‘The record speaks for itself ’
Longtime Cromwell basketball coach Jake Salafia left behind an unrivaled legacy, marked by grace and class
There were times in which Steve Salafia believed he’d be able to cut some corners at Cromwell High’s boys basketball practices in the 1980s. There’s no way Jake, his father and coach, would notice if he missed a cut here or there, or if he was late on a rotation. There was too much going on, too many players to keep an eye on, for one man to catch every little detail.
But Jake Salafia never missed a thing. It was emblematic of who he was as a coach: attentive, knowledgeable, caring.
“He would pick out every single person that turned the wrong way, or moved the wrong way, or looked the wrong way,” said Steve Salafia, now a firefighter in Middletown. “He just had a great understanding of the game.”
Jake Salafia died earlier this month at the age of 92, and he left behind an unrivaled coaching legacy in Connecticut. Salafia coached the Cromwell boys basketball team for 24 years, from 1962-86, and won seven Class S state championships — five in a row at one point — and retired with a record of 445-118. He also won seven state titles as the school’s cross country coach, and in the 1970-71 school year, he won state championships in cross country, basketball and track and field.
He served as the school’s tennis and volleyball coach, too, and was athletic director for 25 years once he hung up the whistle. He ran the Fundamental Basketball Camp for 25 years. The sport was a year-round commitment for Salafia, his son said.
Cromwell became known as “the home of the champions.” Credit Jake Salafia for that one.
“My dad loved all sports,” Steve Salafia said. “When the opportunity came up [to coach basketball] he took it and ran with it.”
Salafia’s first love was football. He captained the 1946 state champion Woodrow Wilson High (Middletown) football team before being drafted into the army. He played football and ran track at Central Connecticut upon returning to the state, and began teaching in 1956.
With no football team at the school at the time, Salafia coached Cromwell’s junior varsity basketball team for two years, and filled in at the varsity level in 1962 after the sitting head coach was drafted into the army. Salafia figured it would only be temporary.
Nearly 60 years later, the Cromwell gym is named in his honor. His seven state title banners hang on the walls alongside two won by current head coach John Pinone in 2009 and 2018.
Salafia’s teams made it to 11 state championship games in his 24 years, the last of which was in 1985. He coached some top players during his time, including Al Weston, who went on to play at UConn, and Don Lewis, who played at Providence. His close involvement with Cromwell’s youth programs helped build a pipeline that kept local talent in town.
“The record speaks for itself,” Pinone said. “When you think about it, in the history of Connecticut basketball, it’s one of the best stretches ever ... in the 1960s and 70s, if you called the main office, they’d pick up and say ‘Home of the champions.’ ”
John Schmaltz, who played for Salafia and graduated in 1979, said his former coach preached the basics — rebounding, free throws, a strong zone defense and preparation. As Schmaltz grew older and coached his children at the youth level, he implemented the same fundamentals Salafia once did with him.
Salafia won with grace, too. Those who played for him claim he never yelled at his players or referees, and he was never called for a technical foul. After his death, Salafia’s son, Joe, received an email from a longtime referee, who said that any time Cromwell came into town for a game, he knew it would be a classy affair.
“I never really heard him yelling,” Schmaltz said. “I think he just led by example. If he saw you get frustrated, he’d pull you out. You never saw him yelling at the referees. If there were pushing shoving matches with other players he’d say ‘Hey knock it off, play the game.’ If he saw it, he put an end to it ... you had kids that got in trouble in school, but they never got in trouble on the basketball court.”
Salafia valued relationships. Steve Salafia can remember parties they’d have at the family home as a child. His father’s players were frequently invited over as his wife, Shirley, would cook for them. Steve Salafia said that part of the reason his dad retired from coaching was because as he got older, he found it more difficult to connect with his players.
Schmaltz said that anytime he’d run into Salafia in his post-playing days, the two would share genuine conversations. He was the type of guy you always wanted to sit down with and have a longer talk, Schmaltz said.
Cromwell made it to five more state championship games after Salafia retired — twice in the 1990s and three times in the 2000s. The foundation he had started decades prior was still alive and well.
“We had a pretty long run here, so it’s known in town,” Jake Salafia said in 2007. “There’s quite a few of the old crowd around. They seem to have pretty good memories and this seems to be bringing it right back again.”