Shoot for the Starr: Crofton gets its man
Ex-Arundel coach will take over brand new program
Friends have been flooding Jeff Starr’s phone in the moments since his hire as Crofton’s first boys basketball coach became public Wednesday evening.
“I guess people are excited,” said the new coach, whowill also begin teaching in the technology and engineering department at Crofton.
Starr, an Arundel graduate, spent nine years coaching the Wildcats before stepping down in 2016 to take an administrative position at Meade. In that time, Starr amassed a 160-57 record, garnering three Anne Arundel County championships, and led Arundel to a pair of Class 4A East region title game appearances.
“I am extremely excited to have Coach Starr join the staff at Crofton High School,” Crofton athletic director Jeff Martin said in a statement. “His knowledge of the game and the community will assist him in developing a strong program.”
A Crofton native, Starr said picking up the pen and authoring the first Cardinals basketball legacy was a “no-brainer.”
“He has a tremendous sense of pride for his hometown, Crofton, but he had that at Arundel,” former Arundel and current Broadneck athletic director Kevin Necessary said. “He had that ‘I’m happy to be home’ persona about him as soon as he arrived.”
Like all Crofton teams this upcoming year, Starr’s team will only play junior varsity for a season. As accomplished as he’s been as a head coach, that could damper Starr’s ambitions, but Necessary doesn’t think so. Necessary saw Starr, who spent this season as a volunteer coach for Broadneck, show pride for his sport in coaching Necessary’s 6-year-old son.
“One thing about Jeff Starr is he’s one of the most humble people I’ve ever met,” Necessary said. “He loves teaching the game of basketball. … He doesn’t discriminate when it comes to basketball. From that aspect, honestly, I think he’ll enjoy it. He’ll enjoy the fundamental approach and to ingrain the things he values in the sport.”
The new coach is looking for growth. “I’m just excited to get started and build a staff and build the program with the players buying into my vision of Crofton
“He has a tremendous sense of pride for his hometown, Crofton, but he had that at Arundel. He had that ‘I’m happy to be home’ persona about him as soon as he arrived.”
basketball,” Starr said. “I was fortunate when when I started at Arundel. My first group in 2007, they bought in right away, how intense I wanted them to play defense and sharing the ball offensively. Those are the things I’m going to bring to Crofton as well. It’s going to be a fundamentally sound, hard-working team. We’re going to defend and play fast. It’s really exciting to get started.”
Starr’s spent 12 years handling camps in the Crofton area and understands the school’s feeder program. Coaching at Arundel, half of the players Starr worked with were Crofton stock.
“I know the type of player I’m going to be getting, consistently,” Starr said.