steeped in tradition where tenures are as apt to be measured in decades as in years.

Funston is in a similar position as Bowe, not just because he once served on the staff of Bowe’s predecessor at Carroll, Paul Romanczuk, who stepped down last spring after 15 seasons. Both Funston and Bowe have regular contact with the men they replaced, who (not coincidentally) are alumni of their former employers.

“Paul and I speak daily,” Bowe said. “He’s been great filling me on things that work, giving me advice, and I can’t thank him enough. The only thing I can thank him for are the gigantic shoes I have to fill. He did a fantastic job and I want to make sure that we continue that success. There’s no secret recipe for it, but he’s done such a great job that with the kids that were returning, when we met for the first time, they were such good kids and hard workers and we were able to hit the ground running with them.”

“That’s a Catholic League thing,” said Funston. “It’s a brotherhood.”

Bowe has coached just about everywhere in the Upper Main Line area that isn’t Carroll. He arrived at Carroll after five successful seasons at Valley Forge Military Academy, which followed four years at Upper Merion and two seasons as an assistant at Radnor. He even has a master’s degree from Villanova.

For the St. Pius X graduate, breaking into the Catholic League is something he’s long aspired to.

“It’s a dream come true,” Bowe said. “I really don’t have aspirations to coach in college, so I was always hoping to have an opportunity someday to coach in this prestigious league. Now that I’m in it, it’s surreal. You hear from outsiders in the state about how great the Philadelphia Catholic League is, and everyone locally talks about how tough of a league it is. And I’m embracing it.”

Nemetz’s outsider perspective comes from a wider orbit. He’s worked on the business side of sports in New York and at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., as well as stints as an assistant at Temple University and Eastern University.

Of the three, he also inherits the program with the least recent history. Romanczuk led Carroll to 10 consecutive 20-win seasons and 10 consecutive states berths, dating to the 2009 PIAA Class AAA championship. Bonner & Prendergast made the PIAA tournament for the first time last year, falling in overtime in the semifinal to Abington Heights, and lost at the buzzer in the Catholic League final at the Palestra as Concannon resuscitated a program that had fallen on hard times.

O’Hara, meanwhile, is on its third coach in four seasons. But the ability to grow something from the roots is what attracted Nemetz, who said it was the only Catholic League opening he applied for.

“That’s what excited me,” he said. “Taking a program that to most people is not viewed as a basketball program but has a deep tradition if not a rich tradition recently, I love it. Trying to build from that is kind of a blank canvas. I’ve never shied away from a challenge. And the guys who stayed and are really part of the program, they have the chip on their shoulder and want to do that with me.”

Each coach has his challenges. Funston lost All-Delco forward Ajiri Johnson, now at Rider, but returns the 2017-18 Daily Times Player of the Year Isaiah Wong and second-team forward Tariq Ingraham. Three-point specialist Mike Perretta and guard Tyreese Watson, who missed last postseason with an injury, give the Friars four of their top five scorers back.

“I’ve tried to not change too much just because I felt like we have a lot of success, and if it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” Funston said. “It’s been a lot more on my plate than I realized that a head coach has to handle in terms of administrative and being the guy to answer all the questions, but I’ve got great kids, great families and great staff, so it’s been pretty smooth.”

“It’s a new coach, a new start,” Ingraham said. “I guess it’s a big deal. …. He’s really setting the tone for our team this year.”

Carroll lost three starters to graduation (two to college, with Justin Anderson taking a post-grad year at Phelps School), plus two-time All-Delco point guard AJ Hoggard transferred to Huntington Prep in West Virginia.

Senior Luke House will shoulder much of the scoring burden in a rangy backcourt that includes Kiyl Mack, Shawn Johnson, Cole Burkitt and Padraig Casey. Forward Tairi Ketner returns with experience, while 6-7 sophomore Anquan Hill will fill the lane. Amiri Stewart, who played at Chichester as a freshman, could crack the rotation.

O’Hara gets bitten by the transfer bug, with several players brought in by former coach Jason Harrigan departing. Kevin Reeves, Tre Dinkins, Jameel Burton, Anthony Purnell and Solo Bambara return with varsity experience, but out the door are juniors Jordan Hall and Kyle Edwards plus sophomore Malik Edwards (to Bonner & Prendergast).

All three appear ready to take on the challenge.

“In coaching, you prepare, and that’s so important,” Bowe said. “There is no question top to bottom, you are going to be in a dogfight in the league. It doesn’t matter if team has zero wins in the league, they’re going to give you everything they’ve got and the talent is going to be another level.”